Sarah Mary Benjamin, Heroine of Yorktown

Posted by on Apr 17, 2026 in | Comments Off on Sarah Mary Benjamin, Heroine of Yorktown Histories of the American Revolution have traditionally focused on famous leaders and soldiers. Far less has been said about the everyday people, especially women, whose lives and labor shaped the struggle for independence. One such woman was Sarah Mary (Mathews Osborn) Benjamin. Sometimes compared to “Molly Pitcher,” Sarah left vivid accounts of her time accompanying her husband, Aaron Osborn,...
read more

Haym Salomon, Financier Who Helped Fund a Revolution

Posted by on Jan 14, 2026 in | Comments Off on Haym Salomon, Financier Who Helped Fund a Revolution The story of Haym Salomon (1740–85) is both inspiring and deeply bittersweet. One of the most successful financiers of the American Revolution, he directly supported the final victories of the Continental Army, yet he died in poverty. Born in Leszno, Poland–Lithuania, to a Jewish family, Salomon traveled across Western Europe in his early adulthood, learning multiple languages and acquiring...
read more

Tun Tavern, Birthplace of the U.S. Marines

Posted by on Dec 1, 2025 in | Comments Off on Tun Tavern, Birthplace of the U.S. Marines The Tun Tavern in Philadelphia is best known as the birthplace of the United States Marine Corps, but its legacy extends far beyond military history. In its prime, the tavern served as a social and political hub, hosting early meetings of several prominent organizations that still exist today. Its influence on civic and fraternal life in Colonial America is a reminder of how essential taverns...
read more

Caroline Burnham Kilgore, Legal Crusader

Posted by on Aug 29, 2025 in | Comments Off on Caroline Burnham Kilgore, Legal Crusader Caroline “Carrie” Burnham Kilgore (1838–1909) was a trailblazer in the fight for women’s rights in the legal profession, but she was not alone. Many women in Pennsylvania faced the same barriers she did, struggling for decades against systemic exclusion from law schools and the bar. Kilgore’s success in 1885, when she became the first woman admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania, was part of a...
read more

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, Famed Orator of the Civil War Era

Posted by on Jun 11, 2025 in | Comments Off on Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, Famed Orator of the Civil War Era In the annals of 19th-century America, few figures burned as brightly — and as briefly — as Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (1842–1932). She was born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia, a background that shaped her deep commitment to abolitionism and women’s rights. Raised in a household that mingled with leading abolitionists, Dickinson became an activist at an early age. When she was just 13, she...
read more

Allan Jaffe, the Man Who Saved New Orleans Jazz

Posted by on Feb 24, 2025 in | Comments Off on Allan Jaffe, the Man Who Saved New Orleans Jazz Allan P. Jaffe (1935–1987) was a pivotal figure in preserving and popularizing New Orleans jazz. Born and raised in Pottsville in Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill County, he was influenced by his father, Harry Jaffe, who played mandolin and taught music before running a wallpaper and paint store. “Pottsville was home to many immigrants who came to work in the anthracite mines, resulting in an...
read more

The York Imperial Apple

Posted by on Oct 21, 2024 in | Comments Off on The York Imperial Apple Apple picking is a popular fall activity across Pennsylvania, as many orchards offer customers the chance to pluck the fresh fruit directly from their trees. Pennsylvania ranks fourth among states in apple production, growing 400 million to 500 million pounds a year. Fruit production — especially apples — has been a strong agricultural staple in the Keystone State since the late 18th century,...
read more

St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Shenandoah

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Shenandoah Since 1884 the onion domes of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church on West Oak Street in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, as seen in this circa 1914 postcard, have marked the presence of Eastern Europeans in this anthracite coal mining community. St. Michael the Archangel in Shenandoah was the first Greek Orthodox Catholic church built in the United States. Ukrainian families raised money to...
read more

Little Lithuania USA

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on Little Lithuania USA Shenandoah is a prime example of a “coal rush” boomtown where immigrants flocked in the second half of the 19th century to find jobs and a better way of life. The first wave of immgrants in this Schuylkill County borough were mostly Welsh, Irish, Scottish and German. They were soon followed by Eastern and Southern Europeans, including a large influx of Lithuanians. The first wave of Lithuanian...
read more

Dr. Anna E. Broomall: Advancing Care and Careers for Women

Posted by on Mar 27, 2024 in | Comments Off on Dr. Anna E. Broomall: Advancing Care and Careers for Women In 1869 a group of students from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) in Philadelphia attended a clinical lecture at the Pennsylvania Hospital. This marked the first time at the hospital that women were permitted to attend such a lecture alongside male medical students. Unfortunately, the women were unable to finish the first lecture as they were chased out of the amphitheater with...
read more