Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor You Can Go Home Again! I so enjoyed the interview with James Michener in your winter 1993 edition (see “You Can Go Home Again: An Interview With James A. Michener” by Michael J. O’Malley III), which gave me a fascinating new insight into the life of this complex and great writer. I had been aware of his intense interest in art and artists, but prior to this interview, I had...
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New Sweden and The New World – History Lessons From the Morton Homestead

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on New Sweden and The New World – History Lessons From the Morton Homestead Years before William Penn and his Quaker followers set foot on America’s shores, Swedish settlers had established a settlement along the Delaware River and Bay. On this land, now part of both Pennsylvania and Delaware, stands the Morton Homestead, an emissary from a past, an emissary that tells the story of a powerful Swedish king, a white, sandy shore and primeval forest, peaceful fur...
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Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor New World Plaudits! I was captivated by the detailed article entitled “New Sweden and the New World – History Lessons from the Morton Homestead” by Sharon Hernes Silverman in the Winter 1999 edition. It treated one of my primary subjects of interest, John Morton (1725-1777). I have an observation about this founding father. Morton is among several signers of the Declaration of...
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A New Birth of Freedom

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A New Birth of Freedom President Lincoln listened patiently to Everett’s lengthy speech, noting the powerful cadence of his delivery. Then he rose, his lanky frame casting a shadow across the lectern. He reached into a pocket of his black frock coat and withdrew a single sheet of paper. He began his address with words that have since become immortal. A crowd of nearly fifteen thousand dignitaries, spectators,...
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The Lincoln Train is Coming!

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Lincoln Train is Coming! On Saturday morning, April 15, 1865, news of President Abraham Lincoln’s assas­sination reached Philadelphia. The treacher­ousness of the crime created a mix of feel­ings surging from fear and horror to inconsolable grief. A galvanized nation began mourning immediately. Printer cranked out broadside that were posted throughout Philadelphia lamenting the “Martyred Father.”...
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In Franklin’s Footsteps: An Interview with Ralph Archbold

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on In Franklin’s Footsteps: An Interview with Ralph Archbold Greater hero worship may be accorded to other historical figures, but Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) has, for better or worse, been more commonly identified with the American national character. His remarkable success as a printer, as well as the popularity of his essays, aphorisms, and almanacs, allowed him to spread his notions of industry and frugality among the common people. In the process,...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Down the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake By Jack Brubaker Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002 (288 pages, cloth, $34.95) As the largest river on the East Coast, the rolling Susquehanna River is the indispensable tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary. Gathering strength from the scores of streams along its four hundred and forty-four mile journey – ­three...
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Current and Coming

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Current and Coming Constitution Center Drawn up by nearly five dozen dele­gates to the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia during the swelter­ing summer of 1787, the Constitution of the United States is a system of the nation’s fundamental laws, defining distinct powers for the Congress, the president, and the federal courts. Ratified by the states the following year, the Constitution offers a...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Benjamin Rush: Patriot and Physician By Alan Brodsky St. Martin’s Press, 2004 (404 pages, cloth, $35.00) When Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) died, Thomas Jefferson wrote to John Adams that “a better man than Rush could not have left us, more benevolent, more learned, of finer genius, or more honest,” to which Adams replied that he knew “of no Character living or dead, who had...
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Slaves at the President’s House

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Slaves at the President’s House President George Washington arrived in Philadelphia on the morning of Sunday, November 21, 1790, exhausted and depressed. The journey north from Mount Vernon, his beloved Virginia plantation, had not been pleasant. Heavy rain made the roads impassable at various points along the route, extending the journey from two to three days. A drunken coachman overturned the president’s baggage wagon...
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