Warren County: Gem of the Alleghenies

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Warren County: Gem of the Alleghenies “To the south … an expanse of arable land upon the gentle slope from the volley to the distant heights, dotted with green fields, waving grain, fruitful orchards and farm buildings with ever and anon an oasis of growing timber, remnants of the dense growth of stately pine and hemlock that formerly forested the region, present an alluring scene of beauty and grandeur, excelling...
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John Wilkes Booth and the Land of Oil

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on John Wilkes Booth and the Land of Oil Beginning about 10:25 on the evening of April 14, 1865, the time and date President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Washington’s Ford Theatre by John Wilkes Booth, a mass of information including evidence and myths has accumulated regarding the act and those connected with it, particularJy about the assassin him­self. John Wilkes Booth was the ninth of ten children born to Junius...
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Siegmund Lubin: The Forgotten Filmmaker

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Siegmund Lubin: The Forgotten Filmmaker In Philipsburg, the summer of 1914 ended with a crash that could be heard for miles and seen around the world. On the slopes of Centre County’s Collision Field, a stadium formed by nature, five thousand festive, flag-waving spectators gathered to watch the wrecking of two great Pittsburgh & Susquehanna Railroad locomotives. Bands entertained the Labor Day celebrants with musical...
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Crawford County: Welcoming the 21st Century

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Crawford County: Welcoming the 21st Century We passed over some good land since we eft Venango, and through several extensive and very rich meadows, one of which, I believe, was nearly four miles in length, and consid­erably wide in some places. Twenty-one year old George Washington, who would in time become a major landholder and land specula­tor, described Crawford County in 1753 as he carried a dispatch demanding the com­mander of the...
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A One Night Stand to Remember – Or to Forget

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on A One Night Stand to Remember – Or to Forget Laurette Taylor, an actress who knew well of what she spoke, wrote, “There is no existence so devoid of meaning as ‘the one night stands,’ none so fatal to progress as any kind of forced and hurried travel­ing.” Yet of just such ingredi­ents was the theatrical experience compounded dur­ing the last quarter of the nine­teenth century. For these were the years of “the...
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Bucks County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bucks County As one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania created shortly after William Penn arrived in his nascent colony in 1682, Bucks County has a heritage that reaches back to the very beginnings of the Commonwealth. Long before Penn’s arrival, the intrepid settlers of the Dutch and Swedish colonies farther down the Delaware River had ex­plored the wooded banks of the river as far as the...
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Black Cultural Development in Pennsylvania Since 1900

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Black Cultural Development in Pennsylvania Since 1900 The cultural history of Blacks in America is varied and diverse. At the same time, it is deeply inter­woven into the whole of America’s cultural fabric. Yet, the significant cultural contributions of Black Amer­icans have been overlooked. Because of this omission, it was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that the art of Afro-Americans began to receive the recognition it so...
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Chin Up, Smile, Keep ‘Em Happy!

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Chin Up, Smile, Keep ‘Em Happy! With the construc­tion of movie palaces through­out Pennsylvania in the years immediately fol­lowing World War I, ushering – quite ordinary employment in the days of the nickelodeon – became a much-sought-after vocation. For it was then that movie house showmen first pronounced that service was the “personality” of show business, and that ushers were an individual...
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Philadelphia – As They See It

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia – As They See It Interpreting a city through the eyes of its artists offers unusual – if not unique­ – perspectives and insights. As these artists choose a wide variety of styles and media, so, too, they select landmarks, people, and special moments not only to convey a portrait of their city, but to capture its spirit and collective psyche as well. Their resulting images prove diverse; they are...
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Commemorating a Centennial by Revising a Vision

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Commemorating a Centennial by Revising a Vision The American museum was and is an idea. The European museum was a fact. Almost without exception the European museum was first a collection. With few exceptions most American museums were first an ideal,” Philadelphian Nathaniel Burt wrote in his 1977 history of the American museum, Palaces for People. Unlike their European counterparts, which were usually created to house the great...
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