A powerful letter on slavery and the Civil War from a one-time resident of Northeastern Pennsylvania

"ABOLISH SLAVERY" - A remarkable letter from an Irish-American soldier in the Civil War and his evolving anti-slavery beliefs.

Letters from War – Irvin Schwartz’s Farewell Column for the West Schuylkill Press in 1943

In this prologue to our "Letters from War" series, newspaper columnist Irvin Schwartz pens his farewell in May 1943.

A Nazi propaganda magazine from 1945 featured photographs of a Schuylkill County mining operation

A soldier from Schuylkill County was stunned when he found photographs from the Pennsylvania Coal Region in a magazine published in Nazi Germany.

An important moment in Coal Region history took place in a Philadelphia coffee house in 1831

In 1831, a land sale took place at a coffee house in Philadelphia that launched coal mining operations in northern Dauphin County.

A 1918 Public Service Announcement: “Influenza: How To Avoid It – How To Treat Those Who Have It”

An October 1918 PSA from the Pennsylvania state government told residents how to avoid pandemic influenza, or if necessary, how to treat it.

“In Scarlet Fever’s Grip” – This 1910 epidemic crippled Lykens and closed schools and businesses

In 1910, an epidemic of scarlet fever spun out of control in the Coal Region community of Lykens and left a trail of bodies in its wake.