Caroline Burnham Kilgore, Legal Crusader

Posted by Alli Davis on Aug 29, 2025 in | Comments Off on Caroline Burnham Kilgore, Legal Crusader Caroline “Carrie” Burnham Kilgore (1838–1909) was a trailblazer in the fight for women’s rights in the legal profession, but she was not alone. Many women in Pennsylvania faced the same barriers she did, struggling for decades against systemic exclusion from law schools and the bar. Kilgore’s success in 1885, when she became the first woman admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania, was part of a...
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Douglas L. Allison, Civil War Veteran and Professional Baseball’s First Modern Catcher

Posted by Richard Saylor on Aug 25, 2025 in | Comments Off on Douglas L. Allison, Civil War Veteran and Professional Baseball’s First Modern Catcher The Pennsylvania State Archives holds the American Civil War muster rolls for Pennsylvania-raised troops in its collection. Entries in these rolls include essential information about the soldiers who served in the conflict, and they are used by historians, genealogists, students and other patrons to trace the lives of individuals who fought in the war and went on to other pursuits. One of the...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by Kyle Weaver on Aug 25, 2025 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter One hundred years ago, Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum — now a site on PHMC’s Pennsylvania Trails of History — opened to the public. It was founded by two free-spirited brothers, Henry and George Landis, who essentially devoted their lives to building a massive collection of artifacts related to Pennsylvania German rural life and culture. Conestoga wagons, farm implements and machinery,...
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From the Executive Director

Posted by Andrea Lowery on Aug 25, 2025 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director In recent news reports, many of you have heard about the loss of federal grants for museums and historical organizations. Over the past few months, I have been asked often about the effect this has had on the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. For context, as of this past spring, many museums across the country lost grants that had been competitively awarded by the National...
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Edward Holland Blacksmith Shop

Posted by John Wood on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Edward Holland Blacksmith Shop Edward Ellis Holland (1888–1964) worked as a blacksmith in North Union Township, Fayette County, for more than 40 years. In 1910, at age 21, Holland owned his own shop (shown here), located behind his residence on Coolspring Street. His services included general blacksmithing and farrier work. By 1921, with the rising prominence of the automobile, Holland had expanded his business to include the...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Spring 2025

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Spring 2025 Topics in the Spring 2025 Newsletter: PHF Offers Scholarships for Essays on PA’s Underrecognized History Members Enjoy Return of PHF Bus Trips Sloan Joins PHF Board   Spring-2025-PHF-Newsletter...
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Philadelphia: A Narrative History by Paul Kahan

Posted by Isabel Steven on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia: A Narrative History by Paul Kahan Philadelphia A Narrative History by Paul Kahan University of Pennsylvania Press, 424 pp., hardcover $39.95 Ambitious in scope, Philadelphia: A Narrative History delivers a deft and accessible narrative of one of America’s oldest cities, and one that, according to Paul Kahan, “does a terrible job remembering most of its own history.” De-centering the traditional narrative that focuses on colonial...
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Cradle of Conservation by Allen Dieterich-Ward

Posted by Char Miller on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Cradle of Conservation by Allen Dieterich-Ward Cradle of Conservation An Environmental History of Pennsylvania by Allen Dieterich-Ward Temple University Press, 144 pp., paperback $19.95 Cradle of Conservation is the first comprehensive analysis of the commonwealth’s environmental history and is a superb addition to the Pennsylvania History Series. Better still, this slim volume offers a compelling model for any state eager to better...
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Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania 50

Posted by Patrick Morrison on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania 50 Rising from the rolling hills and lush farmlands of Lancaster County is a sprawling complex of exhibit buildings, train tracks, and historic railroad equipment. Together, they tell the story of how railroads changed the lives of people for more than two centuries. For 50 years now, the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has preserved and interpreted the commonwealth’s rich railroad history. It has...
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A Quarter-Millennium of Charcoal Burning at Hopewell Furnace

Posted by Thomas Straka on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on A Quarter-Millennium of Charcoal Burning at Hopewell Furnace Twice a year, in May and August, volunteer colliers, or charcoal makers, burn a charcoal pit at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site as part of a living history demonstration that can be traced back to 1936. In 19th-century parlance, the colliers would be called “charcoal burners.” Charcoal burning at Hopewell Furnace itself can be traced back to 1771, the year ironmaster Mark Bird’s Hopewell...
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