Daisy E. Lampkin: Activist for Racial and Gender Equality

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on Daisy E. Lampkin: Activist for Racial and Gender Equality Daisy E. Lampkin (1883–1965) dedicated her life to advancing the rights of  women and African Americans in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. Born Daisy Elizabeth Adams in Washington, D.C., she spent her childhood in Reading, Berks County, before moving to Pittsburgh in 1909 and marrying restauranteur William Lampkin in 1912. She began her public career at the height of...
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Kutztown Folk Festival: America’s Oldest Folklife Celebration

Posted by on Mar 13, 2020 in | Comments Off on Kutztown Folk Festival: America’s Oldest Folklife Celebration The Kutztown Folk Festival, originally called the Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Festival, is a milestone among American community celebrations. Observing 70 years in 2019, it is the first and longest-running folklife festival in the history of the United States. Although many other popular celebrations preceded the Kutztown festival, it has had a national impact as the first festival founded and...
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Lost Revolutionary War-Era Legislative Minutes Returned / Scholars in Residence

Posted by on Jan 14, 2020 in | Comments Off on Lost Revolutionary War-Era Legislative Minutes Returned / Scholars in Residence Lost Revolutionary War-Era Legislative Minutes Returned A lost original volume of the minutes of Pennsylvania’s unicameral Revolutionary War–era General Assembly was recently returned to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for safekeeping at the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg, Dauphin County. The book, with entries dated from March 16 through September 27, 1779, and pages numbered 1...
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Stockings, Cap Braids and Bomber Turrets: Wyomissing Industries Mobilizes for World War II

Posted by on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on Stockings, Cap Braids and Bomber Turrets: Wyomissing Industries Mobilizes for World War II   “Textile Machine Works suspends production of knitting machines for the duration.” – The Yarn Carrier, October 1942 The Textile Machine Works was one of a handful of companies with common ownership that became known as Wyomissing Industries, located just west of Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The 13,430th and last knitting machine, a “Reading” model, was the embodiment of 40 years...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter In Pennsylvania Heritage, we often run stories related to current anniversaries. Anniversaries give us the opportunity to focus on moments that have remained significant from our shared past — in our case as a community of Pennsylvanians — to gain a better perspective on what came before us and how the achievements, challenges and even misfortunes of history can instruct us in the present. Three...
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Der Belsnickel: Nicholas in Furs or Hairy Devil?

Posted by on Oct 24, 2019 in | Comments Off on Der Belsnickel: Nicholas in Furs or Hairy Devil? “There was a rush of noise outside that broke the silence of the winter night — a clanking of chains and a scratching at the kitchen window. Mother encouraged my brother and me to leave the dinner table to see who was outside. At the window, a ghastly masked face greeted us with an unearthly cackle. Clad in a rumpled fur overcoat, the figure carried an old gunnysack in one hand and a bundle of...
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Hunter Liggett, World War I General from Reading

Posted by on Oct 22, 2019 in | Comments Off on Hunter Liggett, World War I General from Reading Hunter Liggett (1857–1935), born and raised in Reading, Berks County, was a senior officer in the U.S. Army during World War I. When America entered the war, he was given command of the 41st Division, which arrived in France in late 1917 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. He then commanded I Corps and later the First Army. Liggett had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West...
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Worthy of Preservation? Considering the Future of Architecture in Historic Preservation

Posted by on Aug 22, 2017 in | 0 comments The roots of historic preservation run deep in this country, especially in Pennsylvania. Taking hold in the 19th century as a response to unchecked modern development, the field has grown into a multidisciplinary profession, but what galvanizes concerned citizens to oppose the demolition of historic properties for new construction remains much the same today as two centuries ago. After the U.S....
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John Updike’s Pennsylvania Interviews by James Plath

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on John Updike’s Pennsylvania Interviews by James Plath John Updike’s Pennsylvania Interviews edited by James Plath Lehigh University Press, 294 pp., cloth $85 Born in Reading, Berks County, and raised in nearby Shillington and Plowville, author John Updike, like the main character Harry Angstrom in his Rabbit series of novels, often tried to escape Pennsylvania in his literary work, but he always seemed to come back home. This book, with its...
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Powwowing: Ritual Healing in Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Posted by on Dec 13, 2016 in | Comments Off on Powwowing: Ritual Healing in Pennsylvania Dutch Country It was just after dark when the powwow doctor arrived at the elderly woman’s home in Lebanon County. The woman had been suffering from swelling in her legs that made walking difficult. Regular medical treatment had proven to be unsuccessful, so after enduring several months of painful discomfort, she called a powwower on the advice of a friend. Tonight would be the third successive...
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