Dr. Edward H. McCleery, Savior of the Lobo Wolves

Posted by on Dec 17, 2019 in | Comments Off on Dr. Edward H. McCleery, Savior of the Lobo Wolves Edward H. McCleery (1867–1962) was a physician from Kane, McKean County, who saved the lobo wolf, a subspecies of the gray wolf, from extinction. While McCleery was a student at Princeton University, he was inspired by a speech given by future president Theodore Roosevelt about his experiences living in the western United States. McCleery then spent several months in Canada’s Yukon territory...
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Stephanie Kwolek, Inventor of Kevlar

Posted by on Dec 1, 2019 in | Comments Off on Stephanie Kwolek, Inventor of Kevlar Born into a Polish American family in New Kensington, Westmoreland County, Stephanie Kwolek (1923–2014) received a bachelor’s degree in 1946 from the Margaret Morrison Carnegie College of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Although she intended to pursue a career in medicine, she took a job with DuPont as a chemist to earn money to attend medical school. She became so involved in her...
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Rev. Dr. Leon Howard Sullivan, Global Civil Rights Activist

Posted by on Nov 5, 2019 in | Comments Off on Rev. Dr. Leon Howard Sullivan, Global Civil Rights Activist Leon Howard Sullivan (1922–2001) was devoted to improving the lives of black people throughout the world. A strong advocate of self-help, he believed that anyone could achieve success if they had the tools and opportunities to do so. He became pastor of Philadelphia’s prominent Zion Baptist Church in 1950, and shortly thereafter he established organizations to promote youth employment and find...
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Loretto Perfectus Walsh, First Woman to Serve in the U.S. Armed Forces

Posted by on Oct 28, 2019 in | Comments Off on Loretto Perfectus Walsh, First Woman to Serve in the U.S. Armed Forces At the age of 20, Loretto Perfectus Walsh (1896–1925) became the first woman to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces in March 1917, just weeks before the U.S. entered World War I. Women had served in the American military since 1901 but as nurses only. Walsh joined the U.S. Navy and was sworn in as a chief yeoman. She was expected to perform the same duties and was entitled to the same benefits and...
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Hunter Liggett, World War I General from Reading

Posted by on Oct 22, 2019 in | Comments Off on Hunter Liggett, World War I General from Reading Hunter Liggett (1857–1935), born and raised in Reading, Berks County, was a senior officer in the U.S. Army during World War I. When America entered the war, he was given command of the 41st Division, which arrived in France in late 1917 as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. He then commanded I Corps and later the First Army. Liggett had graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West...
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Pepper Hill Fire of 1938

Posted by on Aug 22, 2017 in | 0 comments In 1933 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a New Deal program, and several camps were located in Pennsylvania. The CCC was charged with various types of projects including structural improvements, transportation enhancement, wildlife preservation, flood control and fire protection. When several forest fires broke out in the vicinity of...
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Jackie Ormes, African American Woman Cartoonist

Posted by on Jun 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Jackie Ormes, African American Woman Cartoonist Born Zelda Mavin Jackson in Pittsburgh in 1911 and raised in Monongahela, Washington County, Jackie Ormes was the first African American woman cartoonist. At the height of her career, her cartoons and comics reached more than a million readers across the nation through the black press. When the Jim Crow era was in full swing and racial stereotypes were prevalent, Ormes broke down barriers of...
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Anna Wagner Keichline: Architect, Inventor, Suffragist and World War I Special Agent

Posted by on Mar 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Anna Wagner Keichline: Architect, Inventor, Suffragist and World War I Special Agent The Pennsylvania Historical Marker for Anna Wagner Keichline (1889–1943) is prominent among a growing number of markers related to women’s history in the state. Keichline is known as one of the first women to practice architecture professionally in the United States, but she had multifaceted interests and achieved distinction in several fields. Born and raised in Bellefonte, she exhibited...
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Julia C. Collins

Posted by on Dec 13, 2016 in | Comments Off on Julia C. Collins Recognized as one of the first African American women to have published a novel, Julia C. Collins is an enigma. Little information is available about her life. Her maiden name and the date and place of her birth are all unknown. Her education is a mystery. One record that does exist appeared after her marriage to S. (Stephen or Simon) C. Collins of Williamsport, Lycoming County, indicating that...
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Shawnee-Minisink Archaeological Site

Posted by on Sep 9, 2016 in | Comments Off on Shawnee-Minisink Archaeological Site The Shawnee-Minisink site in Monroe County contains some of the earliest evidence of human occupation in eastern North America, carbon-14 dated to around 11,000 BCE. While other sites from the Paleoindian period have been found, very few have been undisturbed. Buried beneath nearly 8 feet of sediment, the archaeological deposits of Shawnee-Minisink remained protected for ages. Archaeologists...
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