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Bellefonte
9781467108669
Regular price $23.99 Sale price $16.79 Save 30%
Nestled in the Nittany Valley, 2.5 miles from the geographic center of Pennsylvania, the quaint community of Bellefonte was founded in 1795 by Revolutionary War veteran James Dunlop and his son-in-law James Harris. During the 19th century, Bellefonte quickly grew in industrial and political prominence owing to its central location within Pennsylvania’s iron-making region. Bellefonte’s rarified status was evidenced by the fact that despite having a populace of less than 5,000 inhabitants prior to 1940, five Pennsylvania governors, together with future governors of California and Kansas, claimed Bellefonte as their birthplace and/or long-term residence. Likewise, Bellefonte’s picturesque Victorian architecture reflected its economic prosperity and distinguished residents, with 11 Bellefonte properties currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Despite Bellefonte’s rich history and Victorian splendor, the town gradually faded into the shadows following the founding of the nearby Farmers’ High School of Pennsylvania (now Pennsylvania State University) in 1855.
A History of Early Glenside
9781467171007
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Explore the story of the birth and growth of Glenside, one of Philadelphia's oldest and most preeminent suburbs.
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In 1857, the rutted Germantown & Willow Grove Turnpike passed through farmland as it crossed paths with the bustling North Penn Railroad. The community of Glenside would one day be the result of that crossing. A visitor getting off the train would see green vistas of rolling fields, tasseled corn, and lounging cows. Discovering the area in the mid-nineteenth century, wealthy industrialists constructed lavish country estates to escape the health perils of the city in the summer, and by the end of the century, enterprising developers had begun dividing the land into plots for respectable country homes for Philadelphia’s burgeoning middle class.
Historian Thomas J. Wieckowski tells the entertaining story of how one of Philadelphia’s first and most esteemed suburban communities grew from such humble beginnings.
Pittsburgh's Orphans and Orphanages
9781467108034
Regular price $23.99 Sale price $16.79 Save 30%
In the early 1900s, orphanages in the United States housed more than 100,000 children, thousands of those living in Pittsburgh. Buildings that became group homes were constructed through churches and fraternal organizations. The facilities, complete with boarding accommodations, dining halls, schools, playgrounds, and infirmaries, offered accommodations for 100 to 300 orphans at any given time. For the orphans living in such homes, everything was communal and privacy was nonexistent. Young boys and girls slept in overcrowded dormitories, waited in long lines to use the lavatories, and lost their individuality to the uniform appearance of being an orphan. Some children still had a living parent, but due to dire circumstances of the times, their fate was in the hands of those who operated the orphanage.
Slavery & the Underground Railroad in South Central Pennsylvania
9781467119733
Regular price $21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Much like the rest of the nation, South Central Pennsylvania struggled with slavery. The institution lingered locally for more than fifty years, although it was virtually extinct everywhere else within Pennsylvania.
Gradually, anti-slavery views prevailed. The Appalachian Mountains and the Susquehanna River provided natural cover for fleeing slaves, causing an influx of travel along the Underground Railroad. Locals like William Wright and James McAllister assisted these runaways while publicly advocating to abolish slavery. Historian Cooper Wingert reveals the struggles between slavery and abolition in South Central Pennsylvania.
Abolition & the Underground Railroad in Chester County, Pennsylvania
9781467150255
Regular price $21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%
Chester County was home to a diverse patchwork of religious communities, antislavery activists and free Black populations, all working to end the blight of slavery during the Civil War era. Kennett Square was known as the "hotbed of abolitionism," with more Underground Railroad stations than anywhere else in the nation. Reverend John Miller Dickey and the Hinsonville community under the leadership of James Ralston Amos and Thomas Henry Amos founded the Ashmun Institute, later renamed Lincoln University, the nation's oldest degree-granting Historically Black College and University. The county's myriad Quaker communities fostered strong abolitionist sentiment and a robust pool of activists aiding runaway slaves on their road to emancipation. Author Mark Lanyon captures the rich history of antislavery activity that transformed Chester County into a vital region in the nation's fight for freedom.
