A Flag Bears Witness – Don’t Give Up The Ship

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Flag Bears Witness – Don’t Give Up The Ship A mere five words stitched on a flag in 1813 in a tiny frontier village produced one of the most enduring symbols in United States history. Two hundred years later those few words – Don’t Give Up The Ship – have become a stirring, unofficial motto of the U.S. Navy; a rallying cry; and a flag flown from masts of sailboats, yachts, tall ships, and more. The details of the War of...
read more

Christy Mathewson: Baseball’s Gentleman and Tragic Hero

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Christy Mathewson: Baseball’s Gentleman and Tragic Hero   On Wednesday, September 23, 1908, twenty thousand baseball fans packed New York City’s Polo Grounds to watch the hometown New York Giants host the reigning World Series champion and archrival, the Chicago Cubs. The contest would determine first place in the race for the coveted National League pennant. Right-handed pitcher Christy “Matty” Mathewson (1880–1925), a thirty-seven-game winner,...
read more

Peter F. Rothermel

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Peter F. Rothermel Best known — in Pennsylvania at least — as the artist of the colossal painting depicting Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863, the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Peter Frederick Rothermel (1817–1895) was born and raised in Nescopeck, Luzerne County. Following a public school education he moved to Philadelphia where he worked as a sign painter. He briefly studied drawing before...
read more

Behind the Scenes of the Allegheny Arsenal Explosion

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Behind the Scenes of the Allegheny Arsenal Explosion Share...
read more

All’s Fair: Philadelphia and the Civil War Sanitary Fair

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on All’s Fair: Philadelphia and the Civil War Sanitary Fair Share...
read more

Current and Coming

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Current and Coming Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Greatness More than five hundred objects, artifacts, documents, and photographs have been assembled for a landmark exhibit newly opened at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum in Allentown. Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Greatness explores the Keystone State’s impact on the sixteenth president’s life, political career, and rise to power. Lincoln’s great-great-grandfather...
read more

U.S. Sanitary Commission Great Central Fair

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on U.S. Sanitary Commission Great Central Fair Soon after the outbreak of the American Civil War it became apparent that sanitary conditions in camps and on the battlefields were less than ideal. A group of women in New York first organized efforts to improve conditions and provide comfort to soldiers. Similar groups throughout the North also began to form and it became clear that efforts would be more efficient if overseen by the federal...
read more

A Backward Glance at Thirty-Five Years Young

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Backward Glance at Thirty-Five Years Young Over the past thirty-five years, Pennsylvania Heritage has brought to readers hundreds of stories about the famous and the not-so-famous, of historic preservation struggles won and lost, and interviews with individuals who either shaped history or interpret it. Our thirty-fifth anniversary, which we’re observing with this edition, gives us a moment to pause and reflect on where we’ve been, where...
read more

Letters

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters Best Years of My Life My family lived in Phoenixville from 1927 to 1938, and the brief history of the community [“Chester County: View from Foot of Main Street, Showing Dam, Phoenixville, Pa.”] in the Summer 2009 edition was of special interest. Also, the article following it, “A Modest Fountain on the Square” by Bill Double, generated more memories of my formative years...
read more

Harnessing the Power of the Wind: A Contemporary Use for a Historic Energy Source

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Harnessing the Power of the Wind: A Contemporary Use for a Historic Energy Source Much like the oil farms of the last century were for drillers and riggers, Pennsylvania’s wind farms are proving grounds for engineers and technicians as they harness wind power. The long-standing use of wind power that for centuries propelled sailing vessels has been transformed throughout the world to produce electricity. Farmers used wind power in the late nineteenth and early twentieth...
read more