PA BOOKS on PCN

Hurricane Agnes struck the United States in June of 1972, just months before a pivotal election and at the dawn of the deindustrialization period across the Northeast. The response by local, state, and national officials had long-term consequences for all Americans. President Richard Nixon used the tragedy for political gain by delivering a generous relief package to the key states of New York and...

Offers a detailed chronology of the growth, decline, and attempted resurrection of one American public education system. This book illustrates academic milestones and contributions of Johnstown's African-American community with the development of Johnstown Schools.

Ruling Suburbia chronicles the history of the Republican machine that has dominated the political life of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, since 1875, and of the career of John J. McClure, who controlled the machine from 1907 until 1965.

"Bridges…Pittsburgh at the Point…A Journey Through History" tells the stories of the 34 bridges that crossed the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers in Pittsburgh from 1818 to today. Told through the words of engineers, architects, planners, and historians this is a story of the development of technology, the rise of a city, and the progress of transportation. Thomas Leech is the retired Chief...

Louis Kahn (1901–1974), one of the most important architects of the postwar period, is widely admired for his great monumental works, including the Kimbell Art Museum, the Salk Institute, and the National Assembly Complex in Bangladesh. However, the importance of his houses has been largely overlooked. This beautiful book is the first to look at Kahn's nine major private houses. Beginning with his...

A stirring documentary of Dennis McIlnay's trip on the 100- mile Juniata River in central Pennsylvania, and a moving portrait of some of the Juniata's earliest -- and bloodiest -- events.

When Buchanan entered the White House in March 1857, he seemed well positioned to accomplish his main objectives. A canny and seasoned politician from Pennsylvania with a reputation for moderation on slavery-related issues, Buchanan had a straightforward agenda: the amelioration of sectional tensions, the promotion of American prosperity, and the extension of the Democrats' control of the federal...

Pennsylvania, first home of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, has a tradition of political progress. However, along with the good, the political playground of Pennsylvania has also seen the brazenly bad behavior of its political leaders. For over twenty-five years, political columnist John Baer has had a front-row seat to the foibles and follies of the Keystone State's politica...

German immigrants of the nineteenth century brought their traditions of winemaking and mouthwatering cuisine to the slopes of Mount Penn high above Reading. With a Santa Claus beard and a long-stemmed pipe, the hermit of Mount Penn, Louis Kuechler, founded Kuechler's Roost, where travelers flocked for feasts, literary soirees and free-flowing local wine. The opening of the Mount Penn Gravity Railr...

During the Paxton massacres of 1763, a mob of white settlers, so-called "Paxton Boys" murdered 20 unarmed Conestoga People in a genocidal campaign that reshaped Pennsylvania settlement politics. Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga reimagines this difficult history through an educational graphic novel that introduces new interpreters and new bodies of evidence to highlight the Indigenou...

On September 10, 1813, the hot, still air that hung over Lake Erie was broken by the sounds of sharp conflict. Led by Oliver Hazard Perry, the American fleet met the British, and though they sustained heavy losses, Perry and his men achieved one of the most stunning victories in the War of 1812. Author Walter Rybka traces the Lake Erie Campaign from the struggle to build the fleet in Erie, Pennsyl...

Nestled among the rolling hills of South Central Pennsylvania, six counties – Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and York – are home to more than three centuries of history and architecture. Beginning with early eighteenth century buildings, almost every style of American architecture is featured in the region's mid-sized cities, charming towns, and quaint villages. Susquehanna Valley...

When the whole of Europe went to war in 1914, Pittsburgh watched the storm clouds gather at home. Yet Pittsburgh was a city of immigrants--the large Polish community urged leaders to join the side of the Allies, while German immigrants supported the Central powers. By the time the country entered World War I in 1917, Pittsburghers threw their support into the war effort united as Americans. With o...

In a series of historic vignettes combined with contemporary paintings renowned artist Karl J. Kuerner and award-winning writer Bruce E. Mowday explore the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in a way never before depicted. For Karl, the spirit of art has spurred him to create a series of paintings that are peaceful and tranquil despite the death and destruction that took place here. Also, there a...

American Bandstand, one of the longest-running shows in television history, spotlighted well-scrubbed, properly dressed dancing teenagers on every show. They mirrored the show's perpetually youthful host, Dick Clark, who spun the music Clark often described as the "soundtrack to our lives." These are the memories Clark carefully nurtured as he crafted the alternate teen universe of Bandstandland d...

By Great Rivers: Lives on the Appalachian Frontier tells the story of people who shaped events during a period of rapid political and social change in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States in the eighteenth century. The several dozen individuals (men and women, Native Americans, colonial agents, missionaries, fur traders, Indian captives, surveyors) profiled here reflect a multi-cult...

Cumberland Posey began his career in 1911 playing outfield for the Homestead Grays, a local black team in his Pennsylvania hometown. He soon became the squad's driving force as they dominated semi-pro ball in the Pittsburgh area. By the late 1930s the Grays were at the top of the Negro Leagues with nine straight pennant wins. Posey was also a League officer; he served 13 years as the first black m...

General Charles Lee, second in command in the Continental Army led by George Washington, was captured by the British in December 1776. While a prisoner, he prepared and submitted to his captors a military plan on how to defeat Washington's army as quickly as possible. This extraordinary act of treason, arguably on a par with Benedict Arnold's heinous treachery, was not discovered during his lifeti...

While much has changed in the decade since the original publication of The Eagles Encyclopedia, the passion of Eagles fans has only grown stronger. That's why author Ray Didinger revised, updated, and expanded his history of the team with The New Eagles Encyclopedia. Didinger presents a year-by-year history of the franchise from its inception in 1933 through the 2013 season. There are profiles of...

Joe Farrell, Joe Farley, and Lawrence Knorr have traveled across the eastern USA to the graves of over 200 founding fathers (and mothers) responsible for the birth of the United States of America. This special volume about Pennsylvania includes those that lived, worked, and or died in Pennsylvania. Included in this volume are biographies and grave information for 44 of these luminaries who made si...

Harriet Tubman is best known as one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad. As a leading abolitionist, her bravery and selflessness has inspired generations in the continuing struggle for civil rights. Now, National Book Award nominee Erica Armstrong Dunbar presents a fresh take on this American icon blending traditional biography, illustrations, photos, and engaging sidebars th...

Pittsburgh's explosive industrial and population growth between the mid-nineteenth century and the Great Depression required constant attention to city-building. Private, profit-oriented firms, often with government involvement, provided necessary transportation, energy resources, and suitable industrial and residential sites. Meeting these requirements in the region's challenging hilly topographi...

The Joseph Horne Company, popularly known as Horne's, was a beloved and integral part of Pittsburghers' lives for generations. It was the first department store in the Steel City, staking its ground at the landmark flagship store on Penn Avenue and Stanwix Street. Starting as a small dry goods store, the company expanded into a regional retail powerhouse with a reputation for selling high-quality...

In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character. Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin's life from Boston to Philadel...

"The Life and Loves of Thaddeus Stevens" is an insightful look at one of the most misunderstood figures of the 19th Century. Stevens, the driving force behind landmark civil rights laws, education policy, and economic development initiatives, is presented in this book as both an uncompromising politician and a vulnerable human shaped by his own passions. The book captures the highlights of Stevens...