Now Hear This! Oral Histories at the Historical and Museum Commission

Posted by Matthew Magda on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Now Hear This! Oral Histories at the Historical and Museum Commission Something very healthy is happening in the field of American history which will profoundly influence future writing and thinking about our past. Oral historians are helping to change our sense of the social fabric of the country. In fact, it is difficult now to measure the meaning of our nation’s and Pennsyl­vania’s past, or the quality of American life, solely in terms of the...
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Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Oral Folklore in North Central Pennsylvania

Posted by James Glimm on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Oral Folklore in North Central Pennsylvania North Central Pennsyl­vania is a land of big forests, small towns and struggling dairy farms. Tioga, Bradford and Potter counties are well known for their abundant fish and game, their long winters and their colorful local people. Outsiders, often called “Flatlanders” by the natives, marvel at the wild and beautiful countryside and the quaint villages. But the visiting city or...
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Ethnic History: Of the Children, by the Children, for the Children

Posted by John Bodnar on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Ethnic History: Of the Children, by the Children, for the Children Interest in the study of history is drifting in conflicting directions. The teaching of Pennsylvania history in schools is steadily declining and enrollment in history classes at all levels including college has slipped. The growing idolization of exact sciences such as physics and chemistry and quantif­ication has discredited the sometimes subjective perceptions of historical studies. On the...
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Oral History and Community in the Inner City: Blacks in Philadelphia Since World War II

Posted by David McBride on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Oral History and Community in the Inner City: Blacks in Philadelphia Since World War II This brief commentary is framed as reflections on a project that is just getting underway rather than one in its final stages. It is based on my previous experience in black history and the first returns of what I hope will be an in-depth oral history project among black workers and community residents in Philadelphia. This project is being conducted in a series of predominantly black...
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A Story of Accommodation: “I stayed right where I was”

Posted by Carl Oblinger on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Story of Accommodation: “I stayed right where I was” “There’s not a hotel now, not an eating place.” After the 1890s, the stepped­-up demands of a rapidly ex­panding, industrial culture af­fected even previously isolated, rural sections of America, creating profound tensions between old ways of doing things and the agents of change. There were problems with older habits and values not associated with the demands of modern...
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