Pennsylvania History Studies Series
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These booklets bring the history of Pennsylvania to life for general readers and students. Covering topics such as ethnic groups, industries, religion, and the arts, each title offers engaging stories written by leading Pennsylvania historians. To order, link to the printable order form below.
Open printable order form ◄ Special Offer: Sets of all titles (or mix and match to complete your library)
Volumes also may be purchased on-line at www.ushistory.org .
Publications supported by grants from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Arts – Ethnic Series – Great Debates – Industry – Movers & Shakers
New in May 2008 – Available for fall course adoptions and community events:
Pivotal Pennsylvania:
Presidential Politics from FDR to the Twenty-First Century
By G. Terry Madonna, Franklin & Marshall College
Each presidential election year, it has become common to hear Pennsylvania described as a "battleground state." How and why did such competitive politics take shape? When did Pennsylvania become so pivotal in electing the president of the United States? In this volume, one of the state's leading political analysts answers these questions by taking readers behind the scenes of convention dramas and onto the campaign trail as national candidates and favorite sons vie for support. This authoritative, richly detailed history by G. Terry Madonna traces the evolution of presidential politics in Pennsylvania from FDR to the twenty-first century. (2008). 126 pages, illustrations, presidential elections table, and suggestions for further reading. $14.95.
ISBN 1-932304-40-1
Cover illustration: Pennsylvania State Archives, MG-342, George Howard Earle Papers
Web extras:
Sources and Additional Information
Featured Titles
Sports In Pennsylvania
By Karen Guenther, Mansfield University
In this wide-ranging history of sports in Pennsylvania, Karen Guenther leads readers from pre-colonial contests among Native American tribes to the big business of modern professional sports. From amateur competition, to colleges, to the pros, readers will relive championship seasons and struggles with defeat – and along the way, follow the important role of sports in the social, cultural, and economic life of the Commonwealth. The volume also provides a guide to Pennsylvania sports in the movies, in museums, and at historic sites, giving readers the opportunity to follow their favorite teams beyond the stadiums and playing fields. This concise, authoritative survey serves as a gateway for general readers who wish to explore the rich variety of sporting life in Pennsylvania. (2007). 117 pages, illustrations, list of national collegiate champions, and suggestions for further reading. $12.95. ISBN 1-932304-39-8
Cover illustration: Library of Congress
Web extras:
Pennsylvania sports achievements
Expanded bibliography
Lesson Plans (available for download in pdf format):
American Indian Contributions to PA Sports History (1,002 KB)
College Sports in Pennsylvania (34 KB)
Immigrants and Sports in Pennsylvania (28 KB)
Native Americans and Sports in Pennsylvania (35 KB)
Pennsylvania Sports History Timeline (304 KB)
Pennsylvania Sports History Trading Cards Lesson Plan (69 KB)
Pennsylvania Sports on Film (18 KB)
The Carlisle Indian Industrial School and RAFT (2,735 KB)
The Geography of Pennsylvania Sports History (3,634 KB)
Women and Sports in Pennsylvania (23 KB)
Women of Industry and Reform:
Shaping the History of Pennsylvania, 1865-1940
By Marion W. Roydhouse, Philadelphia University
Learn about the experiences of women who worked in factories, walked picket lines, fought for the vote, managed family life, and battled urban conditions during the transformative years between the Civil War and World War II. With great care to preserve women's voices in the telling of their own stories, Marion W. Roydhouse has achieved a narrative that spans the Commonwealth and cuts across class lines. For the first time, general readers have an account of this important period that reflects the wealth of research produced by scholars in recent decades. (2007). 106 pages, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. $12.95 ISBN 1-932304-37-1
Cover photograph: Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Native Americans' Pennsylvania
By Daniel K. Richter, University of Pennsylvania
In this ambitious history, Daniel K. Richter recounts the story of Native Americans in the Keystone State. Recognizing that Native American history does not begin with the arrival of Europeans, and does not end with their relocation or their concentration on reservations, the author pays significant attention to the millennia before contact, as well as to the developments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Well-written, carefully researched, and infused with concern for telling the Native American story in all its complexity, this volume provides a lively and thought-provoking survey of the history of the original people of Pennsylvania. (2005). 100 pages, illustrations, maps, and suggestions for further reading. $12.95.
