Kennywood in the Space Age: How a Traditional Amusement Park Raced into the Future

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Kennywood in the Space Age: How a Traditional Amusement Park Raced into the Future Every year, at any amusement park, the first thaw of spring brings excitement for the new season. As the days got longer in 1990 Kennywood Park began tearing off the bright blue front of its Racer roller coaster. The goal was to rebuild it in the style of the 1927 original, with lattice work around an archway fronting a curved roof that extended back over the loading platform. For three decades...
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A Home for History: S.K. Stevens and the Campaign for the William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on A Home for History: S.K. Stevens and the Campaign for the William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives by Curtis Miner On December 23, 1959, Dr. S.K. Stevens (1904-74) sent out a final, end-of-the-year message to members of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC). It came in the form of a brief, typewritten memo, informing them that Governor David L. Lawrence (1889-1966) had that morning signed a spending bill for the construction of a museum and archives building. “I think this...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter Names and dates. To some they’re the dreaded stuff of high school history exams. To those of us who study and preserve history, however, they’re essential keys for understanding the past. As we continue our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of The State Museum and Archives Complex at PHMC, a clarification of certain names and dates may be in order for understanding exactly what...
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Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2015

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation Newsletter – Winter 2015 Topics in the Winter 2015 Newsletter: PHF and PHMC Identify Fundraising Priorities for 2015 The Giving Circle Trails of History Sites and Museums Winter Learning Opportunities PHF Elects New Officers Exploring the Records of the Fall Brook Coal Company and Fall Brook Railroad Coming Soon! Welcome New PHF Members Welcome New State Museum Affiliate Members Join the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation...
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The Year That Was

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on The Year That Was 2014 was a good year on the Pennsylvania Trails of History, with more than half a million visitors to sites spread across the Commonwealth. Long-standing programs continued to draw crowds, and many sites branched out in new directions as well. Trying new things can present challenges, but our staff and volunteers are committed to expanding audiences and generating new resources to keep sites...
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Louis Kahn and Midcentury Modern Philadelphia

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Louis Kahn and Midcentury Modern Philadelphia “A city should be a place where a little boy walking through its streets can sense what he would someday like to be.” For Louis I. Kahn, arguably the most influential American architect of the late 20th century, that city was Philadelphia. Kahn spent nearly his entire life in Philadelphia, attending grade school through college, teaching, practicing and designing a number of...
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Greenbelt Knoll

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Greenbelt Knoll Greenbelt Knoll was built in 1956 by Morris Milgram (1916-97), an award-winning leader of the open housing movement in the United States. Designed by the firm of Montgomery & Bishop, in association with architect Harry Duncan and landscape architect Margaret Lancaster Duncan, with Louis Kahn as a consultant, it was the first planned integrated housing development in Philadelphia and one of...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter The 50th anniversary of The State Museum and Archives Complex gives us the opportunity at PHMC to commemorate the significance of not only our particular architectural treasure but also the many buildings, furnishings and designs of a similar mode created in the Keystone State during the mid-20th century. Accordingly, Midcentury Modern in Pennsylvania has been adopted as the agency’s...
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From the Executive Director

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on From the Executive Director Those who appreciate the beauty, simplicity and material honesty of Midcentury Modern architecture know, as with every style, there are good and bad examples, but only a few works are truly exemplary. Fortunately for PHMC, The State Museum and Archives Complex in Harrisburg is an exemplary work of Midcentury Modern design. In fact, in August, the complex was listed in the National Register of...
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