Photograph from the 1860s shows incredible detail of the Shenandoah City Colliery

Pottsville photograph A.M. Allen made a trip to northern Schuylkill County to capture an image of the Shenandoah City Colliery.

“New faces” – An April 1867 letter from the Pottsville Freedmen’s School

Fannie A. Couch wrote to Schuylkill County from Tennessee to provide updates about the Freedmen's School she was managing.

Pottsville teachers resign to head south and open school for freedpeople – February 1867

Fannie Couch and Hannah Streeper prepared to leave Schuylkill County to teach black students in Tennessee in 1867.

“Heroic cause of education” – Pottsville established a “Freedmen’s Relief Association” in 1867

In December 1866, a committee was formed in Pottsville that sought to fund and carry out education for former slaves in the war-torn South.

“A vivid flash of light” – An 1867 lightning strike electrocuted Wiconisco miners 1,000 feet below ground

In June 1867, a thunderstorm passed through Wiconisco, Pennsylvania and electrocuted miners deep within one of the town's coal mines.