American Studies Commons^™

Ms-289: John D. Rentz Civil War Diary, Danielle S. Russell

All Finding Aids

John D. Rentz’s Civil War diary chronicles the time he spent with the 96th Pennsylvania Infantry between December 26, 1863, and September 6, 1864. The diary details a wide array of information pertaining to his life with the regiment and the progress of the Civil War.

Rentz’s pension letter is very simple, merely asking for B. Penrose’s assistance with securing a renewal of his pension. The “Rebel letter” written by Margaret Jones to Joseph King is also simple, providing a few details about the rainy weather, the progress of the crops, and expressing Jones’s desire to see her brother.

The …

Shale Play: Poems And Photographs From The Fracking Fields By Julia Spicher Kasdorf And Steven Rubin, Kelly Shepherd

The Goose

Review of Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Steven Rubin's Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields

Political Life In The Old Eighth Ward - With Biography Of Anne Amos, Drew Hermeling, Digital Harrisburg

Look Up, Look Out

The Old Eighth Ward was a very politically active community. Many citizens were actively involved in a variety of civic organizations to bring about political change in the community. Voting was prominent topic of discussion, especially among black men in the community. Prior to 1838, men of color enjoyed voting privileges in Harrisburg and throughout the state of Pennsylvania, but in 1838, the Pennsylvanian Constitutional Convention disallowed the African American men in Harrisburg the ability to vote. The vote was reinstated for African American men across the country with the passing of the fifteenth amendment in February of 1870. Although …

Vice And Virtue Of The Old Eighth Ward - With Biography Of Joseph L. Thomas, Digital Harrisburg, Drew Hermeling

Look Up, Look Out

One of the most exhaustive resources for studying the Old Eighth Ward is a series of columns published in the Patriot newspaper between 1912 and 1913 penned by local educator and editorialist, J. Howard Wert, titled “Passing of the Old Eighth.” A white Civil War veteran, he was politically progressive for the time, and while he was active in the Harrisburg school system, he was a strident advocate for school integration, often partnering with the African-American educational reformer, William Howard Day. However, Wert was also a staunch advocate for the Capitol expansion project and the City Beautiful movement and …

Business And Social Life In The Old Eighth Ward - With Biography Of Colonel W. Strothers, Drew Hermeling, Digital Harrisburg

Look Up, Look Out

Despite its reputation as a lower-income and vice-ridden region, the Old Eighth Ward was a thriving place for businesses, both large and small. In fact, much of the neighborhood’s reputation for unhealthiness was a result of the prominent industries that called the ward home. One such factory was W. O. Hickok Manufacturing Company, also referred to as the “Eagle Works,” the oldest and most prominent industrial plant in the Old Eighth Ward and one of the first manufacturing plants to use electricity for light and power. Additionally, Eagle Works’ founder, Orvil Hickok, served as a councilman for the borough …

Serving The People Of The Old Eighth Ward - With Biography Of Sister Mary Clare Grace, Drew Hermeling, Digital Harrisburg

Look Up, Look Out

While many of Harrisburg’s City Beautiful advocates sought to “save” the people of the Old Eighth Ward from the outside, many individuals and organizations within the ward dedicated their lives to serving the community as well as the wider city.

City Beautiful & Capitol Extension - With Biography Of Dr. William H. Jones, Drew Hermeling, Digital Harrisburg

Look Up, Look Out

At the turn of the century, Harrisburg was at a crossroads. The city was physically deteriorating and had lost its prestige as a thriving steel and railroad center. The rest of America moved on from its industrial boom, and Harrisburg was left behind. Faced with losing its status as a capital city, a change had to be made. Many civic reformers began to speak up about the drastic need for better health conditions in the city. After delivering a rallying speech to the Harrisburg Board of Trade in December 1900, a pivotal local leader, Mira Lloyd Dock ignited an …

Making A Home In The Old Eighth Ward - With Biography Of Hannah Braxton Jones, Drew Hermeling, Digital Harrisburg

