Rebecca Harding Davis, Literary Realist

Posted by on Dec 1, 2023 in | Comments Off on Rebecca Harding Davis, Literary Realist Author and journalist Rebecca Harding Davis (1831–1910) is best known for writing one of the earliest works of American literary realism, the short story “Life in the Iron-Mills.” In her career, she authored more than 500 publications, including novels, short fiction, essays and newspaper editorials. Several of these works gained a national reputation through their commentary on the working...
read more

The Ethnic Factor: Backbone of the Commonwealth

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Ethnic Factor: Backbone of the Commonwealth “… that those of our own, or other nations, that are inclined to transport themselves or families beyond the seas, may find another country …” – William Penn   The story of Pennsylvania can­not be adequately told without great emphasis upon its ethnic di­versity. More than simply an incidental feature, from the first contacts between Europeans and Indians to...
read more

Joanna Furnace Women: 1881-1925, The Study of Women’s Roles in Industrial Society

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Joanna Furnace Women: 1881-1925, The Study of Women’s Roles in Industrial Society The world of iron production was a rough-and-tumble af­fair, a great contrast to the passive, sheltered world which historians and others often associate with Ameri­can women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yet women were a part of Joanna Furnace since its beginnings in 1792, when ironmasters Samuel Potts and Thomas Rutter paid Katy Cryley wages of seven shillings,...
read more