Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter This edition of Pennsylvania Heritage carries important messages about citizenship. As we celebrate the birthdays of American presi­dents, reflect on the efforts of African Americans during Black History Month in February, and launch a three hundredth birth­day celebration for Benjamin Franklin, the articles in this issue remind us of both our rights and responsibilities as citizens. My...
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A Conversation about Citizenship

Posted by on Nov 24, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Conversation about Citizenship Barbara Franco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), recently discussed the importance of citizen training with Pennsylvania’s First Lady, Judge Marjorie O.Rendell, and Richard Stengel, president and chief executive officer of the National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia. Judge Rendell is active in promoting citizenship education through the...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter Each year Penn State Harrisburg’s Center for Survey Research conducts a statewide poll. This year’s survey asked a sampling of residents how important Pennsylvania fhistory is to them and in what ways do they experience or support it. Over the years, Pennsylvania Heritage Society members and readers of Pennsylvania Heritage have regularly expressed their deep appreciation for the history and...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter This spring marks the launch of a number of exciting initiatives celebrating important people, places, and events in our history. In anticipation of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in 2009 celebrating the 200th anniversary of the sixteenth president’s birth in 1809, Governor Edward G. Rendell has appointed a state commission to work with the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission to...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage reiterates how individuals from various backgrounds and time periods and with a variety of goals have shaped the Keystone State’s past and present. Philadelphia heiress Katharine M. Drexel eschewed wealth and privilege to pursue a religious life devoted to helping others. The story of the Blooming Grove Hunting and Fishing Club chronicles the efforts of its...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter William Penn first visited Pennsylvania 325 years ago this October. He arrived aboard the Welcome after an arduous journey of two months. “I am come well hither, I thank God,” he wrote, “and like the land, air and food very well.” In December 1682, he called the first meeting of the Pennsylvania Assembly that met for four days to establish procedural rules and pass an act of naturalization for...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter In March 2008, Pennsylvania will once again mark the anniversary of the granting of the 1681 Charter to William Penn by England’s King Charles II for the land that became the colony and eventually the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) will conduct Heritage Week activities from Friday through Sunday, March 7–16, to celebrate the Keystone...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter Two articles in this issue of Pennsylvania Heritage underscore the important roles cultural organizations have played — and continue to play — in the education and enlightenment of Pennsylvanians. Regularly contributing freelance writer Jim McClelland’s article celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia attributes its beginnings to the volunteer work...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage showcases star players from Pennsylvania – Christy Mathewson, whose prowess shone on the baseball diamond, and the Barrymores of Philadelphia, whose stage and screen performances delighted generations of audiences. David Lembeck’s article on New Deal murals in Pennsylvania focuses on artists and their works for post offices under the auspices of the U.S....
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter Pennsylvania prides itself as a place steeped in history and tradition. Each autumn, Pennsylvanians celebrate their rich agricultural heritage with harvest events, from apple festivals, replete with demonstrations — and samples — of apple butter making, to losing oneself in corn mazes, labyrinths that have become enormously popular in recent years. In communities throughout the Commonwealth,...
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