Editor’s Letter

The three features in this edition of Pennsylvania Heritage focus on endeavors by visionary individuals to change or improve some aspect of life in the Keystone State.

One of the earliest struggles for Black civil rights in Pennsylvania — the effort to desegregate streetcars — took place in Philadelphia during the Civil War era. The operators of the 19 streetcar companies in the city at that time either forced Black riders to stand on the car’s dangerous outside platform, separating them from the white passengers seated inside the cab, or excluded Blacks from riding altogether. In “Fellow Travelers,” freelance writer Terry Crowley traces the progression of the movement in Philadelphia — involving such prominent activists as William Still and Octavius V. Catto — from early petitions and acts of defiance to organized lobbying of state legislators to pass a bill making it a punishable offense for “Railroad corporations within this Commonwealth to make any distinction with their passengers on account of race or color.”

Nearly 230 miles of the Appalachian Trail pass through Pennsylvania, with the midpoint of the entire pathway located in the Cumberland Valley. From the AT’s inception, this portion of the trail traversed into a paved road-walk that gradually became more hazardous through the years as traffic increased with suburban expansion in the second half of the 20th century. In “End of the Road,” archaeologist and avid hiker Joe Baker tells the human story of how the local hiking community, working with government officials and area stakeholders, was able to acquire a corridor of public land to relocate and preserve this important junction of the trail, an effort that Baker contends is “one of the greatest achievements in land protection and planning in the AT’s long history.”

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed. Chapman lived for a time in Pennsylvania, where he established apple nurseries for producing hard cider near Warren and Franklin before moving on to do the same in locations throughout Ohio and Indiana. It was also in Pennsylvania where in 1853 the first known version of the legend of the folk hero Johnny Appleseed was put in print by a Warren County judge. Although Chapman’s life story is shrouded in mythology, he has been credited with introducing the nonnative apple tree and its fruit to America’s northern frontier during the years of the Early Republic. In “Appleseed of the Nation,” regular contributor Don Sarvey explores the man and the myth in Pennsylvania and considers how the fruit of Chapman’s labor became something uniquely American.

Ever since the Spring 2015 issue of this magazine, Pamela W. Reilly has been writing articles for Wish You Were Here, our department that utilizes historic postcards to tell the stories of the Pennsylvania subjects they depict. Her contribution in this edition will be her last in the series, as she has retired after 28 years of working for PHMC. As an architectural historian, Pamela worked for the agency’s State Historic Preservation Office, reviewing federal and state projects to determine their effect on historic properties. For much of her career, she worked closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development advising HUD program grantees on the environmental review process required for projects in communities across the state. She also assisted in writing and editing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places. We congratulate Pamela on a professional journey that has truly had an impact and thank her for the many captivating, well-researched and informative essays she’s written for Pennsylvania Heritage, in addition to her substantial work in preserving Pennsylvania’s historic and architectural heritage.

Kyle R. Weaver
Editor