Lois Weber, Film Pioneer

Posted by on Feb 10, 2021 in | Comments Off on Lois Weber, Film Pioneer The Pittsburgh region has been home to many remarkable women over the years, including journalist Nellie Bly, abolitionist Jane Grey Swisshelm, and environmentalist Rachel Carson. Less known among them is Lois Weber, the first American woman film director. During cinema’s silent era in the 1910s and 1920s, she held a unique position in Hollywood. She was not only one of a small handful of women...
read more

Other Recent Releases

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Other Recent Releases A Life Well Played: My Stories by Arnold Palmer St. Martin’s Press, 258 pp., cloth $22.99 The last book by the legendary golf pro from Latrobe, Westmoreland County, is a selection of his thoughts, anecdotes and memories about golf, life and business. In the final word, he humbly reveals that he prefers not to be thought of as The King but – like his “hard-nosed golf course...
read more

Current and Coming

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Current and Coming Horace Pippin Exhibition The Brandywine River Museum of Art on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Delaware County, will present the special exhibition Horace Pippin: The Way I See It from April 18 to July 26. The show features more than 60 of Pippin’s works from American museums, universities and private collections. Pippin (1888–1946) was a self-taught painter who was active in West Chester, Chester...
read more

Pennsylvania Heritage Recommends

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Recommends The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience Samuel W. Black, editor of a collection of eight essays comprising The Civil War in Pennsylvania: The African American Experience (Senator John Heinz History Center in partnership with Pennsylvania Civil War 150, 2013, paper, 239 pages, $29.95), contends, “In various ways African Americans have been fighting for freedom for several...
read more

The Ship Hotel: Afloat with the Lincoln Highway’s Most Unusual Landmark

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on The Ship Hotel: Afloat with the Lincoln Highway’s Most Unusual Landmark In 1931 the first and only baby was born at the Grand View Point Hotel, 18 miles west of Bedford, Bedford County. Little Clara was the pride of her grandfather Herbert J. Paulson (1874–1973), a Dutch immigrant who had built the hotel on the side of a mountain along the winding, two-lane Lincoln Highway. Clara grew up in the hotel, which “Captain” Paulson turned into the ship-shaped...
read more

News

Posted by on Dec 2, 2013 in | Comments Off on News Ancestry.com Pennsylvania In an innovative partnership with Ancestry.com the Pennsylvania State Archives is making family history records available free of charge to Commonwealth residents. Ancestry.com began digitizing selected collections held by the State Archives that are of interest to genealogists four years ago. To date millions of pages have been digitized at no cost to the Pennsylvania...
read more

Out and About

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Out and About Soul Soldiers The Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center recently unveiled the most comprehensive exhibition ever to explore the issues of the Vietnam War from an African American perspective. “Soul Soldiers: African Americans and the Vietnam Era” tells the story of the Vietnam War’s impact on African American life and culture by examining both the war and the civil rights...
read more

PHMC Highlights

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on PHMC Highlights More than thirty historical organizations and cultural institutions, foundations, and state and federal agencies participated in “Charter Day — An Anthracite Homecoming!” at the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton, as part of Charter Day activities hosted by PHMC historic sites and museums in March. Participants presented information and materials with an emphasis on the anthracite...
read more

From the Editor

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on From the Editor The Verdict Is In. Our joint Civil War commemorative edition for summer, The Civil War in Pennsylvania, was stunningly successful – thanks to a partnership of the Senator John Heinz History Center (SJHHC), Pittsburgh, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg. By working together we were fortunate to...
read more

Exhibit: Pennsylvania’s Civil War

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Exhibit: Pennsylvania’s Civil War Recently opened by the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh is a major exhibit providing visitors with an in-depth look at Pennsylvania’s significant contributions to the Union during the American Civil War. In addition to highlighting these efforts and important conflicts such as the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania’s Civil War showcases Pittsburgh’s role as the “Arsenal of the...
read more