LOCAL HISTORY - The Keystone Newsroom

Feb 2025 14

Unpacking NEPA’s surprisingly strong ties to the Mafia

By Kalena Thomhave | LOCAL HISTORY, EVERGREEN, Kalena Thomhave

Learn about how the Mafia grew its influence in the shadow of the Pocono Mountains.

Feb 2025 4

Black History Month explained: Its origins, celebrations and myths

By Associated Press | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Associated Press

Beginning Feb. 1, schools, museums and communities across the nation will mark the start of Black History Month, a celebration of Black history, culture, and education.

FILE - Washington players stand during the playing of the national anthem wearing warm-up jackets for Black History Month before an NCAA college basketball game against Arizona, Feb. 12, 2022, in Seattle.

Jan 2025 28

Remembering a pioneer: Radnor to Honor Bishop Richard Allen

By Good Info News Wire | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Good Info News Wire

Radnor Township will honor AME Church founder Bishop Richard Allen with a wreath-laying ceremony, celebrating his legacy in religious and civil rights history.

Framed painting of Bishop Richard Allen.

Dec 2024 25

An architect designed custom clocks for Pennsylvania’s Capitol a century ago. They’re still ticking

By Associated Press | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Associated Press

Visitors to Pennsylvania's Capitol are drawn to its priceless artwork, polished marble and intricate carvings, but hidden behind the doors of some of its most ornate offices and chambers are another treasure: hundreds of antique clocks that were part of its original design.

Dec 2024 17

Pennsylvania’s Bethlehem: The city founded by Moravians on Christmas eve keeps its traditions alive

By Associated Press | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Associated Press

On Christmas Eve in 1741, Moravian settlers named this Pennsylvania city after the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Nearly 300 years later, Moravians continue celebrating their Christmas season traditions in Bethlehem.

Dec 2024 11

VIDEO: How to make bolio, a Pennsylvania holiday tradition

By Graham Harrington | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Graham Harrington

A variation of the Lithuanian drink “Krupnik” or “Krupnikas,” boilo is one of the many traditions that Europeans brought to Pennsylvania when they immigrated here to work in the coal mines.

Nov 2024 22

6 things you may not have known about Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania

By Kalena Thomhave | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Kalena Thomhave

Win the dinner table conversation Thursday by rattling off these facts about Thanksgiving in the commonwealth.

Nov 2024 12

Harriet Tubman posthumously named a general in Veterans Day ceremony

By Associated Press | LOCAL HISTORY, COMMUNITY, Associated Press

The famed abolitionist — who escaped slavery and settled in Philadelphia, leading other enslaved Black women and men to freedom on the Underground Railroad — worked as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War, and helped lead 150 Black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina.