Letters to the Editor
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Letters category and the Summer 1988 issue Topics in this article:Thank You!
Thank you! The photographs in the spring issue, especially in the article on the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (“An Ideal and a Symbol” by Jeanette M. Toohey) were fabulous. I remain impressed with your fine editing and thoughtful illustration of such fascinating stories.
Alexandra P. Katz
Camp Hill, Pa.
Of Personal Interest
The winter issue was great! I especially enjoyed the article on A. S. W. Rosenbach. My hometown for fifty-two years, Titusville, and my business, The Titusville Herald, had a Rosenbach connection. John T. Scheide, a wealthy book collector and Titusville resident, became interested in rare books through his father, William, who created the family fortune as the pipeline man for the original Standard Oil Company. John bought a Guttenberg bible and other treasures from “The Doctor.” In undertaking the industrial heritage survey, as outlined in the “Executive Director’s Message,” do not forget the distillery which made Old Overholt, one of Pennsylvania’s outstanding rye whiskeys. An Old Overholt bonded warehouse at Bradford and the Overholt residence at Overton, south of Scottdale, still stand. Some of my ancestors were Overholts (originally Oberholtzer), and famed coke baron Henry Clay Frick was born near the Overholt house. H. C. Frick and my grandmother, Anne Braddock, were brother and sister. Indeed, the winter edition was of great personal interest to me.
James B. Stevenson
Pinehurst, N. C.
Long an ardent supporter of the Commonwealth’s public history programs, Mr. Stevenson is a former chairman of the PHMC.
A Sportsman’s Paradise
With great interest I read your outstanding story on Perry County (“A Sportsman’s Paradise” by Duane E. Good) in the winter issue. Perry County has always been of much interest to me-in fact, my playground where I hunted and fished. For some thirty years I was a member of the National Park Advisory Board to the Secretary of the Interior, and in that capacity I recommended that the western half of Perry County be made a national recreation area. It was seriously considered, and I believe might have been approved had we not had a change of secretaries about that time. I take credit for, and am proud of the fact that I was able to, through good friends in Harrisburg and Washington, have Perry County’s famous box huckleberry cluster – which I rediscovered in 1968 – declared a State Park. I do hope the Commonwealth and Perry County take such good care of that stand of box huckleberry that it shall be there through the thousands of years to come as it has been in the thousands of the past.
Frank E. Masland, Jr.
Carlisle, Pa.
Dusk to Dawn
I was surprised to read in the “Currents” section of the winter edition that the Scott Arboretum on the campus of Swarthmore College is open from dusk to dawn, with guided tours available! In my days at Swarthmore, more than fifty years ago, I’ll have to admit we did have our share of nocturnal tours among the magnolias and rhododendron. I enjoy your magazine immensely, so don’t let nitpicking like this discourage your editors from keeping up their fine work.
Philip D. Croll
Doylestown, Pa.
Braddock’s Defeat
I take issue with Iola B. Parker’s article, “Into the Valley of Death,” in your winter edition. Had the author understood the French “side” of the story, she might have better explained how minor decisions may determine the outcome of a battle. Three of the five illustrations relate directly to Gen. Edward Braddock, and there is no map to indicate where any of the events occurred. There is also much controversy concerning the authenticity of the journal allegedly written by the captain’s servant on which much of this article is based.
J. K. Folmar
California, Pa.
J. K. Folmar is a professor of history at California University of Pennsylvania.