The American Red Cross Uniform of Mary Sharp

Posted by on Feb 24, 2025 in | Comments Off on The American Red Cross Uniform of Mary Sharp Lock Haven native Mary Sharp (1912–89) was an elementary school teacher when the United States entered World War II. With a desire to make a direct contribution to the war effort and possessing a sense of adventure, she enrolled in the American Red Cross. After completing an extensive interview and testing process for overseas volunteers, she was assigned as a recreational worker with the U.S....
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Three Days in Hell: The 28th Infantry Division and the Battle of the Bulge

Posted by on Feb 24, 2025 in | Comments Off on Three Days in Hell: The 28th Infantry Division and the Battle of the Bulge The 28th Infantry Division is the oldest continually serving division in the United States Army. It traces its roots to the Associators, a collection of volunteer militia groups first organized throughout Colonial America beginning in 1747. These units served Pennsylvania and the nation through the Revolutionary War, the early National period conflicts, and the Civil War. In 1879 Pennsylvania...
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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Feb 21, 2025 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter In the Spring 2024 edition of Pennsylvania Heritage, we looked at the World War II experience of Steelton’s Thomas Mosley, one of the first Black men to serve in the U.S. Marines since the Revolutionary War. In this issue we continue our focus on World War II as we approach the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and highlight the role of Pennsylvanians in that decisive conflict. In the...
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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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Editor’s Letter

Posted by on Aug 9, 2024 in | Comments Off on Editor’s Letter This issue of Pennsylvania Heritage, our 200th, is dedicated to Michael J. O’Malley III, who passed away on January 26, 2024. As many longtime readers know, Michael was the editor of this magazine for 30 years, and in that time, he played a crucial role in its development. He began working at the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission as a public information officer in 1978 and joined...
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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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Sylvania Electric Products

Posted by on May 13, 2022 in | Comments Off on Sylvania Electric Products Nestled in the valley of the Driftwood Branch of the Sinnemahoning Creek sits Emporium, the seat of Cameron County. Emporium was known for industries that were prominent in other central Pennsylvania towns: lumber, coal, dynamite, iron smelting and tanning. By the early 20th century, however, the borough made a name for itself as the home of Sylvania Electric Products, which produced...
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The Fastest Man on Earth: Barney Ewell and the Story of Two Missed Olympiads

Posted by on Mar 11, 2022 in | Comments Off on The Fastest Man on Earth: Barney Ewell and the Story of Two Missed Olympiads Who is the fastest sprinter of all time? Usain Bolt won eight Olympic gold medals between 2008 and 2016. He also secured 11 World Championships, and his world records in the 100 metres and 200 metres have yet to be broken. Before Bolt was Carl Lewis, winner of nine Olympic golds and 10 World Championships in the 1980s and 1990s. A generation earlier was Tommie Smith and Bob Hayes. Before Smith...
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Harrisburg in World War II by Rodney Ross

Posted by on Dec 1, 2021 in | Comments Off on Harrisburg in World War II by Rodney Ross Harrisburg in World War II by Rodney Ross The History Press, 192 pp., paperback $21.99 Like the rat-tat-tat of a machine gun, author Rodney Ross fires off brief declarative sentences to tell his story of how Pennsylvania’s capital city prepared for and aided the war effort between 1941 and 1945. As it became apparent that the United States would enter the war, the citizens of Harrisburg were...
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A Gift to America: Maxo Vanka and the Millvale Murals

Posted by on Nov 29, 2021 in | Comments Off on A Gift to America: Maxo Vanka and the Millvale Murals “This is my gift to America,” declared Croatian artist Maksimilijan “Maxo” Vanka (1889–1963) in 1941, when he completed a vast mural cycle for a small Catholic church in Millvale, Pennsylvania, a working-class town just across the river from Pittsburgh. A recent émigré, Vanka had not yet been in the United States a full decade when he completed the 4,500 square feet of wall painting for St....
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