If Only the Walls Could Talk: The Story of the Federal Barn

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on If Only the Walls Could Talk: The Story of the Federal Barn “There is no building that does nor develop some unexpected charm with age; but the early American barn, taking into consideration its reason for being, I’ve found to be an exceptional and impressive subject. The growth of moss, the dust of hay, the powdering of mortar in joints, the mellowing of cut stone, the aging of wood – all things thought to be unfortunate – are...
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An Epic in the Making

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on An Epic in the Making “It’s exciting. It’s moving. It’s surprising. It’s suspenseful It’s filled with men who became heroes, and women who became legends. It’s an epic 300 years in the making. It’s Pennsylvania history. Experience it. It’s too good to miss.”   Motivation is tough to describe, even tougher to define. It’s the stuff acting is made...
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Chester County Welcomes Thee

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Chester County Welcomes Thee The history of Chester County constitutes a significant part of the history of Pennsylvania, both province and commonwealth, and of the history of the United States of America. At the beginning of our nation’s Bicentennial and on the threshold of our state’s and our county’s tricentennial celebrations, Chester County looks proudly upon its past accomplishments and with...
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How to Uncover Black Family History

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on How to Uncover Black Family History Genealogy has replaced astrology as America’s favorite topic at social gatherings. Several factors are responsible in sparking the present upsurge in Black genealogy. The civil rights movement of the 1960’s encouraged a feeling of Black solidarity that had not existed before. Marches, demonstrations, and mass jailings brought together diverse elements of the Black community and made...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Guide to Photo­graphs at the Pennsylvania State Archives by Linda A. Ries Pennsylvania Histori­cal and Museum Commission, 1993 (229 pages, paper, $6.95) Although the Pennsylvania State Archives safeguards mostly documentary materi­als – such as the private and personal papers of individuals, governmental records, maps, military records, industrial reports, and similar archival items...
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Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor Back to Barnes The summer 1992 issue featured a salute to Frankford historian Howard L. Barnes (“Profile: Howard L. Barnes, Dean of Philadelphia’s Amateur Historians” by William C. Kashatus III), in which I noted as especially curious his claim of Swedish settlers occupying the Frankford area in the 1660s. Darby, in Delaware County, also boasts continuous permanent settlement...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Famous Faces John W. Mosley (1907-1969), characterized by an admirer as “our most magnificent and beloved photographer,” was Philadelphia’s leading black photographer, whose images appeared in nearly every African American newspaper on the East Coast (see “His Eye Was On The Positive” by Richard D. Beards in the winter 1990 edition of Pennsylvania Heritage)....
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Iron Weathervane (1699)

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Iron Weathervane (1699) Wrought in 1699 by an unknown blacksmith work­ing in either Pennsylvania or England, an iron weath­ervane that once adorned a mill in present-day Delaware County is a prized acquisition of Philadelphia’s venerable Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The seventeenth century weathervane suggests the trades of craftsmen of vital importance to frontier settlements: millwrights, who built...
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Brandywine Battlefield Park

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Brandywine Battlefield Park The campaign at Brandywine Battlefield Park the site of the famous Revolutionary War battle, comes to life for visitors as they tour fascinating exhibits and stroll the bucolic – and historic – grounds in Delaware County. Although General George Washington’s forces were defeated at Brandywine in September 1777 in their valiant struggle for control of strategic territory near...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Exciting Erie Before the arrival of white settlers, the southern shores of Lake Erie were inhabited by the Eriez Indians of Iroquois stock until they were virtually eliminated, by 1655, through war with the Seneca nation. A century later, the French, recognizing the military and trade advantages that Lake Erie and its waterways offered, found a harbor ideally suited for a fort, which they named...
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