In Sligo, Ireland a bronze family waits forever on the quay—one small reminder of events that sent more than 30,000 people from that port city toward places like Pennsylvania’s coal towns. Read the full story.
Learn more about the Irish Memorial in Philadelphia, dedicated to those who fled famine and hardship in the 1840s. Learn how these immigrants overcame discrimination to shape Pennsylvania’s mining towns and America itself. A tribute to resilience and hope, this monument tells an enduring tale. Read the full story.
In February 2024, I had the opportunity to visit Dublin, Ireland and made a stop at a memorial to those lost in the Potato Famine of the 1840s. The events in Ireland during the 1840s had reverberations in Pennsylvania's Coal Region as thousands of Irish immigrants fled their homeland and sought a new life in the anthracite coal fields. Read the full story.
My first trip to Germany in 2022 brought me new perspectives on the realities of air bombardment during the Second World War.
As World War II drew to a close, Sgt. Irvin Schwartz laid out a proposal to honor the Pine Grove area servicemembers when they returned home.
Port Carbon's Civil War monument was dedicated on July 4, 1906 to much fanfare.
In May 2019, we traveled to Port Carbon to see two Civil War monuments dedicated to local residents.