1918’s Deadliest Killer: The Flu Pandemic Hits Pennsylvania

Posted by on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on 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...
read more

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Navy Yard was established in 1801 on Federal Street in the Southwark District of Philadelphia, an area along the Delaware River roughly 2 miles southeast of City Hall (part of this area was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the Southwark Historic District in 1972). In 1868 the Navy Yard, later renamed the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, was moved to League...
read more

Keystone Flagship: USS Pennsylvania Leading the Navy through Two World Wars

Posted by on Sep 9, 2016 in | Comments Off on Keystone Flagship: USS Pennsylvania Leading the Navy through Two World Wars “Air raid on Pearl Harbor. This is not drill.” The message went out from the headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Its brevity belied the gravity of the event it reported. The White House released the information shortly before 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and many people learned the news throughout the afternoon as radio programs were...
read more

Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Disaster Planning for Historic Properties

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Disaster Planning for Historic Properties In October 2012 Hurricane Sandy made landfall along the northeastern coast of the United States, leaving in its wake a path of destruction. To streamline aid to historic properties in areas hardest hit by the superstorm, the National Park Service (NPS) awarded more than $7.6 million to eight states to help repair and stabilize the damage. Of those states, Pennsylvania received the most funds in...
read more

Philadelphia Thirtieth Ward, 1940-1960

Posted by on Nov 28, 2013 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia Thirtieth Ward, 1940-1960 When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, little did black residents in Philadelphia’s Thirtieth Ward suspect their neigh­borhood would change dramatically and commence a steady regression toward an economically depressed area.   I The ward’s grandest and most exciting days were achieved during the Second World War. The war placed money into the hands of...
read more

A Farewell to Arms: The Passing of the Philadelphia Navy Yard

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Farewell to Arms: The Passing of the Philadelphia Navy Yard Not only is the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, established in 1794, the oldest naval shipyard in the country’s history, but it is distinguished as the oldest continually operated public – that is, government – shipyard in the United States. The history of this sprawling complex is an integral part of both state and local heri­tage, as well as of the founding of the United States...
read more

Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Wealth, Waste, and Alienation: Growth and Decline in the Connellsville Coke Industry By Kenneth Warren University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001 (297 pages, cloth, $30.00) In less than three-quarters of a century, the Connellsville coke industry, situated in southwestern Pennsylvania, mushroomed from slight beginnings into a key supplier essential to the iron and steel industries. It then fell victim...
read more

Waging War Their Own Way: Women and the Civil War in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Waging War Their Own Way: Women and the Civil War in Pennsylvania Pennsylvania’s recently conserved Civil War Muster Rolls, housed at the Pennsylvania State Archives, document the commonwealth’s contributions to the Union. Nearly 345,000 Pennsylvanians served in the U.S. Army during the war, or approximately 60 percent of the adult male population.1 A century and a half ago clerks carefully transcribed the names, ages, regiments, and brief...
read more