Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Aug 13, 2021 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter The cover of this edition features a poignant watercolor portrait, Woman in Blue, Waiting, by a Philadelphia artist whose work has been regrettably overlooked in the past but is now being rediscovered as new studies and exhibitions, as well as a preservation effort to save his home, have emerged in recent years. Printmaker and painter Dox Thrash sought to document the African American experience...
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Piecing Together Pandenarium: Archaeology at the Site of a Free Black Community in Western Pennsylvania

Posted by on Mar 22, 2021 in | Comments Off on Piecing Together Pandenarium: Archaeology at the Site of a Free Black Community in Western Pennsylvania In 1854 newly freed African American men, women and children hailing from a plantation in Ablemarle County, Virginia, arrived at a dusty country crossroads in northwestern Pennsylvania’s Mercer County. Estimates vary, but approximately 63 free people settled together on 100 acres of their own land. Local abolitionists prepared for the arrival by building houses along the hill, digging wells, and...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Mar 19, 2021 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter History is revisited and revised not only because newly found or overlooked evidence is uncovered through the years but also because distance in time and transformations in society often call for a fresh outlook to provide context and meaning for readers today. The features in this edition of Pennsylvania Heritage are written by experts who have been involved in extensive research in their...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2021

Posted by on Feb 17, 2021 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2021 Topics in the Winter 2021 Newsletter: PHF Continues Partnership with The State Museum on Art of the State Art of the State Ceremony and Tours Presented Virtually for 2020 PHF Cosponsors Virtual Archaeology Workshops   Winter-2021-phf-newsletter    ...
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House on a Hill: Connecting with the Past in Western Pennsylvania

Posted by on Dec 3, 2020 in | Comments Off on House on a Hill: Connecting with the Past in Western Pennsylvania “It is our family and local histories that are our most precious parts of culture, in my estimation. They put ‘meat on the bones’ of the artifacts we find. Of course, all family history is myth until we have the documentation that backs it up.” — Lynne Humphries-Russ   The narrow access road was hidden, and I almost missed the turnoff. I was anxious to see the...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Spring 2020

Posted by on Oct 15, 2020 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Spring 2020 Topics in the Spring 2020 Newsletter: PHF Sponsors Opening Reception for Violet Oakley Exhibition PHF Cosponsors Workshops in Archaeology, with Focus on PA’s Native American Cultures America250PA Honors Servicemembers and Veterans   pennsylvania-heritage-foundation-newsletter-spring-2020...
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Archaeology at the Site of the Museum of the American Revolution by Rebecca Yamin

Posted by on Apr 14, 2020 in | Comments Off on Archaeology at the Site of the Museum of the American Revolution by Rebecca Yamin Archaeology at the Site of the Museum of the American Revolution A Tale of Two Taverns and the Growth of Philadelphia by Rebecca Yamin Temple University Press, 152 pp., paperback $19.95 Philadelphia’s rich archaeological heritage has benefited from urban archaeologist Rebecca Yamin’s passion for telling the stories of the colonists in one of America’s earliest cities. Research and excavations...
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Pleistocene Preserved: The Lost Bone Cave of Port Kennedy

Posted by on Feb 20, 2020 in | Comments Off on Pleistocene Preserved: The Lost Bone Cave of Port Kennedy On October 29, 1895, more than 90 members attended a meeting at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Following the routine business of the publication committee’s report and the announcement of one member’s death, Henry Chapman Mercer (1856–1930) rose to speak about the ongoing exploration of a geological feature known as Irwin’s Cave in Montgomery County. The Philadelphia Inquirer...
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The Oshnock Archaeology Collection

Posted by on Jun 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on The Oshnock Archaeology Collection Archaeologists at The State Museum of Pennsylvania plan to spend this summer entering thousands of Native American artifacts collected from western Pennsylvania into a database that will organize the objects according to specific sites and locations. It’s a lot of work, but not nearly as much as curators typically tackle when inventorying similar collections, thanks to the brothers...
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Shawnee-Minisink Archaeological Site

Posted by on Sep 9, 2016 in | Comments Off on Shawnee-Minisink Archaeological Site The Shawnee-Minisink site in Monroe County contains some of the earliest evidence of human occupation in eastern North America, carbon-14 dated to around 11,000 BCE. While other sites from the Paleoindian period have been found, very few have been undisturbed. Buried beneath nearly 8 feet of sediment, the archaeological deposits of Shawnee-Minisink remained protected for ages. Archaeologists...
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