Mothers’ Memorial, Ashland

In the late 1800s Ashland and the surrounding area began experiencing a long and steady decline in employment, resulting in the departure of many men in search of jobs elsewhere. In 1901 a small group of remaining and former residents hit upon the idea of hosting an annual reunion where they could reconnect with old friends, the boys of their childhood. This group evolved into the Ashland Boys...
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1918’s Deadliest Killer: The Flu Pandemic Hits Pennsylvania

I had a little bird, Its name was Enza. I opened the window, And in-flu-enza. —Children’s rhyme, 1918 The year 1918 was arguably one of the darkest in modern times and the deadliest ever recorded in human history. Much of Europe was locked in a hideous, relentless military struggle that had dragged on for three years, killing millions of soldiers and bankrupting its governments. Famine stalked...
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Pomp, Pageantry and a Parade: Celebrating the Constitution’s Centennial

With the thunder of a one hundred gun naval salute at precisely ten o’clock on the morning of Thursday, September 15, 1887, the nation’s centennial celebra­tion of the adoption of the United States Con­stitution opened with great fanfare in Philadelphia. The booming cannon blast from a naval squadron on the Delaware River launched three jubilant days of parades, military marches,...
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