On November 2, 1920, the women of Williams Valley cast their first ballots under the 19th Amendment.
“All honor to the ladies” – The women of Williams Valley cast their first vote
World War I draftees paraded through Elizabethville in 1918 before marching off to war
On a sunny Saturday in August 1918, more than 150 young men prepared for entry into the U.S. Army at the town park in Elizabethville, PA.
“The sweet strains of music were heard” – Memorial Day in Williamstown
Photographs taken on Memorial Day 1907 in Williamstown, Pennsylvania show a community commemorating its war dead.
“They died for you and me” – Captain John T. Boyle’s 1879 Memorial Day Poem
The veteran of the 96th Pennsylvania read his poem at Memorial Day festivities in Harrisburg on May 29, 1879.
When the Klan came to Williams Valley – 1924
A recent visit to a cemetery in Schuylkill County inspired an examination of a dark chapter of local history.
“A reign of terror” – A violent 1838 election riot provoked outrage in central Pennsylvania
Workmen on the Wiconisco Canal assaulted poll workers in Halifax, threw out votes, and started their own election.
“Big Lick” – Photographs from the 1860s show a Pennsylvania coal mine with an odd name
The images reveal pictures of industry growing on the side of Big Lick Mountain in Upper Dauphin County after the Civil War.
“I am a traveler by nature” – A long-lost son of Lykens writes home from the West
Frank Israel left his home in Pennsylvania and didn't look back for 15 years. While he was away, he traveled the world.
“Incidents of a by-gone age” – A description of life in the Coal Region before the Civil War
Catherine Romberger Myers was born in Porter Township in 1840. She spoke to a reporter in 1931 about growing up in pre-industrial Williams Valley.
“Cheering, shouting and rejoicing” – A Pennsylvanian’s experience at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865
Sergeant Henry Keiser's diary reveals a soldier's perspective of the Civil War's dramatic final moments.
