Harriet Lane Johnston: The Legacy of a White House Hostess

Posted by on Oct 29, 2019 in | Comments Off on Harriet Lane Johnston: The Legacy of a White House Hostess On the cool, overcast day of May 9, 2017, a dozen nurses from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center arrived by bus at Green Mount Cemetery, a leafy 19th-century oasis in center city Baltimore. They carried a generous bouquet of flowers to decorate the grave of Harriet Lane Johnston, niece of James Buchanan (1791–1868), Pennsylvania’s only U.S. president. “Without Harriet Lane, we don’t know what...
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Leader of the Band

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Leader of the Band During a visit to Philadelphia in 1818, Englishman Robert Wahn discovered and wrote in his travel diary about a remarkably talented black musician. And by putting pen to paper, he unwittingly recorded for posterity the existence of an early nineteenth­-century musician, composer, and conductor. “The Leader of the band,” wrote Wahn, “is a descendant of Africa [who] possesses a...
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William Wagner Portrait by Thomas Sully

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on William Wagner Portrait by Thomas Sully In 1836, eminent Ameri­can artist Thomas Sully (1783-1872) painted a por­trait of William Wagner (1796-1885), Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist, which had, until last year, remained in private hands. More than a century after its creation, the likeness has virtually returned “home” to the Wagner Free Institute of Science, founded by Wagn­er and his wife Louisa Bin­ney...
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All Creatures Great and Small: The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s Revolution of Kindness Reformed Society and Improved Lives

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on All Creatures Great and Small: The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society’s Revolution of Kindness Reformed Society and Improved Lives On a cold February morning in 1965, Donora Mayor Albert P. Delsandro took his daily stroll in the Washington County community’s Palmer Park and made a shocking discovery. Thirteen dead dogs, each with amputated ears, lay in the tall, yellowed grass. A little-known Pennsylvania stray dog law authorized a $2 bounty for every pair of grisly trophies sent to Harrisburg. Countless citizens expressed...
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Woo Hong Neok: A Chinese American Soldier in the Civil War

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Woo Hong Neok: A Chinese American Soldier in the Civil War In the popular imagination, the American Civil War is an extraordinary drama portraying the denouement of the exceptionally serious struggle to preserve the Union and end the institution of slavery. In the unfolding drama the actors on the battlefield, as well as on the home fronts in both the North and the South alike, are nearly always white or black Americans with a smattering of Native...
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Giving New Life to a Grande Dame

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Giving New Life to a Grande Dame Established in 1796 on two thousand acres in the southern Allegheny Mountains in Bedford County, the Bedford Springs Hotel grew from a backwoods collection of simple bathhouses, which took advantage of seven natural springs, to become one of the country’s premier resort spas by the mid-nineteenth century. Located along route 220, the hotel lies in a picturesque valley between Constitution Hill...
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Letters

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters William Penn’s Legacy As a lifelong resident of the City of Brotherly Love, I enjoyed the essay by John Fea [“William Penn’s Pennsylvania: A Legacy of Religious Freedom,” Winter 2011], which intelligently addresses what he describes as the tension between Penn’s original vision for the colony and the attempts to adhere to those ideals in the everyday life of the province....
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Pennsylvania’s First State Geologist: Henry Darwin Rogers

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania’s First State Geologist: Henry Darwin Rogers Geology made Pennsylvania what it is today. The mining of anthracite and bituminous coal, the drilling for petroleum, and the production of iron and steel in the Commonwealth long drove the economy of the United States. Elucidating the history of the geological study of Pennsylvania is an integral part of comprehending its history. Henry Darwin Rogers (1808–1866), the first State Geologist of...
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