Letters

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Letters Warm and Special Memories Upon seeing the cover of the most recent edition of the Pennsylvania Heritage, Spring 2014, I immediately recognized the Harry Whittier Frees photograph. The sight of two cats donned in clothing and perched on a swing evoked warm and special memories. You see, my mother received the book Toodles and Her Friends in 1936 for her first birthday. She had several books from...
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Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Soldiers and Sailors Monument Following the end of the American Civil War in 1865, citizens in communities large and small throughout the nation began raising money for the erection of thousands of monuments, memorials and markers, many of which were dedicated to native sons who courageously fought in the epic four-year struggle. Grateful residents in Pennsylvania were no different. They commissioned all sorts of tributes in...
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Washington County: From Ice Age to Space Age

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Washington County: From Ice Age to Space Age Southwestern Pennsylvania was for centuries a happy hunt­ing ground for Indians who were living there as long as two thousand years ago. In fact, as the result of archaeological discoveries made at the Meadowcroft Rock Shelter near Avella between 1973 and 1975, University of Pittsburgh anthropologists have proven conclusively that Ice Age people roamed the forests of Washington County even...
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Mystery of the Monongahela Culture: Archaeology at Foley Farm

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Mystery of the Monongahela Culture: Archaeology at Foley Farm In 1939, anthropologist Mary Butler identified and formally named the Monongahela Woodland Culture, a prehistoric Indian way of life centered in the Monongahela Valley of south­western Pennsylvania, west­ern Maryland and parts of northern West Virginia. Dr. Butler’s reasons for naming this prehistoric Indian culture were, in part, based on ar­chaeological investigations sponsored by the...
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Uniontown’s Prince of the Gilded Age

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Uniontown’s Prince of the Gilded Age Nothing captures the attention of the press more than a good scandal. In Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in January 1915, it had one. The financial collapse of coal baron Josiah V. Thompson, and the ruin of his bank, summoned a reporter from the New York Tribune to the Fayette County seat. Stepping off at the Pennsyl­vania Railroad station, the unidentified reporter hurried to Thompson’s office...
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In the Public’s Best Interest

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on In the Public’s Best Interest Edward Martin distin­guished himself as soldier, governor, senator and, above all, as honored citizen of the Ten Mile area in Pennsylvania, the small rural community in which he was born. His full and varied life had led him from the front lines of battle to the diplomatic circles of the nation’s capitol. The people whose lives he touched knew him as a dignified, loyal and honest...
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Historical Sketch of Greene County

Posted by on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Historical Sketch of Greene County Greene County lies in the southwestern corner of the state. Its many hills, the distinguishing feature of the countryside, grow more pronounced as one travels from the eastern to the western areas. The old Washington Waynes­burg Railroad, traveling through the hills, was famous for its 178 sharp turns, each of which jolted the passengers. There were some who took the trip just for the roller...
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A Story of Accommodation: “I stayed right where I was”

Posted by on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Story of Accommodation: “I stayed right where I was” “There’s not a hotel now, not an eating place.” After the 1890s, the stepped­-up demands of a rapidly ex­panding, industrial culture af­fected even previously isolated, rural sections of America, creating profound tensions between old ways of doing things and the agents of change. There were problems with older habits and values not associated with the demands of modern...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Stoneware of Southwestern Pennsylvania by Phil Schaltenbrand University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996 (216 pages, paper, $22.95) A greatly expanded version of the author’s Old Pots (1978), Stoneware of Southwestern Pennsylvania describes the salt-glazed stoneware industry that once flourished in the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Valleys and contains much new information about the remarkable...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Coal and Coke in Pennsylvania by Carmen DiCiccio Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1996 (223 pages, paper, 16.95) Coal and Coke in Pennsylvania began in 1991 as a written guide for the nomination of soft coal operations and coke extractive facilities in western Pennsylvania to the National Register of Historic Places. During the project, diverse sources were consulted, including...
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