Presentation Archive: Ralph Elwood Brock
February 17, 2010, 12:05 p.m.

Ralph Elwood Brock: A Tree Grows at Mont Alto
Rachel Jones Williams
Wednesday, February 17 at 12:05 p.m.

Born in 1883 to a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal church and a modest homemaker, Ralph Elwood Brock left an indelible mark on the landscape of Pennsylvania. A graduate of the inaugural class of the Pennsylvania Forest Academy at Mont Alto, he became the superintendent of the nursery and a lecturer. His forestry skills helped to create a substantial forestation throughout the Commonwealth with at least one million trees. He went on to landscape gardens in southeastern Pennsylvania and New York City for the Rockefeller family.

Ralph Brock is an example of the contributions made by African Americans to Pennsylvania’s rich heritage, but he doesn’t stand alone. Other members of his family have woven a thread of reciprocity into the fabric of Pennsylvania history.

A resident of Harrisburg, presenter Rachel Jones Williams is a historian, author and museum professional. A graduate of Elizabethtown College and the Cooperstown Graduate Program in History Museum Studies, Jones Williams has created museum exhibits for the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the State Museum of Pennsylvania. She has published articles in the African American National Biography and Pennsylvania Heritage Magazine.

This bookstore presentation was provided in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's 2010 theme, Black History in Pennsylvania: Communities in Common.

Located within the Capitol Complex, across from the State Capitol Building, Hearing Room #4 in the Commonwealth Keystone Building was the setting for this event from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Pennsylvania Heritage Society.

Ralph Elwood Brock: A Tree Grows at Mont Alto
Rachel Jones Williams
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Camera 1 view Full Presentation (43:59 length) Qucktime video files 640 pixel high/268MB 320 pixel medium/98MB Windows Media video files 640 pixel high/70MB 320 pixel medium/57MB Photo Gallery CLICK HERE still photography: Don Giles PHMC State Museum of Pennsylvania	Camera 2 view HD Presentation (43:59 length) Qucktime video files 640 pixel high/465MB 320 pixel medium/92MB Windows Media video file 640 pixel medium/67MB 320 pixel medium/46MB WAV audio file audio file/56MB Click to play or right click on link to save to your computer. videographer: Alan Byler PHMC/State Museum of Pennsylvania