Letters to the Editor
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Letters category and the Winter 1992 issue Topics in this article:Berks County
My family moved from Reading nearly fifty years ago, but I enjoyed “Berks County: Diamond of the Schuylkill Valley” by Louis M. Waddell in the fall 1991 edition. The whole region still holds great fascination for me, even though I don’t visit as much as I would like. This article reminded me of many stories I had heard as a child.
Bernice Jackson
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Welcome!
When I received my spring 1991 issue of Pennsylvania Heritage, I was just delighted to find a publication by the Woman’s Club of Murrysville mentioned as a book for further reading at the conclusion of “Westmoreland County: Welcome to the Western Frontier” by Michael J. O’Malley III. This is Murrysville, originally published in 1959, was very well received and had been reprinted. Of its authors, Marion L. Berger is deceased, but Helene M. Foley still resides in this area. As a member of the Murrysville Historical Preservation Society, and the Woman’s Club representative to this society, I felt great pride to be able to inform both memberships that our little book had been featured in Pennsylvania Heritage! Thank you for finding merit in This is Murrysville.
Jacquelyn D. Wimer
Export, Pa.
Rebellion
Congratulations to author Jerry Clouse for his interesting and informative piece on the Whiskey Rebellion (“The Whiskey Boys Versus the Watermelon Army“) in the spring 1991 issue. However, I must take issue with him on one point. The author wrote, in part: “A melding of settlers with distinct religious beliefs, cultural ties, and political ideals contributed to to the Whiskey Rebellion. Most of the population was Anglo, including English, Welsh, Irish, and Scotch-Irish …” The Welsh, Irish, and Scotch-Irish are of Celtic extraction, not Anglo.
William G. Williams
Camp Hill, Pa.
In the Realm
I was delighted to see a report on the retrospective exhibition “Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture” in the summer issue of Pennsylvania Heritage. This exhibition, which opened in October 1991 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will complete its international tour after having visited seven major museums on three continents! Pennsylvania Heritage may not be aware that the Louis I. Kahn Collection, principal lender to the exhibition, is a state treasure. After Kahn’s death in 1974, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the Kahn papers, rescuing this extraordinary archive from dispersal and assuring its preservation for future scholars. In 1977 the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission placed the Kahn Collection on permanent loan to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where it has served as the basis for true scholarly explorations into Kahn’s work. The Kahn Collection is housed in the Architectural Archives, a splendid new facility located in the historic Furness Building, recently restored by Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Visitors are welcome from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. For further information please write: Louis I. Kahn Collection, Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania, 220 South Thirty-Fourth St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6311; or telephone (215) 898-8323.
Julia Moore Converse
Philadelphia, Pa.
Julia Moore Converse is curator of the Louis I. Kahn Collection.
Brewerytown
Just several days after I had finished reading “Brewerytown, U.S.A.” (by Rich Dochter and Rich Wagner in the summer 1991 edition), I learned the good news that the Brewerytown Historic District was named to the National Register of Historic Places. This wonderful old neighborhood – despite the destruction of the industry during Prohibition and changes in the use of these original buildings – contains the largest surviving cluster of buildings from the city’s golden age of brewing. Thank you for alerting all of Pennsylvania to this marvelous treasure. (Yes, I am a brewerania enthusiast and a historic preservationist!)
Barry N. Jones, Sr.
Philadelphia, Pa.
