Pennsylvania in Watercolor: Revisiting Nick Ruggieri’s Bicentennial Series

Posted by on Dec 1, 2025 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania in Watercolor: Revisiting Nick Ruggieri’s Bicentennial Series   In 1971, the Harrisburg Patriot-News commissioned local artist and newspaperman Nick Ruggieri (1908–96) to create a series of paintings depicting Pennsylvania scenes—both historic and contemporary — across all 67 counties. The project was intended to be the capital city newspaper’s contribution to the upcoming Bicentennial, a national celebration in which the Keystone State was expected...
read more

Pennsylvania Heritage at 50

Posted by on Dec 1, 2023 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Heritage at 50 For 50 years, Pennsylvania Heritage has played a significant role in bringing the history of the Keystone State to a public audience. Like its parent agency, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC), the magazine operates with the vision that “Pennsylvanians see history as relevant to their lives.” *** I was only 12 when I first held an issue of Pennsylvania Heritage in my...
read more

Representing Pennsylvania’s “Precious Heritage”: Art of the State 50

Posted by on Jun 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Representing Pennsylvania’s “Precious Heritage”: Art of the State 50 Art of the State is an annual juried exhibition that has been showcasing the work of Pennsylvania’s artists at The State Museum of Pennsylvania since 1968. The body of art that has been exhibited reflects half a century of creative endeavor in the Keystone State. Through the years, exhibitors have shared their ideas and engaged viewers in the categories of painting, photography, craft,...
read more

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Smithsonian Affiliation and New Museum History Book

Posted by on Dec 13, 2016 in | Comments Off on The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Smithsonian Affiliation and New Museum History Book Smithsonian Affiliations has accepted the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania as one of its newest members, clearing the way for the eventual exhibition of Smithsonian artifacts at the site in Strasburg, Lancaster County. “This type of association with the Smithsonian gives you instant credibility” said Jeffrey Bliemeister, director of the Railroad Museum. “It’s a good marketing tool that I hope...
read more

Coal Patch, Take Two: The Preservation of Eckley Miners’ Village

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Coal Patch, Take Two: The Preservation of Eckley Miners’ Village “A ghost town surrounded by strip mines.” That was how Eckley was described in the 1960s, a far cry from its heyday in the late 1800s when the coal-mining “patch town” had boasted a population of 1,500. At Eckley’s peak, more than 350 men and boys were engaged in mining nearly 144,000 tons of anthracite coal a year from local seams. By the 1960s, however, mining...
read more

Before and After the Act: Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Apr 19, 2016 in | Comments Off on Before and After the Act: Historic Preservation in Pennsylvania In 1816 the City of Philadelphia purchased Independence Hall to save it from demolition. This was the first historic preservation effort in the United States. One hundred and fifty years later, the historic preservation movement found its footing as a national priority when President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Historic Preservation Act into law on October 16, 1966. The act codified the...
read more

Back in Plain Sight: Restoring the Midcentury Modern Furnishings at The State Museum and Archives Complex

Posted by on Apr 12, 2016 in | Comments Off on Back in Plain Sight: Restoring the Midcentury Modern Furnishings at The State Museum and Archives Complex October 14, 1964 With the construction of the new William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building (now The State Museum and Archives Complex) in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, PHMC Executive Director S.K. Stevens penned an urgent memo to the commonwealth’s secretary of property and supplies requesting nearly $25,000 worth of “chairs, sofas, and upholstered benches,” as well as numerous...
read more

Reimagining William Penn: Janet de Coux and the Creation of the Pennsylvania Icon

Posted by on Jun 19, 2015 in | Comments Off on Reimagining William Penn: Janet de Coux and the Creation of the Pennsylvania Icon In 1944 Pennsylvania was celebrating the 300th anniversary of William Penn’s birthday. More than 2,580 celebrations were held across the commonwealth and the nation, and approximately 1,550 Pennsylvania schools each honored Penn with the planting and dedication of a hemlock, the state tree. These activities coincided with a movement on the part of several state officials and Pennsylvania...
read more

Curating a New Home for History: A Conversation with W. Fred Kinsey and Irwin Richman

Posted by on Jun 19, 2015 in | Comments Off on Curating a New Home for History: A Conversation with W. Fred Kinsey and Irwin Richman Established institutions rarely get the opportunity to hit the reset button. But that’s what happened with The State Museum of Pennsylvania in the early 1960s, after the long-anticipated William Penn Memorial Museum and Archives Building cleared its last bureaucratic hurdle. Ground was broken north of the State Capitol in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, in January 1962, and by summer Pennsylvania’s...
read more

Piper J-3 Cub

Posted by on May 11, 2015 in | Comments Off on Piper J-3 Cub Even before the William Penn Memorial Museum was under construction in the early 1960s, PHMC Executive Director S.K. Stevens had initiated an ambitious plan to acquire objects for a massive Pennsylvania “transportation exhibit.” The gallery was to be arranged chronologically, starting with a pair of Indian moccasins, on to wagons and carriages, then to locomotives and automobiles, and ending...
read more