Letters
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Letters category and the Winter 2007 issue Topics in this article: Chambersburg, Charles H. Sternberg, Edmund N. Bacon, Fort Hays State University, G. Alan Sternbergh, James Stewart, Joseph Leidy, Kansas, Katherine Rogers, Les Brown Sr., Marian Anderson, Mary S. Loeser, O.C. Marsh, Philadelphia, Robert M. Sullivan, South America, Spencer G. LucasCover Stories
The covers of Pennsylvania Heritage are among the best I have ever seen, but the cover of the Fall 2006 issue was sheer genius! The moment I saw this issue, I just had to pick it up. Also, I couldn’t put it down, neglecting my routine chores and tasks.
Thank you for the way you “cover” our history and heritage. Your magazine makes me feel as if I’m part of something good and lasting. It’s pride I feel when I read Pennsylvania Heritage.
Mary S. Loeser
Philadelphia, Pa.
A Small World
I write to commend you on your wonderful magazine, specifically for the article entitled “Edward Drinker Cope, Pennsylvania’s Greatest Naturalist,” [by Spencer G. Lucas and Robert M. Sullivan] that appeared in the Fall 2005 issue. In the article, the authors mentioned Joseph Leidy and O.C. Marsh and several scientists and noted their contributions to the field. One of the scientists the authors named was Charles H. Sternberg, one of the greatest fossil collectors of his time. He explored the vast landscapes of the American West and South America.
Charles H. Sternberg (1850–1943) was a great-great-cousin of mine. A few years ago when visiting the High Desert Museum at Bend, Oregon, I stumbled across an exhibit on fossils and fossil hunters, and Sternberg was one of the individuals featured. In the museum store, I discovered a book written about my cousin, The Sternberg Fossil Hunters — A Dinosaur Dynasty, by a family friend, Katherine Rogers, a journalism professor retired from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas. I communicated with Rogers a few years before her death in the 1990s.
She sent me a lot of information and directed me to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History at the university and its director, Jerry R. Choate. My wife Margaret and I visited Dr. Choate and the museum several years ago and found it to be a “state-of-the-art” facility which includes works of art of all kinds and a multitude of hands-on activities for visitors of all ages, with a special section just for children.
G. Alan Sternbergh
Chambersburg, Pa.
Etcetera
“PHMC Highlights” appearing in the Fall 2006 edition of Pennsylvania Heritage mistakenly stated, “normally, ten years must pass after the death of an individual to be considered for a [state historical] marker.” Recent markers commemorate individuals and events such as Edmund N. Bacon (1910–2005), internationally noted Philadelphia urban planner, and bandleader Les Brown Sr. (1912–2001), both in 2006; actor Jimmy Stewart (1908–1997), in 1998; famous contralto Marian Anderson (1897-1993), in 1993; and the 2002 Quecreek Mine Accident and Rescue, in 2006. The editor regrets the error.
