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Lancaster Woman Suffrage Association In November 1920, following ratification of the 19th Amendment in August of that year, women in Pennsylvania voted for the first time. Many from Lancaster participated in the effort through membership in the Lancaster Woman Suffrage Association. Recognizing the role of the Republican Party in supporting suffrage, nearly 1000 women met […]
Read MoreThe Great Commoner As a champion of racial and social equality in America as well as the free public school system in Pennsylvania, it should come as no surprise that Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was also vehemently opposed to exclusionary organizations and secret societies. He regarded such groups as elitist and a peril to democracy. Stevens […]
Read MoreLancasterHistory recently acquired an 1856 James Buchanan presidential campaign medal. While some of the images and symbols on the medal are straightforward, others are not. Especially intriguing is the appearance of 32 stars on the back of the medal—at a time when there were only 31 states in the Union. Why 32 stars? The answer, […]
Read MoreCommemorative Medals Three-inch bronze medals produced to commemorate important events, people, or places have been produced by the U.S. Mint as well as various private coin dealers and firms since the early nineteenth century. The 1850s ushered in an age of increased interest in collecting commemorative medals as mass production techniques allowed these items to […]
Read MoreThe Slant-Front Desk For those of you familiar with the National Treasure movie franchise, this story of a secret (but empty) compartment in a Chippendale style walnut slant-front (or slant-top) desk might seem rather ordinary. Even so, the discovery of such a compartment in an eighteenth century desk of local manufacture speaks not only to […]
Read MoreHow Industry Operates In 1950 Armstrong Cork Company produced a booklet titled “How Industry Operates” to demonstrate how insulating products produced by Armstrong could play an important part in making new products and improving older ones. Rather than produce a technical pamphlet filled with black and white illustrations and complex formulas, Armstrong wanted to produce […]
Read MoreThe Threat of Nuclear War During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the threat of nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States was a very real concern. The wartime alliance between the two countries that had helped to bring down Nazi Germany in 1945 quickly unraveled as the Soviet Union sought to […]
Read MoreThanks to Louis Daguerre and George Eastman How many of you realize that August 19 is World Photography Day? The day was first observed on August 19, 2010 to commemorate the day in 1839 that the French government recognized Louis Daguerre’s patent for the daguerreotype photographic process. Although not the first individual to capture an […]
Read MoreIntroducing Quaker-Felt Rugs and Floor Coverings Armstrong Cork Company began to produce linoleum flooring in Lancaster in 1908 as a way to use excess cork produced by cutting round corks from rectangular slabs of corkwood. The ingredients of linoleum—oxidized linseed oil, cork dust, and organic resins—were combined to form a uniform layer attached to a […]
Read MoreThe 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition & 1929 Ibero-American Exposition My name is James McMahon and I am a project archivist for LancasterHistory. My responsibilities include cataloguing and digitizing a vast collection of archival materials that document the significant role of the cork industry in the local economy. Recently, I wrote two blogs documenting Armstrong’s participation […]
Read MoreRoom, board, and tuition cost $34 for a three month term at Lancaster County Normal School in 1855.