2025 has been a challenging year – personally, professionally, and emotionally. It’s also been a full one. As the year comes to a close, I wanted to take a moment to pause, take stock, and reflect on what unfolded across these past twelve months of writing, research, travel, podcasting, and public history work.

I shared a similar year-in-review reflection in 2024, and bringing it back this year felt important. For me, this post is a way to step back and make sense of a busy year spent chasing stories across Pennsylvania’s Coal Region, the barren coast of Ireland, and beyond.

For readers, I hope it offers a chance to revisit moments and stories you may have missed – or to see familiar themes in a new light.

Here’s a look back at 2025.

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Favorite Moments of 2025

Reinventing the Public History Podcast

In November, we rolled out a rebranded Public History podcast and welcomed a fantastic new co-host, Molly Keilty. The podcast has become a space where Justin, Molly, and I can dig into the history we care deeply about. We’re excited about where the show is headed and look forward to sharing many more conversations in the year ahead.

You can find and subscribe to the podcast here!

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Traveling to Ireland’s Wild Northwest – Donegal

In March, work travel took me to the United Kingdom and Ireland. I carved out time to venture on my own into Donegal, Ireland’s wild northwestern county. It was my first time renting a car abroad – and my first experience navigating narrow roads from the wrong side of both the car and the road.

Along the way, I hiked mountains, walked beaches, and explored the landscapes that sent so many Irish immigrants to Pennsylvania’s Coal Region in the 19th century. I also visited the hometown of convicted Molly Maguire Alexander Campbell. I wrote about that experience here.

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Returning to Eckley Miners’ Village

In the spring, I had the chance to bring friends to the heart of the Coal Region for the first time. Rich Condon, Codie Eash, my brother Luke, and I traveled through Schuylkill and Luzerne counties, following threads tied to the Molly Maguires and the Civil War era.

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Top Pages and Blog Posts of 2025

Over the years, certain pieces continue to resonate, even if they were written long before 2025. Here are a few reader favorites that stood out this year:

“Leisure Life in the Pennsylvania Coal Regions” | 1876

This post, shared early in 2025, explores Irish immigrant life in the anthracite fields through a 19th-century lens, complete with period illustrations.

“The Hour of Doom” – The Molly Maguire Executions | 1877

Originally published years ago, this post continues to draw readers. It relies heavily on contemporary accounts of the first Molly Maguire executions in Pottsville.

When the Klan Came to Williams Valley | 1924

This story began with a visit to a small cemetery in a farm field and led to a rediscovery of the Ku Klux Klan’s presence in the Coal Region during the early 20th century.

PBS Documentary Shares the Story of the Centralia Mine Fire | 1982

A 2025 post highlighting a PBS documentary filmed at a critical moment in Centralia’s history, when the town’s future still hung in the balance.

The Breaker Boys of Pennsylvania – Child Labor in the Coal Region

Launched in 2025, this page serves as a hub for the history of breaker boys and slate pickers – the children whose labor fueled the Industrial Revolution and helped spark national reform.

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Presentations in 2025

I had the opportunity to share history with audiences across the Mid-Atlantic this year.

Fateful Sunday: Burkittsville and the Battle of South Mountain

On the 163rd anniversary of the battle, I co-led a walking tour of Burkittsville, Maryland with Jody Brumage, focusing on soldiers and civilians caught up in the fight for Crampton’s Gap on September 14, 1862. Sharing the stories of the 96th Pennsylvania in particular was a highlight.

How Civil War Medicine Killed President James Garfield

In November, I returned to the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office for a presentation on Garfield’s assassination and the medical failures that followed. It was my first time back at the site where I worked from 2018 to 2021.

Riding to the Rescue: Railroads and Medicine in the Civil War

Later that month, I made my first visit to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore and gave a talk on how railroads transformed wartime medicine.

Civil War: The Home Front in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region

I closed out November with my first visit to Summit Hill, speaking before the Summit Hill Historical Society. It remains one of my favorite talks of the year thanks to the warm welcome and long conversations that followed.

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A Memorable Story Worth Sharing

In December, my wife and I traveled to the Pacific Northwest, spending time in the Cascades and along the Oregon coast. But the moment that stayed with me most came during a brief visit to the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery in Seattle.

There, I found the grave of Samuel Rowley, an English immigrant who worked in Schuylkill County before enlisting in the 129th Pennsylvania in 1862.

He fought at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and now rests far from the Coal Region he once called home.

I recorded a short video at his grave.

There’s more to come on Samuel Rowley.

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Looking Ahead

As I look toward 2026, I’m excited about what’s ahead. There are new projects on the horizon—and, no doubt, a few surprises along the way. I hope you’ll stay connected by subscribing to the blog, following along on YouTube, and listening to the Public History podcast.

Thanks, as always, for reading – and for being part of this work.

– Jake Wynn, Public Historian

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