Free-Thinking, 19th-Century Style

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on Free-Thinking, 19th-Century Style Francis Ellingwood Abbot (1836–1903) was nothing if not determined. In 1872, as editor of The Index, the nation’s leading free-thought magazine, he began to muster the full force of his small army of subscribers against what was being called “the God-in-the-Constitution amendment.” A philosopher and theologian, he sought to reconstruct theology in accordance with scientific methodology. From the...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Peale Power The story of two generations of Philadelphia’s Peale family of artists and naturalists is one of the most captivating chapters in American history. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) and his chil­dren Raphaelle (1774-1825), Rembrandt (1778-1860), Rubens (1784-1865), and Titian Ramsey (1799-1860), Charles Willson’s brother James (1749-1831) and James’s children, Anna...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf The Lincoln Highway by Brian A. Butko Stackpole Books, 1996 (321 pages, paper, $16.95) Established in 1913, the Lincoln Highway became the first automobile roadway to cross the United States. It stretched east from New York’s Tunes Square to San Francisco at a time when rural roads were little more than rutty wagon paths. The Lincoln Highway Association was organized “to procure the...
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Keeping the Torch of Justice Burning Brightly: William P. Young

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Keeping the Torch of Justice Burning Brightly: William P. Young He faced criticism at his appointment, confronted adversity in his duties, and battled poor health in his later years, but he kept the torch of justice burning brightly for all to see, maintaining his dignity and poise at every turn. He was William Pennington Young (1895-1968), the Keystone State’s fifteenth secretary of labor and industry, from 1963 to 1967, during the administration of...
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A Centennial of Color for Crayola Crayons!

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Centennial of Color for Crayola Crayons! One day last winter, a crayon-hued, double-decker bus pulled into the heart of Dallas, Texas. For five days, crayon fans climbed on board to draw, color, and sample new products. The event kicked off the Crayola® ARTrageous Adventure tour, a traveling centennial party for the Crayola crayon, manufactured by Pennsylvania-based Binney & Smith, Inc. After a twenty-five­-city cross-country trek,...
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Out and About

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Out and About Quilt Museum Reopens After having been closed for nine months for substantial renovations and an extensive expansion, the Lancaster Quilt and Textile Museum recently reopened, boasting an enlarged exhibition space, a one- thousand square foot textile-related museum store, and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. Peter Swift Seibert, president and CEO of the Heritage Center of Lancaster County,...
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John White Geary’s White Star Identity Badge

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on John White Geary’s White Star Identity Badge John White Geary (1819–1873) was a courageous individual who gallantly served his country, fighting in both the Mexican War of 1846–1848 and the American Civil War, and dutifully led his Commonwealth as governor for two consecutive terms, from 1867 to 1873. Born near Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, he attended Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Washington County, from which he graduated in...
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A Trio of Philadelphia Maritime Painters

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Trio of Philadelphia Maritime Painters Oceans and seas have long challenged civilization’s adventurous spirit. Sailors and their ships have struggled against billowing winds and sweeping tides, as well as fires, piracy, collisions, and warfare. All of this has been celebrated in story and song — and in works of art. Artists of the day captured both the beauty and the rigors of those wonderful ships in their coveted canvases. Three of...
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Mr. Peanut’s Hometown: Wilkes-Barre and the Founding of Planters Peanuts

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Mr. Peanut’s Hometown: Wilkes-Barre and the Founding of Planters Peanuts Few may realize it, but for nearly a half-century, the Luzerne County seat of Wilkes-Barre, in northeastern Pennsylvania, was the peanut capital of the world. Founded in 1906, the Planters Peanut Company operated its national headquarters at 632 South Main Street in an impressive two-story Federal-style building. A handsome balustrade encircled the roof of the elegant concrete edifice and was...
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Cremation’s Fiery Beginnings

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Cremation’s Fiery Beginnings Franz Lee Rickaby (1889–1925), a bone-thin man of thirty-five, was a much-loved professor of English and drama at Pomona College in Claremont, California, when he died of rheumatic fever. An adventurous wanderer, he left a respected historical legacy with folklorists when Harvard University posthumously published his collection of songs of the Midwest lumberjack, Ballads and Songs of the...
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