In this episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly, Jake talks with author David Fleming about the Pottsville Maroons - coal miners turned football stars whose 1925 NFL championship was stripped away. It’s a story of early professional football that still resonates a century later. Listen to the episode.
Irvin Schwartz returns to his pre-war beat as the sports reporter for Pine Grove High School after serving in World War II.
In October 1865, multiple baseball clubs met in the Wyoming Valley to battle for victory on a makeshift diamond.
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.
The game ended in a scoreless tie. But that doesn't mean the circumstances surrounding this game aren't fascinating.
In a letter written on January 30, 1944, Pfc. Irvin Schwartz opined on high school basketball in his native Schuylkill County.
In this prologue to our "Letters from War" series, newspaper columnist Irvin Schwartz pens his farewell in May 1943.