Shorts

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Shorts An exhibition of prints, pastels, drawings, and oil paintings by J. Howard Iams (1897-1964) to commemorate the bicentennial of the Whiskey Rebellion (see “The Whiskey Boys Versus the Watermelon Army” by Jerry Clouse in the spring 1991 issue, and “The Tax Collector of Bower Hill” by Chadwick Allen Harp in the fall 1992 edition) is on view at the Westmoreland Museum of Art...
read more

Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf J. Horace McFarland: A Thorn for Beauty by Ernest Morrison Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1995 (393 pages, cloth, $19.95) Three-quarters of a century ago, his was a name known throughout the na­tion. To some, he was ordained the “High Priest of the Rose.” To others, he was christened the “Father of the National Park Service.” And to even more, he was...
read more

Daniel Boone Homestead

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Daniel Boone Homestead Visit the actual site where the legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820) was born and raised – and learn how the Keystone State was settled in the eighteenth century. This fascinating historic site in Berks County interprets the life of the Boone family and examines the heritage of the region’s early settlers – among them English Quaker, German, Swiss, Huguenot, and...
read more

Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf The Lincoln Highway by Brian A. Butko Stackpole Books, 1996 (321 pages, paper, $16.95) Established in 1913, the Lincoln Highway became the first automobile roadway to cross the United States. It stretched east from New York’s Tunes Square to San Francisco at a time when rural roads were little more than rutty wagon paths. The Lincoln Highway Association was organized “to procure the...
read more

Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor It’s a Small World I am a maker of miniature furniture and tremendously enjoyed “Finding the Fabulous Furniture of the Mahantongo Valley” by Henry M. Reed in the fall 1995 edition. Needless to write, this particular issue is a real inspiration. My interest in pieces made in the Mahantongo Valley of Pennsylvania stems from my love for painted furniture and for historical...
read more

Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Wrecks and Rescues In the early nineteenth century, the shore posed great danger to sailing ships seeking to reach port. The long and lonely approaches to coastal cities, such as Philadelphia, were poorly marked stretches of sand dunes and salt marshes with a few isolated settlements. Unexpected storms with winds blowing from the northeast could suddenly force a ship onto perilous sandbars...
read more

Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents Journey in Time Prom the first interior scenes of Pennsbury Manor, in which light seems to caress each object-pewter bowl, chair, blanket chest-viewers of “Historic Pennsylvania: A Journey to America’s Past” will know this is masterful cinematography. As the camera moves a short distance from the mansion’s front door to the lush banks of the Delaware River, a dazzling...
read more

Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf African Americans in Pennsylvania: Shifting Historical Perspectives by Joe William Trotter Jr. and Eric Ledell Smith, editors The Penn State University Press and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1997 (519 pages; cloth, $45.00, paper, $19.95) Dedicated to “the African American people of Pennsylvania” and intended to honor “the historians who have diligently...
read more

Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Connie Mack’s ’29 Triumph: The Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Athletics Dynasty by William C. Kashatus McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999 (216 pages, cloth, $28.50) To baseball historians, Connie Mack (1862-1956) is a star among managers. His professionalism, penetrating knowledge of the game, and ability to handle his players helped him claim nine pennants, win five World...
read more

Glass Trumpet at Ephrata Cloister

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Glass Trumpet at Ephrata Cloister It’s not often that an archaeological find is classified as “one of a kind.” However, a glass trumpet discovered in Pennsylvania merits such a distinction. Archaeological investigations have been conducted at Ephrata Cloister, an unusual German religious commune founded in 1732 in Lancaster County, since 1993. In 1995, this unique artifact was unearthed from a deep refuse layer in an abandoned...
read more