Philadelphia Cream Cheese: The Pennsylvania Story

Posted by on Dec 1, 2025 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia Cream Cheese: The Pennsylvania Story Whether smeared on a bagel, baked into cheesecake, or stuffed in peppers, Philadelphia Cream Cheese is a popular dairy product found in kitchens across the United States and throughout the world. Various sources note that the origin of cream cheese is not in Philadelphia but in New York State. Yet, its history is more nuanced than those common fast facts. The product has a complex history that...
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Monument Man: Chester County’s John Gheen Taylor and His Memorials

Posted by on Sep 8, 2025 in | Comments Off on Monument Man: Chester County’s John Gheen Taylor and His Memorials In Pennsylvania’s Chester County there is an old burial ground called Birmingham Lafayette Cemetery. While it may seem quiet outside the cemetery’s gates, behind them is a collection of monuments that speak loudly, telling a story that once captured the attention of the nation. Between 1893 and 1913, a determined West Chester local named John Gheen Taylor made it his mission to erect certain...
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The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: 300 Years of the Highest Court in the Commonwealth

Posted by on May 13, 2022 in | Comments Off on The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: 300 Years of the Highest Court in the Commonwealth The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania was established on May 22, 1722, in Philadelphia, Bucks and Chester counties, 67 years before the United States Supreme Court came into existence. It is the oldest appellate court in the nation. Its status became official as part of the Judiciary Act of 1722, separating it from the control of the royal governor. The act made significant progress in establishing...
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Lincoln University

Posted by on Nov 29, 2021 in | Comments Off on Lincoln University Pennsylvania has the distinction of hosting the nation’s first two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Cheyney and Lincoln universities. Both schools were established to provide people of African descent with higher education opportunities that were profoundly lacking in the 19th century. Cheyney, founded in 1837, initially provided training in trades and agriculture and the...
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Pennsylvania’s Forgotten Roseland: George Cochran Lambdin and Rose Culture in Germantown

Posted by on Aug 23, 2021 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania’s Forgotten Roseland: George Cochran Lambdin and Rose Culture in Germantown Hugh Scott (1900–94), a Pennsylvania lawmaker and Republican who served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1947–59, and the U.S. Senate, 1959–77, was an avid rosarian who actively worked to have the rose proclaimed as the official flower of the United States — a feat he accomplished when President Ronald Reagan signed appropriate legislation in 1986. A resident of Philadelphia, Scott came...
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Chicken and Waffles: The Pennsylvania Story

Posted by on Dec 28, 2020 in | Comments Off on Chicken and Waffles: The Pennsylvania Story In his 1861 local-color novel The Young Parson, German Reformed minister Peter Seibert Davis (1828–92) described chicken and waffles as the “stereotypical” Sunday supper among the Pennsylvania Dutch. How this dish moved from a regional identity food into mainstream American cookery is indeed a complicated story, especially since chicken and waffles reached its height of popularity during the...
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Trailheads

Posted by on Oct 15, 2020 in | Comments Off on Trailheads Charter Day – always the second Sunday in March – kicks off the spring season on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. Public program schedules start to fill up, and the influx of school group visits reaches its peak. Spring lambs and other animal babies make their appearance at sites with livestock programs, and our many gardens show signs of new life as well. For up-to-date...
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The Inventor from Ercildoun: William Chester Ruth

Posted by on Oct 13, 2020 in | Comments Off on The Inventor from Ercildoun: William Chester Ruth It is apt to remember inventor William Chester Ruth (1882–1971) as a pinion in both his community and his machine shop and as a bridge between cultures and eras. The son of a man who had been enslaved until his 13th year and a woman from a distinguished free Black family, “Chester” displayed both confirmation of talent inherited from his parents and his own innovative path to the future. Steeped...
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High on a Mountain: Pennsylvania’s Legacy of Country Music

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on High on a Mountain: Pennsylvania’s Legacy of Country Music In 1607 Great Britain commenced the establishment of two colonial plantations. One of these was Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America. The other was much closer to home. The Ulster plantation was formed in the nine northern counties of Ireland. The goal of the colony was, in part, to extend British and Anglican hegemony over the Catholic and...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Jun 4, 2020 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter With the recent premiere of Country Music, director Ken Burns has launched another epic PBS TV docuseries that amplifies the significance of an enduring American institution. In this issue’s cover story, “High on a Mountain,” we follow up with a look at Pennsylvania’s key role in the evolution of country music and the state’s later contributions to the genre. Author Joe Baker takes us on a...
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