Category: Uncategorized
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Digging Up the Past
May 17-23, 2026, I had the amazing opportunity to take part in the first ever Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology (SPA)/Pennsylvania Archaeological Council (PAC) Field School in Halifax PA. This week long field school was designed to give a basic level of experience for those with interest in the archaeological field whether you are a student…
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Carnage in Pittsburgh – The Railroad Strike of 1877
A strike against the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1877 led to major destruction in Pittsburgh. The cause of the strike and the unrest that followed can be traced to the “Long Depression” which started with the Panic of 1873. A stock panic caused by what was likely the first “Economic Bubble” in U.S. History. The “Bubble”…
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Josiah Henson – Minister, Author, Educator
In school, you probably had the opportunity to read Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’ very few people know that the book is based on the autobiography of Josiah Henson. Josiah Henson was born enslaved in 1789 in Charles County, Maryland. Josiah grew up knowing the brutality of slavery in the United States. Henson…
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Expansion in the British Colonies & Early Pennsylvania
(Author’s Note) The following is a short excerpt from my upcoming book on the forts of Western Pennsylvania. I am finishing the editing phase in hopes to have it in print sometime this summer. In 1740, the British Parliament passed the Plantation Act, this law would contribute largely to the growth of population in British…
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Irish Americans in World War I
American neutrality prior to the United States entering World War I had a great deal of support. Irish Catholics who now lived in the United States did not have a particular fondness for the United States aligning itself with Great Britain. Irish Americans strongly supported neutrality in the war. Many of the Irish Catholics who…
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The Bonus Army and the Great Depression
In 1932, the United States was deep in the grips of the depression with bread riots happening throughout the country and shanty towns or Hoovervilles in many cities. “After victory in World War I, the US government promised in 1924 that servicemen would receive a bonus for their service.”[1] The 1924 act that guaranteed that…
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African Americans in the World Wars: A Comparative Study
Approximately 350,000 African American soldiers fought for the United States military in World War I. More than one million African American men and women served in the U.S. military and Women’s Army Corps during World War II. African Americans were given their first opportunity to enlist for military service in the United States at the…
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The Maryland Campaign: A Historiographical Examination of the Tactical Decisions
In September of 1862, General Robert E. Lee began a campaign into Maryland. Lee’s plans included capturing the City of Frederick, Maryland and moving east towards Baltimore and Washington. In early September, Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia numbered 70,000 soldiers among them infantry, cavalry, artillery, and support units. Lee’s troops were in poor condition, food…
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The Irish at Antietam
THE mess-tent is full, and the glasses are set,And the gallant Count Thomond is president yet;The vet’ran arose, like an uplifted lance,Crying—“Comrades, a health to the monarch of France!”With bumpers and cheers they have done as he badeFor King Louis is loved by the Irish Brigade.“A health to King James,” and they bent as they…
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Women in the American Revolution
On March 12, 1776, the Continental Congress released a public notice thanking the women who were contributing to the revolutionary cause. The notice first appeared in a Baltimore newspaper. The notice urged others to recognize women’s contributions and announced, “The necessity of taking all imaginable care of those who may happen to be wounded in…
The Magical History Tour 