KDKA, Pittsburgh

Posted by on Dec 30, 2020 in | Comments Off on KDKA, Pittsburgh For those of us living in the 21st century, it is hard to imagine a world without radio, television and the internet. The free flow of information, music and entertainment programming across the country and the world is taken for granted in modern society but was a revolutionary development 100 years ago, when KDKA made communications history with a radio broadcast from Pittsburgh in 1920. The...
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Pennsylvania Farming by Sally McMurry

Posted by on Nov 12, 2019 in | Comments Off on Pennsylvania Farming by Sally McMurry Pennsylvania Farming A History in Landscapes by Sally McMurry University of Pittsburgh Press, 472 pp., cloth $49.95 For generations, most Pennsylvanians were farmers. Today, farmers are only a small percentage of the population, yet the enduring pastoral and historic character of the state’s rural landscape is a source of local pride and fosters tourism in many areas. With engaging prose and an...
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Noble Ambitions: The Founding of the Franklin Institute

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Noble Ambitions: The Founding of the Franklin Institute In the minds of its founders, the Franklin Institute was built on noble ambitions,” historian Bruce Sinclair has written. And born of a young man’s fury, it might be added. In 1823, twenty-two year old Samuel Vaughan Merrick was denied membership in a Philadelphia mechanics’ asso­ciation. A number of similar organizations had sprung up in the early part of the nine­teenth...
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A Treasure Trove of Historical Records: The Pennsylvania State Archives

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Treasure Trove of Historical Records: The Pennsylvania State Archives The challenges of keeping up with life’s paperwork are overwhelming. There are so many documents: receipts, tax forms, deeds, wills, insurance policies and claims, pay stubs, check registers, warranties…a neverending stream of information that has to be handled. And for each slip of paper, there’s a set of questions that must be answered. What to keep? How to file? Where to...
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