Friday May 7th, 2021
We think of George Washington, the father of our country, as the white-haired older first President of the United States, the face on a dollar bill. Try picturing him as a 21-year-old six-foot, three-inch-tall red head with piercing blue-gray eyes in his prime. That is the George Washington that ventured into the depths of the wilderness of western Pennsylvania in the winter of 1753.
Wednesday May 5th, 2021
The year is 1926: Calvin Coolidge is President; Gifford Pinchot is the Governor of Pennsylvania and Joseph Crane Williams is Mayor of the City of Erie. The Erie Chamber of Commerce produces a booklet about the benefits of Erie to manufacturing, whether new or relocated. What were they and are they still applicable today?
Sunday May 2nd, 2021
The Erie Baseball War, 1908
Saturday May 1st, 2021
The Fishermen, 1905-1908
Wednesday Apr 28th, 2021
Four thousand years ago the Chinese discovered that the cocoon a silkworm produces can be unraveled and spun into thread. Death was threatened to anyone who would reveal the secret but over time, the method spread to many other countries in the world, including the United States.
Tuesday Apr 27th, 2021
The Civil War which had torn the United States in two for the last four years was almost over on April 14, 1865. Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered to Union forces under General U.S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, the previous Sunday.
Sunday Apr 25th, 2021
The Blackbirds, 1893-1894
Saturday Apr 24th, 2021
League Confusion, 1890-1891
Thursday Apr 22nd, 2021
An interesting document found in the archives of the Hagen History Center, from Booker T. Washington, is a handwritten thank-you note to Mrs. R.S. (Charlotte) Battles and the R.S. Battles Bank of Girard, Pennsylvania.
Wednesday Apr 21st, 2021
Being a student of local history, one of my favorite places to walk is the Erie Cemetery. Walking through, it is a “who’s who” of old Erie families, the wealthy and not so wealthy.
