Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, we continue our series of articles on Pennsylvania in the American Revolution. Three features in this edition focus on individuals of the era and their contributions to the new nation. British emigrant Thomas Paine arrived in Philadelphia in November 1774 and soon began working as the editor of Pennsylvania Magazine. In January 1776, he...
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From the Executive Director

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director Over the past 40 years, technology has transformed how people connect — with one another and with information. At the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC), we’ve seen remarkable progress in using digital tools to enhance engagement with the history we steward: the documents, maps and photographs preserved in the Pennsylvania State Archives; information about historical...
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“The Power of Many Giants” at the 1876 Centennial Exposition

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on “The Power of Many Giants” at the 1876 Centennial Exposition Amid the pageantry and grandeur of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition’s opening ceremony, one event towered above all others. On May 10, 1876, thousands of visitors crowded into Machinery Hall to watch President Ulysses S. Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil climb atop a gigantic Corliss steam engine. On a platform on top of the 45-foot-tall machine, the two heads of state pulled two...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2026

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2026 Topics in the Winter 2026 Newsletter: Winter Events of the Trails of History Forthcoming U.S. 250th Events on the Trails of History Winter-2026-newsletter...
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Bettis: Where Pittsburgh Aviation Took Off by Brian Butko and Sue Morris

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Bettis: Where Pittsburgh Aviation Took Off by Brian Butko and Sue Morris Bettis Where Pittsburgh Aviation Took Off by Brian Butko and Sue Morris Senator John Heinz History Center, 124 pp., paperback $19.95 Most of the 9 million people flying to or through Pittsburgh know only Pittsburgh International Airport, a sprawling, 10,000-acre facility, the largest civil-aviation field in Pennsylvania today. But in fact, it’s only the latest in a succession of four major...
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William Penn: A Radical, Conservative Quaker by J. William Frost

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on William Penn: A Radical, Conservative Quaker by J. William Frost William Penn A Radical, Conservative Quaker by J. William Frost Pennsylvania State University Press, 258 pp., hardcover $119.95, paperback $29.99 In this learned and revealing study of William Penn’s Quaker ideas, identity and interests, J. William Frost provides close readings and brilliant exegesis of Penn’s many and varied writings, preachments and speeches that dispel several myths and...
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Back to the Cloister Fund

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Back to the Cloister Fund In 1925, Rev. Samuel Zerfass faced a quandary. He needed a new suit, but he lacked the funds for such a substantial purchase. Zerfass was a minister with the Society of German Seventh Day Baptists, a last vestige of the Ephrata Cloister religious community. With a dwindling membership and an entire campus of historic structures in disrepair, financial resources were limited. Undaunted, Zerfass...
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“Scenes of War Are Not Forgotten” The Civil War Drawings of Anthony Goldsmith

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on “Scenes of War Are Not Forgotten” The Civil War Drawings of Anthony Goldsmith “The scenes of war have long since past and the Ex Soldiers have long since settled down to peaceful vocations of life yet the scenes of war are not forgotten,” a Civil War veteran wrote in an 1889 letter to his former comrade-in-arms Anthony Goldsmith (1839–99). “The picket[,] the Skirmish line[,] the Battles[,] the Raids and night marches are all fresh in our memories, yet there are many...
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Bath Crossroads Historic District

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Bath Crossroads Historic District Nearly 40 years before the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, the quaint village of Bath began to emerge in Northampton County, just 8 miles north of Bethlehem. Thanks to recent local preservation efforts by the Bath Borough’s Historic Architectural Review Board, approximately 34 acres of the original crossroads village is now listed in the National Register of Historic...
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Haym Salomon, Financier Who Helped Fund a Revolution

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Haym Salomon, Financier Who Helped Fund a Revolution The story of Haym Salomon (1740–85) is both inspiring and deeply bittersweet. One of the most successful financiers of the American Revolution, he directly supported the final victories of the Continental Army, yet he died in poverty. Born in Leszno, Poland–Lithuania, to a Jewish family, Salomon traveled across Western Europe in his early adulthood, learning multiple languages and acquiring...
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