ISBN 1-932304-29-0
Cover photograph: Carlisle Indian Industrial School, 1901, Cumberland County Historical Society.
Philadelphia: A Brief History
By Roger D. Simon, Lehigh University
Experience the color, drama, and excitement of Philadelphia as it changes over three hundred years from a colonial port to industrial city and modern metropolis. Such diverse characters as William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, Stephen Girard, John Wanamaker, Rebecca Gratz, Frank Rizzo, and Ed Rendell march across these pages. The struggles of immigrants and African Americans for a place in the city are recounted, along with the occasional spasms of violence and modern efforts at urban renewal. (2003). 141 pages, illustrations, maps, population tables, list of notable buildings, and suggestions for further reading. $12.95.
ISBN 1-932304-28-2
"Simon's wonderfully illustrated and written book should serve as the entry into Philadelphia’s history for a variety of audiences. … Indeed, it is hard to imagine a better short history of an American city." – William Pencak, Pennsylvania History
The Arts
Pennsylvania’s Architecture
By Irwin Richman, Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania’s history is reflected in its buildings, from colonial log houses to the shimmering new skyscraper skylines of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. This booklet provides an introduction to these often-overlooked testaments to the state’s past and present. (Revised edition, 1997). 79 pages, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. $8.95.
Pennsylvania’s Decorative Arts in the Age of Handcraft
By Irwin Richman, Pennsylvania State University
What stories might emerge from a close look at a chair, a basket, a candlestick, a redware dish, or a woven coverlet? This booklet delves into material culture to reveal the texture of early Pennsylvania life. (1978). 76 pages, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. $7.95.
Pennsylvania Painters
By Irwin Richman, Pennsylvania State University
Get to know the painters behind Pennsylvania’s rich artistic tradition, from Charles Willson Peale and Benjamin West to the impressionist Mary Cassatt and the modernists of the twentieth century. (1983). 83 pages, illustrations (some in color), and suggestions for further reading. $7.95.
Ethnic Series
The Black Presence in Pennsylvania: “Making It Home”
By Emma Lapsansky, Haverford College
Enter into the centuries-long debate about justice for the African and African
American inhabitants of Pennsylvania with this history, which spans from William
Penn’s colony to the twentieth-century political achievements of black political
leaders. Learn about the growth of African American communities through the
experiences of James Forten, Richard Allen, Octavius Catto, Elizabeth Taylor
Greenfield, and many others. This is the ongoing story of "making a home" in
Pennsylvania. (Revised edition, 2001). 46 pages, illustrations, and suggestions
for further reading. $7.95.
The Irish in Pennsylvania: A People Share a Commonwealth
By Dennis Clark
Relive the drama of the Irish in Pennsylvania, from the earliest arrivals to
the persistence of Irish culture in the twentieth century. See the state through
the eyes of the refugees from the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s and follow
their experiences in nineteenth-century Pennsylvania. Learn how Irish Americans
contributed to the rise of industry and grappled with the challenges of industrial
decline. Sample Irish traditions, music, and language in this booklet, which
reflects Dennis Clark’s life-long study of the Irish experience in the Keystone
State. (1991). 55 pages, map, illustrations, population table, and suggestions
for further reading. $7.95.
Jewish Life in Pennsylvania
By Dianne Ashton, Rowan University
Gain insight into the challenges of the Jews who created communities in a predominantly
Christian colony, state, and nation. As they participated in the nation’s political,
cultural, and economic life, they also re-created in Pennsylvania the essential
foundations of Jewish life – synagogues, schools of Jewish religious knowledge,
charitable societies, synagogues, kosher food providers, and publishers of
Jewish texts. This volume explores the Jewish experience in Pennsylvania in
the context of world events, from the trading networks of the Atlantic world
to the persistence of anti-Semitism and the continuing strength of Jewish identity.
(1998). 73 pages, illustrations, population table, glossary, and suggestions
for further reading. $7.95.