Look Up, Look Out

According to the 1900 census, just over 50,000 people called Harrisburg their home. Of these 50,000 people, 4,435 lived in the Old Eighth Ward. The eighth ward was disproportionately occupied by African-American residents. A total of 1,507 African Americans lived in the Old Eighth Ward, which comprised about 34% of the population of this ward. This percentage is quite large in comparison to other wards in the city. Second to the eighth ward, the ward with the largest African American population was the second ward; African Americans comprising about 11% of the population. In contrast, the tenth ward was …

The Old Eighth: Gateway To The Capitol - With Biography Of Gwendolyn Bennett, Drew Hermeling, Digital Harrisburg

Look Up, Look Out

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Harrisburg began to develop as an industrial center. Railroad steel, cigars, flour, shoes, and many other businesses thrived, especially in the Eighth Ward. A large thoroughfare was required in order to accommodate the movement of raw materials throughout the city for processing. Like most industrial societies, Harrisburg utilized water as a means of transportation, with the Susquehanna River flowing alongside the southern border of the city. The Harrisburg canal system was started in a similar manner as the City Beautiful movement– through internal efforts. In 1822, the Harrisburg Canal, Fire Insurance and Water …

Rice, Laban Lacy, 1870-1973 (Mss 605), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 605. Correspondence, writings, photographs, clippings, and papers of Laban Lacy Rice, a Webster, County, Kentucky native, educator, author, lecturer, poet, and president of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee. Includes his scientific writing, principally on astronomy, relativity and cosmology, as well as fiction, poetry, and autobiographical writing. Also includes some correspondence and papers relating to his brother, poet and dramatist Cale Young Rice, and sister-in-law, author Alice Hegan Rice.

Murton, Jessie Wilmore (Jones), 1886-1973 (Mss 439), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 439. Correspondence, writings, scrapbooks, and financial records of Kentucky native and poet Jessie Wilmore Murton. Although born and raised in Kentucky, she spent most of her adult life in Battle Creek, Michigan. Her poetry and prose was published in several solo books and anthologies and appeared extensively in religious publications of the mid-twentieth century. The contents of Box 9 Folder 7 related to the League for Sanity in Poetry has been scanned and can be accessed by clicking on "Additional Files" below.

The Heartland Of The Democracy: Presidential Politics In Oley Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, 1860-64, Benjamin Petersheim

Masters Theses

Oley Township, founded in 1740, in Berks County, Pennsylvania holds a special place in the commonwealth's history because of its unique religious, political, and cultural history. With hundreds of historic buildings and its Pennsylvania German heritage, the heart of the Oley Valley continues to attract colonial and Pennsylvania German historians from great distances so that they are able to analyze and research its rich heritage. Indeed, the area was designated as a National Historic District by the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and much of the farmland has been preserved through land trusts and historical preservation efforts. Many …

"The Jaws Of Proprietary Slavery": The Pennsylvania Assembly's Conflict With The Penns, 1754-1768, Steven Deyerle

Masters Theses

In late 1755, the vituperative Reverend William Smith reported to his proprietor Thomas Penn that there was "a most wicked Scheme on Foot to run things into Destruction and involve you in the ruins." The culprits were the members of the colony's unicameral legislative body, the Pennsylvania Assembly (also called the House of Representatives). The representatives held a different opinion of the conflict, believing that the proprietors were the ones scheming, in order to "erect their desired Superstructure of despotic Power, and reduce to a State of Vassalage and Slavery, some of His majesty's most faithful and loyal Subjects." The …

Karmiller, Courtney Anne, B. 1989 (Fa 485), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text (click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 485. Folklore material classified by genre. Information collected by Courtney Anne Karmiller related to folklore genres for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Philips, Emanie Louise (Nahm) Sachs Arling, 1893-1981 (Mss 317), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 317. Professional correspondence, short stories, book and story manuscripts, author's notes, reviews, and primary and secondary research materials relating to the literary career of Emanie Louise Nahm Philips, a Bowling Green native. Includes some photographs, notices and reviews relating to her work as an artist, family biographical material, and personal correspondence.

