Letters to the Editor
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Letters category and the Fall 1984 issue Topics in this article:Flight
Although the author discussed the role of blacks in aviation in the 1920s and 1930s, I was a little disappointed in not seeing any photographs of the first black pilots (see “Aeronauts to Aviators: Pennsylvanians and Flight, 1784-1950,” in the spring 1984 issue).
Curtis Johnson
Philadelphia, Pa.
Efforts were made to locate photographs of the first Pennsylvania black pilots and although some undoubtedly do exist, we were unable to locate any in the time spent on the photo searches. if such photos are available and can be brought to our attention, we would be happy to print them.
The painting of the lift-off of Jean Pierre Blanchard’s balloon in Philadelphia is beautiful, but the caption didn’t include mention of the painter. Who was the artist?
Dr. Saul Weinberg
Mt. Lebanon, Pa.
The artist is unknown, but researchers at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., believe the painting was executed shortly after the first flight in 1793. The painting was recently restored and is once again on view in the museum’s exhibit entitled “Balloons and Airships.”
Harmonists
Research on the Harmonist textiles was excellently presented (see “Unlikely Capitalists: Harmonists as Textile Manufacturers,” in the spring 1984 issue), but I am now interested in the Harmony Society’s other investments in industry. I noted in the “Currents” column that the Society was a financier of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad. How extensive were the Society’s holdings and are there any reference works available to document its involvement in commerce?
Nick Mastriani
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Although the Society’s communal experiments were hailed as noble by many critics, several scholars have characterized the order as “a little empire.” The Harmony Society’s holdings included income-producing mortgages and a host of stocks and bonds in bridge, lumber, coal, iron, steel, glass and oil companies. The Society also invested heavily in banks and savings institutions. See The Harmonists: A Personal History by John S. Duss (Harrisburg: Telegraph Press, 1943) for a firsthand account of the financial triumphs and failures of the Harmony Society. Also see the recently published Guide to Microfilmed Harmony Society Records, 1786-1951 edited by Roland M. Baumann (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1983).
Cooking
As an avid cook, I found the article on seventeenth century cooking delectable! Thank you for printing it. My only suggestion would have been to include the old or original recipes with modern measuring equivalents and ingredients. I know space for articles must be very tight, but I think others who share an interest in cooking would like to know how to make some of the dishes mentioned by the writer – particularly Mrs. Penn’s Naples biscuits and sweetmeats for the holidays.
Betsy L. Roth
Greensburg, Pa.
Etcetera …
I can criticize your ‘new’ magazine in many ways, but I honestly think your new “popularly styled” look (whatever that is) is a major step in the wrong direction. I enjoyed the earlier anecdotes and stories of Pennsylvania towns and people as they were in a previous era, and I think that is what Pennsylvania history is all about. It is not about how our forefathers cooked dinner in the colonies, and it is not concerned with the incidental role of Pennsylvania in the origin of airline mail service. Do you want a magazine of Pennsylvania history, or a general historical publication with occasional references as to how Pennsylvania played a role in any given topic. I am a Pennsylvanian but I have lost some enthusiasm for Pennsylvania history as you present it. For the sake of your magazine, I sincerely hope I am in the minority of your readers.
Joseph F. Gregory
Vienna, Va.
We appreciate your candid remarks, but we do believe you are in the minority based upon the other reactions we have received. Articles on towns and people which you so enjoyed in the past will continue, for they are certainly part of Pennsylvania’s heritage, just as are colonial cooking and the Commonwealth’s place in aviation history.
