The World War One Diary & Art of Doughboy Cpl. Harold W. Pierce, edited by William J. Welch

Posted by on Sep 8, 2025 in | Comments Off on The World War One Diary & Art of Doughboy Cpl. Harold W. Pierce, edited by William J. Welch The World War One Diary & Art of Doughboy Cpl. Harold W. Pierce Duty, Terror and Survival edited by William J. Welch Pen & Sword, 224 pp., hardcover $37.95 Cpl. Harold Pierce’s diary is a fascinating glimpse of army life in a combat division in the First World War. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Pierce joined the 28th “Keystone” Division in 1917 and served through the armistice in...
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Outstanding Perseverance and Courage: Pennsylvania’s Thomas Mosley and the Montford Point Marines in World War II

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on Outstanding Perseverance and Courage: Pennsylvania’s Thomas Mosley and the Montford Point Marines in World War II In November 1943, a young Black man sat in a military recruiting office in Philadelphia. At first, joining the Marines seemed like a good idea, but with the paperwork completed, he thought of a relative who had been in the Navy and decided he might like that service better. “Sir, I would like to be exchanged into the Navy instead of the Marines.” It was a simple statement, said in a respectful...
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The Making of a Leader: George C. Marshall

Posted by on Mar 17, 2023 in | Comments Off on The Making of a Leader: George C. Marshall During the second weekend of September 1939, Gen. George C. Marshall, the newly elevated chief of staff of the U.S. Army, made an official “homecoming” visit to his place of birth, Uniontown, Pennsylvania. As a result, two strands of history stood adjacent on the front page of the local newspaper, the Uniontown Daily News Standard. One headline announced the Nazi invasion of Poland with the...
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ENIAC, the First All-Purpose Digital Computer

Posted by on Feb 5, 2021 in | Comments Off on ENIAC, the First All-Purpose Digital Computer Seventy-five years ago, in February 1946, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer — ENIAC — was publicly demonstrated as the world’s first large-scale general-purpose digital computer. It was designed by John Mauchly (1907–80) and J. Presper Eckert (1919–95) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering in Philadelphia. Research began during World War II in...
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George Marshall by David L. Roll

Posted by on Dec 3, 2020 in | Comments Off on George Marshall by David L. Roll George Marshall Defender of the Republic by David L. Roll Dutton Caliber, 704 pp., hardcover $34 George C. Marshall grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, but his chosen path would take him far, both physically and conceptually. His notable service in the military spanned from Gen. John J. Pershing’s aide-de-camp in World War I to Army chief of staff during World War II. After the war, he served as...
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From the Susquehanna to the Rhine: The Military Career of Daniel Strickler in Two World Wars

Posted by on Nov 30, 2020 in | Comments Off on From the Susquehanna to the Rhine: The Military Career of Daniel Strickler in Two World Wars “Hold at all costs.” It’s an order no commander wants to give. It is certainly unwelcome — and perhaps even terrifying — to the subordinate who receives it. The phrase was used on the morning of December 16, 1944, at the headquarters for the 28th Infantry Division in Wiltz, Luxembourg. Maj. Gen. Norman Cota (1893–1971), the commander of the 28th, issued the order during the initial phase of the...
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Little Italy in the Great War by Richard N. Juliani

Posted by on Oct 15, 2020 in | Comments Off on Little Italy in the Great War by Richard N. Juliani Little Italy in the Great War Philadelphia’s Italians on the Battlefield and Home Front by Richard N. Juliani Temple University Press, 302 pp., paper $37.95 With this work Richard N. Juliani, a professor emeritus of sociology at Villanova University, provides an admirably researched microhistory that explores how Philadelphia’s Italian Americans responded to the demands of World War I, the...
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Trailheads

Posted by on Oct 15, 2020 in | Comments Off on Trailheads Charter Day – always the second Sunday in March – kicks off the spring season on the Pennsylvania Trails of History. Public program schedules start to fill up, and the influx of school group visits reaches its peak. Spring lambs and other animal babies make their appearance at sites with livestock programs, and our many gardens show signs of new life as well. For up-to-date...
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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...
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Stockings, Cap Braids and Bomber Turrets: Wyomissing Industries Mobilizes for World War II

Posted by on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on Stockings, Cap Braids and Bomber Turrets: Wyomissing Industries Mobilizes for World War II   “Textile Machine Works suspends production of knitting machines for the duration.” – The Yarn Carrier, October 1942 The Textile Machine Works was one of a handful of companies with common ownership that became known as Wyomissing Industries, located just west of Reading in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The 13,430th and last knitting machine, a “Reading” model, was the embodiment of 40 years...
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