“In a democracy we are not all of the same mind, but we are all of the same purpose.” In 1939, as authoritarian regimes reshaped education across Europe, a rabbi in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region offered a different vision rooted in independent thought and cooperation. His words reveal how Americans understood democracy on the eve of World War II. Read the Full Story.
Each January, King in the Wilderness reminds me how unfinished Martin Luther King Jr.’s work was—and how uncomfortable it made people then and now. The film focuses on his final years, when he spoke plainly about war, poverty, and power. It’s an honest portrait worth revisiting. Read the full story.
In January 1865, Welsh immigrant and Scranton resident Henry F. Evans wrote home after fighting ashore at Fort Fisher with the U.S. Navy. His letter captures the chaos, fear, and brutality of sailors turned infantry in one of the Civil War’s decisive battles. Read the full story.
In 1911, activist Lewis Hine found 13-year-old Willie Brieden working as a nipper 500 feet underground in Pittston, PA - alone in the dark, opening heavy doors as gas hissed nearby. Days later, Willie was home sick, coughing from endless hours in the damp mine. A childhood bent to anthracite's demands, captured in one image. Read the full story.
Lewis W. Hine’s photograph reveals the faces of breaker boys, children working in harsh conditions for meager pay. Witness their stories and learn how these images sparked national reform against child labor. A haunting, pivotal chapter in Coal Region history. Read the full story.
Explore Lewis Hine’s 1911 photograph of breaker boys in Pittston, Pennsylvania, capturing the harsh realities of child labor in the coal mines. This image, part of Hine’s work for the National Child Labor Committee, highlights the young workers’ lives and the efforts to reform labor practices. Read the Full Story.
The Pottsville Republican newspaper delivered the news to Schuylkill County on January 17, 1920 that nationwide Prohibition had gone into effect at midnight. Read the story.
Francis Reilly, 25, died after being struck in the head while working in the Bear Valley Shaft at the Williamstown Colliery in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in 1889. Read the full story.
As the United States spun into a political crisis in January 1861, Schuylkill County's representative wrote home to his constituents about his beliefs.
A letter from the front lines in Belgium as the Battle of the Bulge raged in January 1945.