FALL 2008- Pennsylvania Heritage magazine

The colorfully illustrated Fall 2008 edition of Pennsylvania Heritage will educate and entertain. Laugh with our editors in remembering one of the world’s most beloved comedy teams of all time, or marvel at the magnificent architecture of public buildings built during the Great Depression. One nearly forgotten story of the American Civil War is uncovered about African Americans who fled slavery and Confederate soldiers to live free in a small Adams County community. Take a trip down the lower Susquehanna River to view the largest concentration of Native American petroglyphs found in the northeastern United States. This issue’s penny postcard is delivered from Cameron County and ten historical markers all commemorate “Rural Electrification” in the 1930s and the coming of electricity to Pennsylvania’s farms. Willis Shirk again finds a gem among the millions of documents in the Pennsylvania State Archives with the story of Con Carbon, court jester, songwriter, and minstrel to the United Mine Workers. Readers will find Michael J. O’Malley III’s latest book reviews, the Pennsylvania Heritage Society’s newsletter and calendar of events, PHMC staff highlights, and a handy 2008 index of the year’s feature stories.

Laughing with Philadelphia Stooge Larry Fine
Since the days of vaudeville, The Three Stooges continue to entertain the world long after their passing. A legacy of live performances and more than two hundred short and feature-length films have spanned generations. The story of Philadelphia native and “Stooge in the Middle” Larry Fine is told with rare photographs, courtesy of The Stoogeum, a museum dedicated to the trio. Author William C. Kashatus reveals how Larry Fine endured a horrible and painful childhood accident to become a prodigy violinist at the age nine. He then leveraged his vaudeville talents to become an icon of American mass culture.

Built by the New Deal
One of the greatest architectural achievements in Pennsylvania ’s history, financed by the Public Works Administration under the New Deal, took place during the Great Depression. With archival images and new color photos by staff photographers, these magnificent buildings, designed by some of the country’s greatest architects, artists, sculptors, and even philosophers, are detailed expertly by magazine editor and author Michael J. O’Malley III . Great edifices in Harrisburg’s Capitol complex, and elsewhere, still stand, not only to be admired and provide public services, but as a testimony that Pennsylvania’s citizens would not be defeated by the worst economic crisis in history.

Black Settlement on Yellow Hill
For decades prior to the climatic Battle of Gettysburg, African Americans found refuge in Yellow Hill, a nearby peaceful hamlet of farmers, laborers, and crafts persons in Adams County . In 1863, with the Confederates converging on Gettysburg , African Americans justifiably feared capture and being bonded back into slavery. Yellow Hill offered a peaceful sanctuary. Most traces of Yellow Hill are gone and only one tombstone from its cemetery, that of an infant child, survived time and vandals. Yellow Hill and the story of its African American Civil War veterans might have been forgotten if not for the research of scholar Debra McCauslin and co-author Alisha Saunders, a direct descendant of the first Yellow Hill property owner.