Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor Filled the Bill I appreciated the article entitled “Against All Odds: Chevalier Jackson, Physician and Painter” in the summer 1992 edition. Following a double mastoid ear operation at the age of seven, I moved with my family to Philadelphia in 1924, and my mother and I commuted at least weekly for ear treatments from Dr. Arthur J. Wagers, a friend and colleague of Dr. Jackson. It was...
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The Missionary and the Clockmaker: A Saga of Two Brothers-In-Law

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Missionary and the Clockmaker: A Saga of Two Brothers-In-Law Scion of a decayed Anglo-Irish Ascend­ancy family of Ireland’s County Monaghan, the young Rev. Thomas Barton journeyed in spring 1755 through the largely unbroken forests of Pennsylvania to the settlement known at the time as Contwager or Conewago. He made his way – “over Susquehanna,” as the contem­porary traveler commonly described it-to lands lying along the Bermudian...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Forging A New Deal: Johnstown and the Great Depression, 1929-1941 by Curtis Miner Johnstown Area Heritage Association, 1993 (81 pages, paper, $7.95) Published to accompany a major museum installation by the same title (see “Currents,” spring 1994), Forging A New Deal: Johnstown and the Great Depression, 1929-1941, is a richly written and copiously illustrated exhibition catalogue...
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Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor A Giant Among Men Congratulations to William C. Kashatus on his extraordinary article, “A New Birth of Freedom,” which appeared in the Fall 1999 issue. Americans, who have witnessed the downfall of so many latter-day heroes in recent years, can take heart in knowing that Abraham Lincoln was truly a giant among men. The article has enhanced my already considerable admiration for this...
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“Thank God there are only three McCormicks”

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on “Thank God there are only three McCormicks” The McCormick boys arrived at St. Michael’s Home for Boys in July 1939. Art was seventeen, I was fourteen, and Mike was seven – a trio of orphans who would now live with two hundred and fifty hard-knock boys at this Catholic orphanage in Hoban Heights, near Pittston in Luzerne County. Those were hard times, and many boys at St. Mike’s came from rough backgrounds. They came from...
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Portrait of Valentine Blanchard

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Portrait of Valentine Blanchard Upon graduating from Lancaster’s Franklin and Marshall College in 1900, Worth B. Stottlemyer settled in Arling­ton, Virginia, where he prospered in the insurance and real estate businesses. An insatiable collector, he amassed a cache of antiques and works of art, intending to open an antiques shop in Frederick, Maryland, upon retiring. While building his enormous collection, Stottle­myer...
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Sowing a Wealth Uncommon

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Sowing a Wealth Uncommon When Pennsylvania’s thirty-seven-year-old founder William Penn (1644-1718) drew plans for Philadelphia, he specified a central park of ten acres and four symmetrically placed squares of eight acres each “for the comfort and recreation of all forever.” In his September 30, 1681, instructions to his commissioners, he also mandated private space. “Let every House be placed,...
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Stegmaier Brewed Beer and a Regional History

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Stegmaier Brewed Beer and a Regional History “Ring-A-Ding-Ding! Do the Stegmaier Thing, In the Summertime. It’s Cold and It’s Gold like a Pocono Spring, In the Summertime. So, Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Do the Stegmaier Thing, Any Time At All!” Pennsylvanians may recall the infectious jingle advertising Stegmaier beer on WFIL radio and television in Philadelphia and shouted across billboards in the Pocono Mountains and the...
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A Flag Bears Witness – Don’t Give Up The Ship

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Flag Bears Witness – Don’t Give Up The Ship A mere five words stitched on a flag in 1813 in a tiny frontier village produced one of the most enduring symbols in United States history. Two hundred years later those few words – Don’t Give Up The Ship – have become a stirring, unofficial motto of the U.S. Navy; a rallying cry; and a flag flown from masts of sailboats, yachts, tall ships, and more. The details of the War of...
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Laughing with Philadelphia Stooge Larry Fine

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Laughing with Philadelphia Stooge Larry Fine During the 1938 Independence Day weekend, hundreds of Philadelphians flocked to Atlantic City, lured by the sparkling beach and the frenetic boardwalk with its extravaganza of amusement rides, theaters, arcades, and Steel Pier, the showplace of the New Jersey shore. Many stood in line at Steel Pier waiting to see three men who had captured their hearts and imaginations — The Three Stooges. The...
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