A Philadelphia Family at the “Centre of the Universe”

Posted by Kathleen Greulich on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Philadelphia Family at the “Centre of the Universe” For forty years after the Civil War, a Victorian home on South 21st Street in Philadelphia was con­sidered “The Centre of the Universe” by its promin­ent residents and their visitors. American writers and actors were drawn to this cultural center by the talented parents of Richard Harding Davis, the flamboyant archetype war correspondent who thrilled readers at the turn of the...
read more

Painting the Town: Bethlehem and its Artists

Posted by Charlene Engel on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Painting the Town: Bethlehem and its Artists Since its founding in 1741, the city of Beth­lehem in eastern Pennsylvania has bene­fitted from the presence of artists associated with its Moravian founders and their educational institutions, specifically the Moravian Semi­nary for Young Ladies, founded almost as early as the city itself, and Moravian College. In the eighteenth century Valentine Haidt served as the city’s...
read more

Northampton County: From Frontier Farms to Urban Industries – and Beyond

Posted by Daniel Gilbert on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Northampton County: From Frontier Farms to Urban Industries – and Beyond Sweeping across southcentral Pennsyl­vania lies the Great Valley and nestled in its northeastern corner is mod­ern Northampton County. Bordered on the east by the Delaware River, on the south by South Mountain and the piedmont, and on the west by the valley of the Lehigh River, the three hundred and seventy-two square mile re­gion is one of gently rolling hills and wooded valleys, with...
read more

Carbon County: Stone Coal in the Switzerland of America

Posted by Michael Knies on Nov 29, 2013 in | Comments Off on Carbon County: Stone Coal in the Switzerland of America Carbon, the primary component of an­thracite coal, is also a county in eastern Pennsylvania – for the same reason. The value of anthracite to the burgeoning industrial revolution of the mid­-nineteenth century created in 1843 a new county from the northern fringes of the once­-immense Northampton County. Beginning in the nine­teenth century, an entire county of coal was carved and moved to...
read more

Pennsylvania Gridiron: Washington and Jefferson College’s First Century of Football

Posted by E. North on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Gridiron: Washington and Jefferson College’s First Century of Football Gentlemen, you are now going to play football against Harvard. Never again in your whole life will you do anything so important. Yale’s noted football coach T.A.D. Jones delivered his message just as his team was going out to defend Yale Bowl against its ancient rival. But it’s not only coaches whose pas­sion for football is ardent­ – millions play the game on high school,...
read more

Thirty Years Ago Today: R. Wakefield Roberts and His Community Civic League Respond to History

Posted by Wandalyn Enix on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Thirty Years Ago Today: R. Wakefield Roberts and His Community Civic League Respond to History The explosion of Black protest in the 1950s and 1960s – in both the North and the South – surprised many Americans who were unaware of the deep unrest in their midst. But one Pennsylvania community had a different solution to the abusive conditions with which its African American community was forced to live. In 1964, many of the descendants of the African Americans who had staked...
read more

Introducing… Team Heritage

Posted by PA Heritage Staff on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Introducing… Team Heritage Behind every successful maga­zine, there’s a hard-working, dedicated staff – a team, really. All good publications demand teamwork, and Pennsylvania Heritage is no exception. There’s a deadline on every horizon, editorial calendars that seem to project endlessly into the future, and production schedules that resemble a multi-dimensional Rube Goldberg device. The individuals who...
read more

Pennsylvania Places through the Bird’s-Eye Views of T.M. Fowler

Posted by Linda Ries on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Places through the Bird’s-Eye Views of T.M. Fowler During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, America indulged in a love affair with panoramic drawings of urban areas, known – aptly but simply­ – as town views. Some were drawn at ground level, or from a modest elevation (such as a hill or tall building) and often depicted a skyline. Others, made from an aerial perspective, were known as bal­loon views, aero views and,...
read more

Landis Valley Museum: The Legacy of Two Brothers Lives on!

Posted by Laura Callanan on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Landis Valley Museum: The Legacy of Two Brothers Lives on! There is an undeniable simplicity, a serenity, that pervades one of Lancaster County’s most fascinating visitor attractions, Landis Valley Museum. A visit to Landis Valley Museum, actually a complex of more than two dozen buildings and structures, offers a glimpse into the lives of those who settled in Lancaster County, beginning in the early eighteenth century. An assemblage of workplaces...
read more

“Your Future Depends on Yourself”: Asa Packer as the Self-Made Man

Posted by Lorett Treese on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on “Your Future Depends on Yourself”: Asa Packer as the Self-Made Man Nineteenth-century literature abounds with stories of men who rose from humble circumstances to great wealth by virtue of their own diligence, perseverance, and courage. Several of the most famous such works, novels written by Horatio Alger Jr. (1832-1899), became best-sellers because the American public relished his stories about plucky boys achieving their goals against all odds. In his first...
read more