On June 6, 1944, as Allied troops stormed ashore at Normandy, women in Scranton, PA gathered at St. Peter's Cathedral to pray. This photograph from the Scranton Tribune captures that moment — the Coal Region holding its breath on the "longest day." Read the story.
A walk through Vienna, Austria became something else entirely when small brass markers in the pavement stopped me cold. This reflection traces my first encounter with Stolpersteine, memorials to Holocaust victims placed where they once lived. Read the Full Story.
In April 1944, a B-17 named Banshee was shot down over Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, sending Shenandoah, PA native Chester Majewski plunging 20,000 feet into enemy territory. What followed was a desperate escape through mountains, hunger, and fear. His hometown newspaper captured the story that he barely wanted to tell. Read the Full Story.
The new US-Israeli air war reached the edges of one of Iran’s most important historic sites - the Golestan Palace. These moments raises a larger question about what happens when modern conflict collides with the past. This episode explores the long struggle to protect cultural heritage in wartime and why those battles still matter today. Listen to the Full Story.
In 1943, Charles H. King left Pottsville to fight for democracy. Instead, he found segregation, humiliation, and hard truths about race in the U.S. Navy. His memoir captures the moment he realized who he was in a divided America, and why that awakening shaped his life. Read the full story.
In February 1945, a Schuylkill County anti-aircraft gunner wrote home from France, describing daily life near the front as the war neared its end. His letter offers a view of war-time service far from home. Read the full story.
This holiday episode of the Public History podcast revisits It’s a Wonderful Life as more than a Christmas classic. We unpack the war trauma behind Jimmy Stewart’s performance, the clash between Bedford Falls and Potterville, and why Frank Capra’s critique of power still feels uncomfortably relevant today. Read the full story.
See Aachen through the eyes of the 26th Infantry - block by block, house by house. This short YouTube documentary pairs restored combat footage with today’s streets, then lands beside Irvin Schwartz’s letters from our “Letters from War” project, where 57mm guns and sniper fire turned a city into hell. 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 Thanksgiving Day 1943, as World War II raged on, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania marked the holiday with a quieter tone. Many residents continued to work in essential industries, while others gathered for church services and family reunions. Discover how the Wyoming Valley adapted to the war-time holiday and embraced the hope of victory on the horizon. Read the full story.