From the Executive Director

Posted by on Feb 5, 2021 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director Although PHMC does not actively install historical monuments across the commonwealth, our Pennsylvania Historical Markers serve a similar purpose. Begun in 1914 and “updated” in 1946 with the advent of the blue-and-yellow, pole-mounted roadside plates, the markers represent an extraordinary public historiography (see “A Century of Marking History,” Fall 2014). They teach us not only about what...
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Tommy Loughran, Boxing’s “Philly Phantom”

Posted by on Dec 28, 2020 in | Comments Off on Tommy Loughran, Boxing’s “Philly Phantom” The sport of boxing emerged in America in the 1800s, and by the early 20th century it had become one of the country’s most popular spectator sports. Philadelphia was a leading center of boxing at the time, and many of the best fighters hailed from the city. Thomas Patrick “Tommy” Loughran (1902–82) was born in Philadelphia to Irish Catholic immigrants during the heyday of boxing. He began in the...
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Barbara Gittings, Activist for LGBTQ Equality

Posted by on Nov 25, 2020 in | Comments Off on Barbara Gittings, Activist for LGBTQ Equality Barbara Gittings was one of the leading activists for LGBTQ equality, from the early years of the gay rights movement in the late 1950s until her death in 2007. Born in Austria in 1932 and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, she grew up feeling disconnected from her peers in a time when homosexuality was taboo in American society. She attended college in Chicago where she was called a lesbian. When...
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Pine Grove Furnace POW Interrogation Camp

Posted by on Oct 8, 2020 in | Comments Off on Pine Grove Furnace POW Interrogation Camp Located near Pine Grove Furnace within the state park of the same name in Cooke Township, Cumberland County, a 200-acre plot of land was the site of a unique sequence of historical events over the past 225 years. In the mid-18th century, iron ore was discovered along nearby Mountain Creek, which led to the development of Pine Grove Iron Works, a large-scale iron mining and pig iron production...
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High on a Mountain: Pennsylvania’s Legacy of Country Music

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on High on a Mountain: Pennsylvania’s Legacy of Country Music In 1607 Great Britain commenced the establishment of two colonial plantations. One of these was Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America. The other was much closer to home. The Ulster plantation was formed in the nine northern counties of Ireland. The goal of the colony was, in part, to extend British and Anglican hegemony over the Catholic and...
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Daisy E. Lampkin: Activist for Racial and Gender Equality

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on Daisy E. Lampkin: Activist for Racial and Gender Equality Daisy E. Lampkin (1883–1965) dedicated her life to advancing the rights of  women and African Americans in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Born Daisy Elizabeth Adams in Washington, D.C., she spent her childhood in Reading, Berks County, before moving to Pittsburgh in 1909 and marrying restauranteur William Lampkin in 1912. She began her public career at the height of...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter

Posted by on May 1, 2020 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter Topics in the Winter 2019 Newsletter: Mammal Hall Reopens at The State Museum of Pennsylvania You Can Help Preserve Pennsylvania’s History PHF Accepts Gift of Property Join the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation  ...
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Anna Howard Shaw, Suffragist

Posted by on Apr 15, 2020 in | Comments Off on Anna Howard Shaw, Suffragist Anna Howard Shaw was an early activist and leader of the women’s suffrage and temperance movements. From the 1880s until the time of her death in 1919, she campaigned across America at the grassroots level for these causes and was noted for her compelling lectures. Born in England in 1847, Shaw moved with her family to America in 1851. The family first settled in Massachusetts until 1859 and...
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The Frankford Avenue Bridge over Pennypack Creek

Posted by on Mar 13, 2020 in | Comments Off on The Frankford Avenue Bridge over Pennypack Creek In 1830 a Philadelphia journal dedicated to literature and the arts included a lithograph by William Breton (c.1773–1855) featuring the Pennypack Creek Bridge, also known today as the Frankford Avenue Bridge. Breton was based in Philadelphia and focused his work on local landmarks and bucolic settings. The bridge satisfied both inclinations. As described in the journal, it was already recognized...
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Life of a Portrait: Laura Wheeler Waring’s Anna Washington Derry

Posted by on Mar 12, 2020 in | Comments Off on Life of a Portrait: Laura Wheeler Waring’s Anna Washington Derry Until recently, painter Laura Wheeler Waring (1887-1948) has been relegated to the sidelines in artist histories. A member of the African American elite, she specialized in portraits and figurative painting and did not share the hand-to-mouth experience of many of her fellow artists. Rather, she worked as an art instructor and choir director for nearly 40 years at the institution now known as...
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