This week in Johnstown, a panel commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Rosedale incident at the Johnstown Area Heritage Association. For those of you who do not know, during World War I there was a large influx of African Americans and other ethnic groups to work in the steel mills. In 1923, in the Rosedale […]

This is the second post by Nick Brisini. After doing research on the history of puppeteering, I realized that this noble art form seemed to be dying out in the modern world. Historically speaking, puppet shows were one of the main forms of entertainment for children and even adults. Puppeteers were esteemed, especially a woke […]

Yesterday I had a pleasant conversation with retired IUP sociology professor Jim Dougherty on labor history. He is the founder of the Center for Northern Appalachian studies. When he retired his center ended so he took the sign and put it on his door. We spoke about the history of labor struggles in the area, […]

The Battle of Homestead Foundation and the Pennsylvania Labor History Society held a commemoration of the 1922-23 coal mine strike in Windber, PA. The next day they held a commemoration of a failed 1924 Ku Klux Klan raid on the coal mining town of Lilly. This post will focus on the first day. The meeting […]

Watching a Cambria/Somerset Tea Party meeting broadcast live on Facebook by John DeBartola (I cannot embed the video here), I heard discussion of the group Mom’s for Liberty. They are working to stop the “woke” curricula in our schools. The image above shows where they have chapters located in Pennsylvania. As of this writing they […]

I spoke with Kourtney Square who is organizing the upcoming centennial of the Rosedale incident in Johnstown. On September 7, 2023, Square, her aunt Dr. Carol Francois, Banished from Johnstown author Cody McDevitt, and local photographer Jackie Gunby will hold a panel discussion on the incident at the Johnstown Area Heritage Association. The flyer for […]

This evening I had a nice conversation with Pitt-Johnstown Professor of History Paul Douglas Newman (no relation to that other Paul Newman) about the history of Native Americans in Pennsylvania. From around the year 1 AD to the 1400s there was a vibrant Native American civilization in the Mississippi region that extended up the Ohio […]

This week (Sept. 18-24) has been declared banned books week by the American Library Association. Above is a graphic from them detailing the complaints to local libraries, schools and other institutions about certain books, signings by authors, and films. This Friday I will be at the Cambria County Library to give a reading from my […]

I am here at the Cambria County Arts and Heritage Festival covering the event. I am also here selling my book Wuthering Depths in Johnstown: By the Numbers. The event has Civil War reenactors, Medieval reenactors, an antique car show, carriage rides, food, and vendors galore. The above video is an interview with Confederate reenactors. […]

Molly Rush is a longtime peace and social justice advocate in Pittsburgh. She is a co-founder of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh and Healthcare for all PA. The Thomas Merton Center is having its 50th anniversary this year. It has served as an umbrella organization for many progressive organizations in the Pittsburgh area. At […]