A crowd gathered at the Mahanoy City, PA train station in May 1918 as a locomotive carried local men off to war. In the middle of it all, a 14-year-old boy watched his brother leave—one small moment in a much larger story of a region sending its sons into World War I. Read the Full Story.
“It seemed as if the scenes and characters of the Bible were living again now, before our eyes.” Before he became the Coal Region’s most important folklorist, George Korson served in the Middle East during World War I. His letters and reflections capture a world in transition and a remarkable journey from Pennsylvania to Palestine. Read the Full Story.
On October 2, 1918, Lt. Ivan L. Lautenbacher of Schuylkill Haven, PA fell in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive with the 316th Infantry, 79th Division. His own letter home before the battle foreshadowed the danger. A community mourned; a posthumous Distinguished Service Cross honored his resolve despite suffering from pandemic influenza while in combat. Read the full story.
From Shenandoah, PA to a rain-soaked military hospital in France, Bugler Joseph A. Nicholas writes of a shattered leg, ether, exhaustion, and pride at going “over the top” in the Meuse-Argonne during WW1. He survived to come home, but his letter holds the war’s ache and grit in every line. Read the full story.
Charles E. King traded Pennsylvania’s coal veins for Europe’s battlefields in 1918. Discover how this Williamstown miner-turned-cook served with artillery forces before returning home to build a life shaped by wartime experiences. Read the full story.
On November 11, 1918, news of the armistice ending World War I reached Pennsylvania’s Coal Region, sparking joyous celebrations. As peace finally arrived after four brutal years, local headlines announced the end of the conflict, and parades filled the streets. Explore these historic Coal Region newspaper stories marking the conclusion of the Great War. Read the full story and the headlines.
Henry Leander Kramer served in the US Army during World War I and returned home to work as a coal miner in his hometown after the war.
Harry Elmer James wrote a letter to the editor of the Harrisburg Telegraph pleading for Black equality following World War I.
Caralunas became one of the first soldiers from Schuylkill County to be killed-in-action during World War I.
The aging veterans who were the first to arrive at the US Capitol in April 1861 pledged their loyalty to the Union once more as America entered World War I.