Step back to June 21, 1888, when over 200 veterans of the 96th Pennsylvania returned to Gettysburg to unveil their regimental monument. Hear veteran Henry Royer’s stirring keynote about sacrifice, brotherhood, and the war’s true cause - slavery. His speech was a moving tribute to comrades both living and fallen. Read the full story.
Fearing a last-minute jailbreak before six alleged “Molly Maguires” were hanged, armed police stood guard at the Schuylkill County Prison. Though no rescue came, this scene reveals the era’s intense labor strife and the looming power of the coal industry. Read the full story.
Sergeant Walter Baranowski was wounded while serving as a paratrooper in France one week after D-Day. Read the full story of his evacuation from the front lines.
On the anniversary of Joseph Workman's death during the Civil War, I'm remembering the Wiconisco native who joined the 96th Pennsylvania in 1861. Wounded at South Mountain and captured at Spotsylvania, he succumbed to his wounds in Confederate-controlled Richmond. His weathered monument in Calvary United Methodist Cemetery is a reminder to remember the young man who died for his country. Read the full story.
In June 1862, weigh boss Frank Langdon was fatally beaten in Audenried, possibly over Civil War loyalties and wage disputes. Future “Molly Maguire” John Kehoe was later convicted, a controversial verdict that still defines this grim, yet little remembered chapter of Coal Region history. Read the full story.
In June 1896, one of the worst mining disasters in Pennsylvania history took place beneath Pittston.
In this episode of the podcast, we discuss the state of World War II history in popular memory and the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Corporal Nicholas Leshko visited Rome after being wounded in the fighting to take the city in 1944.
A correspondent of the Luzerne Union newspaper provides an account of a fatal train wreck in June 1863.
Sergeant Isaac Jones described the hellish conditions facing Pennsylvania soldiers at the Battle of Petersburg in June 1864.