“Twilight of the Hemlocks & Beeches”

The eastern hemlock and North American beech once thrived from Maine to Georgia, casting shade on trout streams, nourishing wildlife large and small, and gracing uncounted valleys, mountainsides, parks, and backyards. These trees now face tragic decimation by exotic insects and pathogens. Tim Palmer’s photos record the splendor of the cherished hemlock and beech in […]

PA Books: “Pittsburgh and the Great Steel Strike of 1919”

In 1919, the steel industry of Pittsburgh was on the brink of war. Years of labor strife broke out into open conflict as steel workers launched the biggest strike to date in the United States, paralyzing mills from Youngstown to Johnstown and beyond. Radical unionists, anarchists and Bolshevik sympathizers set bombs, planned for revolution and […]

“When I Was White”

At the age of 27, Sarah Valentine discovered that she was not, in fact, the white girl she had always believed herself to be. She learned the truth of her paternity: that her father was a black man. And she learned the truth about her own identity: mixed race. And so Sarah began the difficult […]

“Smiling Banjo”

Attended by tens of thousands of people each August, the Philadelphia Folk Festival is the longest continually running folk festival in America. These pages capture 55 years of its beloved, creatively charged atmosphere. Over 800 photos from 1962 to today feature the more than 825 performers and bands who have taken the stage, including Jackson […]

PA Books: Rush

In the summer of 1776, fifty-six men put their quills to a dangerous document they called the Declaration of Independence. Among them was a thirty-year-old doctor named Benjamin Rush. One of the youngest signatories, he was also, among stiff competition, one of the most visionary. From improbable beginnings as the son of a Philadelphia blacksmith, […]

“Stealing Wyeth”

Andrew Wyeth was one of the best known American artists in the world in the 20th century with his works being sought after by serious art collectors worldwide. A gang of thieves decided to steal an original Wyeth painting for their “retirement” and engaged a professional cat burglar (who was responsible for more than 1,500 […]

“Lee is Trapped and Must be Taken”

“Lee is Trapped and Must be Taken” focuses on the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg and addresses how Maj. Gen. George G. Meade organized and motivated his Army of the Potomac in response to President Abraham Lincoln’s mandate to bring about the “literal or substantial destruction” of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s retreating Army […]

“Little Italy in the Great War”

The Great War challenged all who were touched by it. Italian immigrants, torn between their country of origin and country of relocation, confronted political allegiances that forced them to consider the meaning and relevance of Americanization. In his engrossing study, “Little Italy in the Great War,” Richard Juliani focuses on Philadelphia’s Italian community to understand […]

“Bosom Friends”

In “Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King,” Thomas J. Balcerski explores the lives of these two politicians and discovers one of the most significant collaborations in American political history. He traces the parallels in the men’s personal and professional lives before elected office, including their failed romantic courtships and […]

“Targeted Tracks”

The Civil War was the first conflict in which railroads played a major role. The Cumberland Valley Railroad, for example, played an important strategic role by connecting Hagerstown, Maryland to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Its location enhanced its importance during some of the Civil War’s most critical campaigns. Because of its proximity to major cities in the […]