In as much detail as he could get by US Army censors, Irvin Schwartz describes his unit's action in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.
Letters From War – The Battle of Dom Bütgenbach, December 21, 1944
Letters from War – No peace for the holidays as the Battle of the Bulge raged, December 1944-January 1945
Irvin Schwartz's letter home to Schuylkill County in January 1945 explained the bleak holidays he spent on the front lines of the Battle of the Bulge.
Letters from War – A meeting of Schuylkill County natives on the front lines in Europe, December 1944
A letter from Corporal Irvin Schwartz from December 1944 is excerpted in the West Schuylkill Press-Herald.
How Schuylkill County football fans “watched” the Pottsville Maroon’s 1925 NFL Championship
On December 6, 1925, Schuylkill County football fans gathered at Pottsville’s Hippodrome Theatre to “watch” the Pottsville Maroons claim the NFL Championship, decades before the Super Bowl was born. A private telegraph line provided real-time updates from Chicago’s Comiskey Park, allowing fans to experience the historic game as it happened. Discover how Coal Region football fans celebrated their team’s victory. Read the full story.
Letters from War – Battlefield promotion and war souvenirs, December 1944
The West Schuylkill Press-Herald announced Irvin Schwartz's promotion to corporal in December 1944 and that Schwartz's family received war souvenirs from Europe.
Letters from War – Holiday greetings from the front lines in Nazi Germany, November 1944
Desperate to share Christmas cheer and hopes for a happy New Year, Pfc. Irvin Schwartz wished holiday greetings to friends and family through the newspaper.
Grudge Match: Lykens and Williamstown football teams dueled for championship in remarkable 1904 game
The game ended in a scoreless tie. But that doesn't mean the circumstances surrounding this game aren't fascinating.
Four Christmases – Holiday excerpts from Henry Keiser’s Civil War diary
Four diary entries from the Civil War document the evolution of holiday experiences of a soldier from Pennsylvania's Coal Region.
Golden-tinged memories of Christmas Eve recalled in the dark days of the Civil War | 1861
A writer in Luzerne County penned a beautiful, yet sad, remembrance of Christmas Eves past and the memories they inspired amid a terrible time in the country's history.
Fire at Kalmia Colliery in Schuylkill County nearly claimed lives | December 1871
In December 1871, a devastating fire nearly claimed lives at the Kalmia Colliery in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Flames swept through the breaker, trapping miners and sparking rumors of arson by the Molly Maguires in this turbulent era of coal industry violence in Pennsylvania history. Read the Full Story.