Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter The roots of rock ‘n’ roll music have been traced to several places in America, Philadelphia among them. It was there in 1949 that the Gotham label released what is considered to be one of the first rock ‘n’ roll records, “Rock the Joint,” by Jimmy Preston & the Prestonians of Chester, Delaware County. “Rock the Joint” had an impact on another rock...
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From the Executive Director

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director Over the past few months I have been spending time with visitors in the new Pennsylvania Icons exhibit at The State Museum of Pennsylvania (see “Pennsylvania Icons: State Treasures Telling the Story of the Commonwealth,” Winter 2016). There is a small but very powerful section of the exhibit entitled “Pennsylvania and the Nation.” It is a dramatic reminder of the close connection between...
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Rock Ford Plantation

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Rock Ford Plantation Nestled in the rolling terrain of Lancaster’s Central Park, near the banks of the Conestoga River, sits historic Rock Ford Plantation, the stately Georgian-style manor of Revolutionary War general Edward Hand (1744-1802). Built in 1793 the nearly 200-acre farm offered respite from the bustle of nearby Lancaster for the Hand family. The property also included two barns, a tenant house, a...
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Pennsylvania Icons: State Treasures Telling the Story of the Commonwealth

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Icons: State Treasures Telling the Story of the Commonwealth   Pennsylvania Icons is a landmark exhibition at The State Museum of Pennsylvania that tells the story of the commonwealth and its people, places, industries, creations and events with more than 400 artifacts and specimens from the museum’s collection. The State Museum contains the largest and most comprehensive Pennsylvania history collection in the world, with a diverse array of objects...
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Pennsylvania Governors Residences Open to the Public

Posted by on Jul 17, 2015 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Governors Residences Open to the Public Pennypacker Mills Pennypacker Mills possesses a lengthy history dating to about 1720 when Hans Jost Hite built the fieldstone house and a gristmill near the Perkiomen Creek, Schwenksville, Montgomery County. Purchased in 1747 by Peter Pennypacker (1710-1770), the house was enlarged and a saw mill and a fulling mill were constructed. The property acquired its name for the three mills. Peter...
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The Brandywine by W. Barksdale Maynard

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on The Brandywine by W. Barksdale Maynard The Brandywine: An Intimate Portrait by W. Barksdale Maynard University of Pennsylvania Press, 256 pp, cloth $34.95 My life story is riverine. I was born near the Hudson, summered along the Neversink, went to college in view of the Potomac, attended graduate school at the confluence of the Schuylkill and the Delaware, and live uphill from the Susquehanna. I have a long-standing love affair with...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Recommends

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Recommends The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience Samuel W. Black, editor of a collection of eight essays comprising The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience (Senator John Heinz History Center in partnership with Pennsylvania Civil War 150, 2013, paper, 239 pages, $29.95), contends, “In various ways African Americans have been fighting for freedom for several...
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Executive Director’s Letter

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Executive Director’s Letter In January I enjoyed my first opportunity to spend several hours modestly researching at the Pennsylvania State Archives. I donned white cotton gloves and searched through many boxes of postcards looking for images that would reveal to our visitors the Commonwealth’s rich diversity with minimal need for words or labels. This collection, Manuscript Group 213, spanning from the 19th century to the...
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Looking Back at the Year: 2013

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on Looking Back at the Year: 2013 As 2013 draws to a close it’s time to look back at several of the highlights we covered in the Trailheads blog this year. As always, the historic sites and museums along the Pennsylvania Trails of History faced challenges with patience and perseverance, as paid and volunteer staff worked to provide engaging programs, tours and exhibits for visitors and for their local communities. The ongoing...
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From Wilkes-Barre to the Wild West: George Catlin, Indian Painter

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on From Wilkes-Barre to the Wild West: George Catlin, Indian Painter His early exposure to American Indians indelibly impressed northeastern Pennsylvania native George Catlin (1796–1872). His mother Mary “Polly” Sutton Catlin (1770–1844), married in 1789 to Putnam Catlin (1764–1842), formed his earliest impressions of Native Americans. With her mother Sarah Smith Sutton (1747–1834) she was captured and held captive at the age of seven by Iroquois. The day was...
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