Robertson, Cindy (Fa 341), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 341. Paper: "From One Generation to the Next" written by Cindy Robertson for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 46, No. 3, Don Yoder, Alfred L. Shoemaker, Paul R. Wieand, Earl F. Robacker, Ada Robacker, Herbert H. Beck, Edna Eby Heller, Vincent R. Tortora, Frances Lichten

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Two Worlds in the Dutch Country
• Belsnickel Lore
• Carpet-Rag Parties
• Quilting Traditions in the Dutch Country
• Lititz
• Lititz Specialties
• Amish Funerals
• Pennsylvania Redware
• Scratch-Carved Easter Eggs
• Fractur From the Hostetter Collection

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 46, No. 2, Nancy Kettering Frye, Jean-Paul Benowitz, Amos Long Jr., John A. Milbauer

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• "An Uncommon Woman" in the Age of the Common Man: The Life and Times of Sarah Righter Major
• Maintaining Mennonite Identity: The Old Order Church in Pennsylvania and Virginia
• The End of an Era: The Last One-Room Public Schools in Lebanon County
• Pennsylvania Extended in the Cherokee Country: A Study of Log Architecture

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 46, No. 1, Jean-Paul Benowitz, John Lowry Ruth, Paula T. Hradkowsky, Monica Mutzbauer

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• The Mennonites of Pennsylvania: A House Divided
• "Not Only Tradition, but Truth": Legend and Myth Fragments Among Pennsylvania Mennonites
• Mennonite Women and Centuries of Change in America
• "It is Painful to Say Goodbye": A Mennonite Family in Europe and America

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 45, No. 3, Susan L. F. Isaacs, Donald Roan, Debora Kodish, Lois Fernandez, Karen Buchholz, Susan Fellman Jacob, Ron Schlegel, Mindy Brandt

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Folklife at the Margins: Cultural Conservation for the Schuylkill Heritage Corridor
• The Goschenhoppen Historians: Preserving and Celebrating Pennsylvania German Folk Culture
• The African American Festival of Odunde: Twenty Years on South Street
• Joanna Furnace: Then and Now
• Port Clinton: A Peek Into the Past

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 45, No. 2, Thomas E. Gallagher Jr., Robert Troy Boyer, Amos Long Jr., Christine M. Mueseler, Catherine Anne Jacobs, Hugo A. Freund

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Occupational Folklife
• A Fine-Tooth Comb: Atlee Crouse Carries on a Family Tradition
• "Lime and Manure": Agricultural Practices Among the Pennsylvania Germans
• Alcoa, New Kensington: "It was More Than a Job - It was a Way of Life"
• Women's Work: Textile Manufacturing in the Lackawanna Valley
• Working the Seams: African American Professional Performers Moving Between White Public Culture and African American Private Culture

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 45, No. 1, Joan Saverino, Joseph Bentivegna, Nicholas V. De Leo, Catherine Cerrone, Janet Theophano

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• "Domani Ci Zappa": Italian Immigration and Ethnicity in Pennsylvania
• A Study of the San Cataldesi Who Emigrated to Dunmore, Pennsylvania
• A Look at the Early Years of Philadelphia's "Little Italy"
• "An Aura of Toughness, Too": Italian Immigration to Pittsburgh and Vicinity
• Expressions of Love, Acts of Labor: Women's Work in an Italian American Community

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 44, No. 3, Diane Sidener Young, Anne W. Goda, Susan Kalcik, Woodward S. Bousquet, Monica Mutzbauer

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Conservation and Mediation in the Folk and Traditional Arts of Pennsylvania
• Isaac and Thomas Stahl, the Revival Potters of Powder Valley
• The Folk Art of Decorated Eggs
• Jim Popso and His Coal Country Folk Art
• Leaving the Old World for the New: Rules Governing Emigration from Landau in the Palatinate

