“Without Fear and Without Reproach”: Octavius V. Catto and the Early Civil Rights Movement in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Feb 5, 2021 in | Comments Off on “Without Fear and Without Reproach”: Octavius V. Catto and the Early Civil Rights Movement in Pennsylvania On Tuesday, September 26, 2017, the City of Philadelphia unveiled a monument to Octavius V. Catto in a ceremony at the southwestern apron of City Hall. Catto was a cornerstone figure in Philadelphia’s early civil rights struggle — a recruiter of an African American militia during the Civil War, an instrumental figure in the victory to desegregate Philadelphia’s horse-drawn streetcars, a...
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Biz Mackey, a Giant Behind the Plate by Rich Westcott

Posted by on Nov 12, 2019 in | Comments Off on Biz Mackey, a Giant Behind the Plate by Rich Westcott Biz Mackey, a Giant behind the Plate The Story of the Negro League Star and Hall of Fame Catcher by Rich Westcott Temple University Press, 208 pp., cloth $27.50 Rich Westcott, former president of the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association, commonly maintains that professional baseball, with its complicated racial history, “is not one that can be easily digested.” While true, the career of James...
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Major League Murder

Posted by on Nov 11, 2019 in | Comments Off on Major League Murder Samuel Byrem “Red” Crane’s life was one of extremes. Born on September 13, 1894, in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, he achieved the pinnacle of his chosen profession early in his adult life, playing seven seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1914–16, and the Washington Senators, 1917, before a two-year hiatus in the minor leagues, 1918–19. He returned to MLB,...
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Herb Pennock, Baseball Hall of Famer and World War I Vet

Posted by on Jun 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Herb Pennock, Baseball Hall of Famer and World War I Vet Herbert Jefferis “Herb” Pennock (1894-1948) was born and raised in Kennett Square, Chester County. He was reared in the Religious Society of Friends, or Quaker, faith. He was the son of Mary L. (Sharp) and Theodore Pennock, a well-to-do businessman whose lineage in Pennsylvania stretched back to 1685, when Christopher Pennock immigrated to Philadelphia from Ireland. Nicknamed the...
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Keep the Boys in College! How World War I Produced a Penn State Football Legend

Posted by on Dec 13, 2016 in | Comments Off on Keep the Boys in College! How World War I Produced a Penn State Football Legend Pennsylvanians who remember Glenn Killinger (1898–1988) often envision the legendary coach of West Chester State Teachers’ College football and baseball teams during the decades that spanned 1933 to 1970. His name often comes up in conversations about Paul “Bear” Bryant as one of the two unbending football minds who led the North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters to one of the...
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Native Philadelphian Cherokee Fisher: From Andersonville Prison to Major League Baseball

Posted by on Jun 6, 2016 in | Comments Off on Native Philadelphian Cherokee Fisher: From Andersonville Prison to Major League Baseball William C. “Cherokee” Fisher was born in Philadelphia in November 1844. As a young man he desired an opportunity to defend his country in the American Civil War, so he enlisted for a three-year term on October 11, 1862, as a private in Company A of the 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, also known as the 152nd Pennsylvania Volunteers. This company was recruited in his hometown of Philadelphia....
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A Pitcher, A President and a Home Movie

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on A Pitcher, A President and a Home Movie In November 2013 the Pennsylvania State Archives was contacted by Mrs. Judith Savastio regarding a home movie that her father filmed. She had questions about preserving the film and was interested in finding a repository for its permanent care. Mrs. Savastio’s father, Major League Baseball pitcher James “Jimmie” DeShong (1909-1993), shot the film on his new 8mm home movie...
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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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Soaring above the Sandlots: The Garfield Eagles

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Soaring above the Sandlots: The Garfield Eagles Baseball was first and foremost among American sports, but it is only a summer game. Its place in the seasons bas much to do with its charm. In March and April, after sport’s tiempo muerto, many are willing to endure cold snaps and icy spring rains. But in the fall, each sunset foreshadows season’s end as baseball runs its course. Some pursued it year-round, in Cuba and Mexico,...
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Zane Grey: Pennsylvania’s Rider of the Purple Sage

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Zane Grey: Pennsylvania’s Rider of the Purple Sage The sun-dappled amber waters of the Lackawaxen River whisper their way through the templed hills of eastern Pennsylvania until they meet the more placid waters of the Delaware. At the confluence of the two rivers in Pike County is the hamlet of Lackawaxen. There, three quarters of a century ago, a young unknown dentist from New York City discovered the respite he desired from the harried life of...
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