A Trio of Philadelphia Maritime Painters

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on A Trio of Philadelphia Maritime Painters Oceans and seas have long challenged civilization’s adventurous spirit. Sailors and their ships have struggled against billowing winds and sweeping tides, as well as fires, piracy, collisions, and warfare. All of this has been celebrated in story and song — and in works of art. Artists of the day captured both the beauty and the rigors of those wonderful ships in their coveted canvases. Three of...
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Cumberland Willis Posey Sr., Entrepreneur

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Cumberland Willis Posey Sr., Entrepreneur Cumberland Willis Posey Sr. (1858-1925) never let his circumstances define him; instead, he turned them into opportunities – not just for himself but also for his community. Born on August 30, 1858, to former slaves Elizabeth Willis Posey and Alexander Posey, he grew up in Port Tobacco, Maryland. His mother died when he was seven years old, and his father, a minister, moved the family to...
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African Americans and Civil Rights in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on African Americans and Civil Rights in Pennsylvania Summer and swimming go hand in hand – or so thought the Creative Steps Day Care Camp. The camp’s leaders had signed a contract to use the pool at a private swim club, but when the children – 46 African Americans and ten Hispanics ranging from kindergarten through seventh grade – arrived for their summer swim, they were subjected to harsh criticism by some club members....
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Mr. Peanut’s Hometown: Wilkes-Barre and the Founding of Planters Peanuts

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Mr. Peanut’s Hometown: Wilkes-Barre and the Founding of Planters Peanuts Few may realize it, but for nearly a half-century, the Luzerne County seat of Wilkes-Barre, in northeastern Pennsylvania, was the peanut capital of the world. Founded in 1906, the Planters Peanut Company operated its national headquarters at 632 South Main Street in an impressive two-story Federal-style building. A handsome balustrade encircled the roof of the elegant concrete edifice and was...
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General Meade’s Press Warfare!

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on General Meade’s Press Warfare! Not all the skirmishes and engagements of the American Civil War were fought on the battlefield. Many were waged in popular publications of the day, pitting war correspondents against high-ranking officers in a war of words. One Union commander who waged his own intensely bitter war with the established press and held the Fourth Estate in contempt throughout the entire rebellion was Major...
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The Rise and Fall of “Young Napoleon”

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on The Rise and Fall of “Young Napoleon” On Wednesday evening, November 13, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln paid a visit to the residence of George Brinton McClellan (1826–1885), who he had recently appointed general in chief of the Union Army. Located on Lafayette Square, near the White House, McClellan’s luxurious dwelling also served as his Washington, D.C., headquarters. Accompanied by Secretary of State William H. Seward...
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Jeffrey B. Johnson, A Connoisseur of Color

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Jeffrey B. Johnson, A Connoisseur of Color One of the first things you notice about Jeffrey B. Johnson — in addition to his easy smile and dulcet voice — are his hands. As he passionately speaks about his work, he often gestures and it’s hard not to take note of his thin, elegant fingers. They belong to a master craftsman. Johnson, who lives in Harrisburg, is an exceptionally talented conservator, paint analyst, gilder, designer, artist,...
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Our First Friends, the Early Quakers

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Our First Friends, the Early Quakers Armed with a charter granted by England’s King Charles II, William Penn (1644-1718) and one hundred travel-weary Quakers arrived in the New World aboard the Welcome on October 27, 1682, with the intention of establishing the founder’s “holy experiment,” a colony that would be free of the religious persecution they suffered abroad. Once safely docked in the Delaware Bay at...
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William Penn’s Legacy: Religious and Spiritual Diversity

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on William Penn’s Legacy: Religious and Spiritual Diversity Alexander Milne Calder’s bronze statue of William Penn atop Philadelphia City Hall surveys the founder’s beloved Holy Experiment fashioned out of the ideals of his Quaker faith. In a seventeenth-century world conditioned by violence, religious persecution, and arbitrary authority, Penn established an unusual colony dedicated to the principles of religious toleration, participatory...
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Past, Present, and Future at PHMC

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Past, Present, and Future at PHMC I should have written at the launch of this regular department for Pennsylvania Heritage, which debuted in the Summer 2011 edition, that there would be some experimenting with how to best capture the feel of Trailheads, a blog I write weekly. In the previous issue of the magazine, I took an in-depth look at Drake Well Museum’s renovation project, which had been covered in small bites on the...
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