Letters to the Editor
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Letters category and the Fall 1992 issue Topics in this article: Abraham Lincoln, Bayard Taylor, Chester County, Clayton, coal, Helen Clay Frick, Henry Clay Frick, Homestead, Homestead Steel Strike, Montgomery County, Philadelphia, Phoenixville, Pinkerton Detective Agency, Pittsburgh, Thaddeus StevensHomestead Revisited
Thank you for the contribution by Brent D. Glass in the winter 1992 issue, “‘The Public is Entitled to Know’: Fighting for the Public Memory of Henry Clay Frick.” Many Pittsburgh residents with three generations of local family knew that his reputation was built on the backs of coal miners and steel workers whose wretched lives he ignored. An objective balance to Clayton, the Frick family’s opulent residence, would be the circa 1890 workers’ housing in Frick’s coal patches and steel towns, to let those who gush about the Gilded Age also know how most who toiled for Frick lived. The acreage at Clayton would permit it, but the spiritual heritage of the Frick legacy among the managers of that museum is as broad and inclusive as that of his late daughter, Helen Clay Frick. There is one factual error in the article. As one of the editors of the recently published “The River Ran Red”: Homestead 1892, an anthology which reconstructs the contemporary images and voices of those who were part of the Homestead strike story (see “Bookshelf” in the fall 1992 edition), I can say that we researched all aspects of the battle and its casualties as thoroughly as possible. We have not found more than the seven workers and three Pinkertons who were killed or who died as a result of the battle. Our accounts also agree with those of Paul Krause, who is considered the definitive Homestead historian, in his book The Battle for Homestead (see “Bookshelf,” summer 1992). Accordingly the statement that “twelve were left dead,” would need to be substantiated.
Russell W. Gibbons
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Russell W. Gibbons served as director of the 1892 Homestead Steel Strike Centennial Conference held in July 1992.
Equality of Man
A sentence in my article, “Thaddeus Stevens, Equality of Man Before His Creator,” in the spring 1992 edition of Pennsylvania Heritage is misleading, assuming “cause and effect” when the relationship is not as clear as I had asserted. Upon reflection, the description of Stevens’ amendment to the constitution should read: “He argued that Black males holding property should not be denied the right to vote and he did not sign the revised constitution, apparently because the document excluded the provision.” My research of the constitutional convention of 1837-1838 suggests that some biographers were a little too eager to ascribe motives to Thaddeus Stevens that are not clear.
Beverly Wilson Palmer
Claremont, Calif.
Beverly Wilson Palmer serves as editor of the Thaddeus Stevens Papers.
Paradise Lost
Bayard Taylor (see “Paradise Lost: A Poet Lost in the Political Labyrinth” by Paul C. Wermuth in the spring 1992 edition) must have died of a broken heart. I enjoyed this story immensely, as it made me realize that (even a century ago) politicians and poets made strange bedfellows. What an appropriate article for a topsy-turvy election year!
Kent M. Baer
Philadelphia, Pa.
Broken promises! Is it any wonder that poor Bayard Taylor grew tired and sick and old without receiving the presidential appointment he deserved? The article opened my eyes to the political intrigue that even “Honest Abe” Lincoln took part in. “Paradise Lost” was excellently written and beautifully illustrated, and I hope we see more “behind-the-scenes” glimpses of American history.
Wanda N. Greene
Brooklyn, N. Y.
The article about Bayard Taylor has placed Phoenixville in Montgomery County. Phoenixville has always been in Chester County. During the time period of this article, Phoenixville was the second largest city in the county.
Lois Donovan
Phoenixville, Pa.
Lois Donovan is archivist for the Historical Society of Phoenixville Area.
