Poems by James Sweeney Boyle (1868-1925) of Tresckow, Pennsylvania

Posted by on May 9, 2017 in | Comments Off on Poems by James Sweeney Boyle (1868-1925) of Tresckow, Pennsylvania Over the Coals I Over the ice they pull the coals, Their fingers rent by a hundred holes; You may trace the path tom digits tread By the crimson stream on the iced chutes shed. Their heads are bowed and their bodies cramped, A painful look on their features stamped; Their knees are pressed against aching breasts Till bones are bent in the tender chests; And lungs are crushed in their chambers...
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Folklore and Oral History

Posted by on May 8, 2017 in | Comments Off on Folklore and Oral History Oral traditions, including folklore and oral history, are an important as­pect of any culture. At times, how­ever, it is difficult to distinguish be­tween the two. Both oral historians and folklorists, for example, are in­terested in the spoken word, the orally­-transmitted tradition or version, and in identifying the source of the mate­rial. Both are not so much interested in the actual event...
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Paesano: The Struggle to Survive in Ambridge

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Paesano: The Struggle to Survive in Ambridge For nearly three-quarters of a cen­tury, Lucy Derochis, my grandmother, has struggled successfully to preserve and convey her Italian heritage while living in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Her cultivation of familial closeness was rewarded when family members gath­ered to celebrate her eighty-ninth birthday on March 13, 1980. The dur­ability of the tight and close structure of an Italian-American...
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Whiskey Run: Where Coal Dust Mixed with Murder

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Whiskey Run: Where Coal Dust Mixed with Murder In an overgrown valley about 12 miles west of Indiana and one mile from West Lebanon lies the site of a mysterious R&P (Rochester and Pittsburgh) coal town known as Whiskey Run. For over fifty years, the community of Whiskey Run has been synonymous with violence, secrecy and unsolved murder. Even the source of the town’s name is uncertain, with several versions vying for authenticity....
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Now Hear This! Oral Histories at the Historical and Museum Commission

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Now Hear This! Oral Histories at the Historical and Museum Commission Something very healthy is happening in the field of American history which will profoundly influence future writing and thinking about our past. Oral historians are helping to change our sense of the social fabric of the country. In fact, it is difficult now to measure the meaning of our nation’s and Pennsyl­vania’s past, or the quality of American life, solely in terms of the...
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Christian Frederic Koch: Farrier and Blacksmith

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Christian Frederic Koch: Farrier and Blacksmith Today, people are rediscovering the value. beauty and utility of crafted items, qualities which our forefathers knew weU. Older gen­erations quickly came to appreciate the skills of craftsmen and relied upon the quality of their work. Of all the artisans, however, the blacksmith, per­haps, was the most respected. His workplace was an essential part of every community and neighborhood, offering...
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Rollers ‘n Strippers, Twofers ‘n Crooks: The Cigar Industry of Red Lion

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Rollers ‘n Strippers, Twofers ‘n Crooks: The Cigar Industry of Red Lion The present fades into the past quickly. Suddenly it is gone, leaving only memories and faded photographs: but this does not have to be. Dusting off decades of neglect, interested communities have uncovered their pasts and proudly displayed their heritages. One such town is Red lion. In conjunction with its centennial, Red Lion began to dust off its own nearly forgotten history: from the 1880s...
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The Stetson Company and Benevolent Feudalism

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Stetson Company and Benevolent Feudalism Philadelphia, during the first three decades of the twentieth century, was known for its great industrial enterprise. The city called itself the World’s Greatest Workshop and was a leader in the manufacture of more than 200 different items. It ranked first in the nation in the pro­duction of hosiery and knit goods, carpets and rugs, locomotives, street railway cars, saws, surgical...
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Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Oral Folklore in North Central Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Flatlanders and Ridgerunners: Oral Folklore in North Central Pennsylvania North Central Pennsyl­vania is a land of big forests, small towns and struggling dairy farms. Tioga, Bradford and Potter counties are well known for their abundant fish and game, their long winters and their colorful local people. Outsiders, often called “Flatlanders” by the natives, marvel at the wild and beautiful countryside and the quaint villages. But the visiting city or...
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The All-Too-Youthful Proletarians: Breaker Boys of the Anthracite Coal Region in the Early 1900s

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on The All-Too-Youthful Proletarians: Breaker Boys of the Anthracite Coal Region in the Early 1900s Many Pennsylvanians have long forgotten one of the state’s major claims to national prominence in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries-the anthra­cite coal industry. In those years, clean-burning anthracite heated more homes in the northeastern United States than any other fuel, and a 1,700 square-mile area in northeast Pennsyl­vania produced almost all of the nation’s...
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