The Pennsylvania Germans: A Brief Account of Their Influence on Pennsylvania
By Charles H. Glatfelter, Gettysburg College
One of our most popular titles, this volume places readers in the footsteps of
Francis Daniel Pastorius, who first set foot in Pennsylvania in 1683, and then
carries the history of German immigration and experience forward through three
centuries. Included within the narrative are examples of German arts and crafts
and excerpts of German proverbs, folk tales, and songs. (Revised edition, 2002).
86 pages, illustrations, notes, and suggestions for further reading. $8.95.
Polish Presence in Pennsylvania
By Matthew S. Magda
Of the original thirteen colonies, Pennsylvania had the largest number of Polish
settlers – the first in a continuing stream of migrants who injected strong
elements of Polish culture into the Keystone State. This booklet follows the
history of the Polish presence into the Revolutionary Era, with the stories
of Casimir Pulaski and Thaddeus Kosciuszko, and into the nineteenth century,
when political exiles from Poland found new homes in Pennsylvania. Polish Americans
built a rich community life of neighborhoods, churches, newspapers, community
organizations, and labor unions, all featured in these pages. (1992). 65 pages,
maps, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. $7.95.
Scotch-Irish Presence in Pennsylvania
By James H. Smylie
Join the Scots-Irish in their migration to Pennsylvania during the eighteenth
century and learn about the impact of religion on the settlers’ lives. Follow
the contributions that Scots and Scots-Irish immigrants and their descendants
have made to Pennsylvania and American Society. (Revised edition, 1990). 37
pages, notes, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. $8.95.
Great Debates
Pennsylvania and the Federal Constitution
Edited by Robert G. Crist, John M. Coleman, and Phillip E. Stebbins
Experience the turbulent decades leading to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution,
and learn how the controversy of Pennsylvania’s own Constitution influenced
the nation’s frame of government. Essays contributed by William Pencak, Phillip
E. Stebbins, and Robert G. Crist of Pennsylvania State University, and Edward
Dumbauld, Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District
of Pennsylvania. (1987). 80 pages, illustrations, complete text of the Constitution
and Bill of Rights, and suggestions for further reading. $8.95.
Pennsylvania and the Bill of Rights
Edited by Robert G. Crist
Enter into the contentious debates over the ratification of the U.S. Constitution,
and learn Pennsylvania’s role in shaping the first ten amendments to the document,
the Bill of Rights. Essays contributed by Roland Baumann, Oberlin College;
Rodger Henderson, Pennsylvania State University; and Owen Ireland, State University
of New York, Brockport. (1990). 93 pages, notes, and illustrations. $8.95.
Industry
The Iron Industry in Pennsylvania
By Gerald G. Eggert, Pennsylvania State University
From the opening of the first iron forge in 1716, the iron industry played a
central role in the economies of Pennsylvania and the nation. Learn how iron
was made, and follow the story of iron production through the experiences of
the industry’s pioneers and the iron workers and their families whose labor
built Pennsylvania’s industrial might. (1994). 98 pages, illustrations, list
of historic sites related to the Pennsylvania iron industry, and suggestions
for further reading. $9.95.
Temporarily out of stock. Please inquire before placing quantity orders.
Movers & Shakers
Pennsylvania Kingmakers
Edited by Robert G. Crist, Pennsylvania State University
Learn the success stories of some of the leading power-brokers who worked behind
the scenes of Pennsylvania politics: Matthew Quay (1833-1904); Simon Cameron
(1799-1889); Boies Penrose (1860-1921); and David Leo Lawrence (1889-1966).
Essays contributed by James A. Kehl, University of Pittsburgh; Philip S. Klein,
Pennsylvania State University; Michael P. Weber, Carnegie-Mellon University;
and Paul B. Beers, Harrisburg Patriot-News. (1985). 71 pages, illustrations
including two political cartoons, and suggestions for further reading. $7.95.
Pennsylvania Reformers: from Penn to Pinchot
By Ira V. Brown, Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvanians seek to change the world for the better, from William Penn's "holy
experiment" to nineteenth-century feminists, prison reformers, abolitionists,
temperance advocates, labor leaders, and urban progressives. (1966). 68 pages,
illustrations, and suggestions for further reading. $7.95.