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 44, No. 2, Susan Kalcik, June Granatir Alexander, M. Mark Stolarik, Corinne Earnest, Klaus Stopp, Jobie E. Riley

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Fortune's Stepchildren: Slovaks in Pennsylvania
• Slovak Churches: Religious Diversity and Ethnic Communities
• Slovak Fraternal-Benefit Societies in Pennsylvania
• Early Fraktur Referring to Birth and Baptism in Pennsylvania: A Taufpatenbrief from Berks County for a Child Born in 1751
• The Solitary Sisters of Saron

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 44, No. 1, Charles L. Blockson, Roland C. Barksdale-Hall, Jerrilyn Mcgregory, Terry G. Jordan

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• "A Missing Link": The History of African Americans in Pennsylvania
• The Twin City Elks Lodge: A Unifying Force in Farrell's African American Community
• The Greening of Philadelphia
• The "Saddlebag" House Type and Pennsylvania Extended

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 43, No. 3, Thomas E. Gallagher Jr., Elaine Mercer, Kenneth E. Kopecky, Eric O. Hoiberg, Gertrude E. Huntington, Marilyn E. Lehman, Samuel S. Stoltzfus, William B. Fetterman, Bernadette L. Hutchison, John W. Friesen

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• The Old Order Amish
• Amish Quilts: Creativity Supported by Rules and Traditions
• Conflict: A Mainspring of Amish Society
• Occupational Opportunities for Old Order Amish Women
• The Amish Taboo on Photography: Its Historical and Social Significance
• Our Changing Amish Church District
• Images of the Amish on Stage and Film
• Amish Gardens: A Symbol of Identity
• The Myth of the Ideal Folk Society Versus the Reality of Amish Life

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 43, No. 2, Susan Kalcik, Hilda Adam Kring, Regina Bendix, Mindy Brandt, Thomas E. Gallagher Jr., Patricia Irvin Cooper, John I. Schwarz Jr., Willard Wetzel

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• The America's Industrial Heritage Project: A Model for Cultural Tourism
• The Harmonists are Waiting for You
• The Quest for Authenticity in Tourism and Folklife Studies
• Tourism and the Old Order Amish
• The Log Cabin: Notes on its Structure and Dissemination
• On the Making of Die Union Choral Harmonie (1833): Evidence from Henry C. Eyer's Working Papers
• In Memoriam: Paul R. Wieand, a True Artist

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 43, No. 1, Thomas E. Gallagher Jr., James D. Mcmahon Jr., Gary M. Johnston, Monica Mutzbauer, Robert P. Stevenson

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Causes of Diversity Between Old Order Amish Settlements
• Daniel Danner, Woodturner: An Early 19th-Century Rural Craftsman in Central Pennsylvania
• "Truth Somewhere in the Telling": The Legend of the Wigton Massacre
• The Connections Between Pennsylvania and the Palatinate in Popular 20th-Century German Literature
• The Story of One Old-Time Country Store

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 42, No. 3, Margaret Clark Reynolds, Mary Lou Robson Fleming, Lee C. Hopple

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Assimilation and Acculturation in a Pennsylvania-German Landscape: The Nisley Family and its Architecture in the Lower Swatara Creek Basin
• Charles-Alexandre Lesueur of Paris, Philadelphia, and New Harmony, Indiana
• Religious-Geographical History of the Hutterian Brethren in Europe and Russia, 1523-1879

Pennsylvania Folklife Vol. 42, No. 2, Wendell R. Zercher, Charles Greg Kelley, Robert P. Stevenson, Henry J. Kauffman, John W. Parsons, Roy Christman, Elwood Christman, Greg Huber

Pennsylvania Folklife Magazine

• Charles E. Starry, Adams County Chair Maker
• Lewis Miller's Chronicle of York: A Picture of Life in Early America
• Family Anecdotes from a Georges Creek Home
• The Pennsylvania-German Schrank
• The Barns of Towamensing Township
• A Review of Robert F. Ensminger's The Pennsylvania Barn