Category: African American history (Page 2 of 7)

#PreservAtionHappens at the Local Level with CLG Grants

June 21, 2023 / mmcnish / 2 Comments

Each year, the PA SHPO awards grants to the Commonwealth’s Certified Local Governments (CLG) for the purpose of advancing local historic preservation activities.

Preservation Happening With Keystone Grants

June 14, 2023 / Karen Arnold / 0 Comments

New preservation projects will be sprouting up across Pennsylvania this summer. PHMC’s preservation partners will start 48 new projects with the assistance of the Keystone Historic Preservation Grant program in the coming months.

Man talks to group of seated audience. — Township Council member manager John Gillespie speaks about the history of the building and project. Photo courtesy of Ted Goldman.

Celebrating Concord Township and the Spring Valley AME Church

May 24, 2023 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 2 Comments

This week’s 2022 Community Initiative Award winner spotlight is on Concord Township’s preservation of the Spring Valley AME Church in Delaware County.

This project in Delaware County caught the eagle eye of one of my colleagues last year from some press reporting and I’m glad it did. She just happened to be the SHPO’s reviewer for most projects that were undertaken with funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), particularly using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money.

Using CDBG funds for historic preservation – like Concord Township did – is a great way for communities to invest in the older and historic places that matter to them and that tell their full stories.

Group of seven people sitting or standing behind a table. — BVUGRR and Levity Brewing Co. team at the release of the first Freedom Seeker beer series.

Celebrating the Blairsville Area Underground Railroad

May 17, 2023 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 0 Comments

This week’s 2022 Community Initiative Award winner spotlight is on the Blairsville Underground Railroad organization in Blairsville, Indiana County.

Blairsville was laid out in the early 19th century along the Conemaugh River at the southern end of Indiana County, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh along the planned route of the Huntingdon, Cambria, and Indiana Turnpike. Blairsville’s history and growth is closely tied to its transportation corridors – the river, the stagecoach in 1818, the canal in 1829, and the rail in 1851 – and natural deposits of salt, coal, and iron, which together supported a thriving and flourishing community.

What many may not know about Blairsville is its African American history, particularly related to abolition and the Underground Railroad (UGRR). The borough had one of the larger Black communities in Indiana County and the county’s first African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church was organized there in 1844. Indiana County was an important and active Underground Railroad stop in Pennsylvania as freedom seekers escaped from their enslavers in search of freedom.

I asked Denise Doyle from the Blairsville Underground Railroad organization to share their story with us.

Celebrating Preservation Month with the 2022 Community Initiative Award Winners

May 3, 2023 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 1 Comment

What better time of year than National Historic Preservation Month to announce the latest round of PA SHPO’s Community Initiative Award winners! The four recipients and their projects showcase a range of preservation success stories, demonstrating the value of volunteers, creativity, and community engagement.

A Little Something for Everyone: Pennsylvania’s Newest Markers

January 11, 2023 / allidavis / 0 Comments

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) recently approved 37 new historical markers, making this one of the largest number of new markers in the program’s history.

Peppercorn Market, Bedford Borough, Bedford County.

More Cool PA Places Found in Year 2 of Baseline Survey

December 21, 2022 / Guest Contributor / 4 Comments

The Pennsylvania Baseline Survey Team is excited to share another year of findings! Between January 2022 to October 2022, our five Year 2 Baseline Survey teams surveyed in 18 counties and recorded 6,663 new resources in 396 municipalities. Quite an impressive number!

Retelling the Stories of Existing Resources: Adding New Areas of Significance to National Register Properties

November 23, 2022 / mmcnish / 2 Comments

Researching the history of a building can feel like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle from a thrift store without the box. You might get most of the pieces to fit together so that you can tell the story of that place, but some are still missing, leaving gaps in the narrative.

If you’re anything like me, you might find those gaps frustrating, but they’re also opportunities to learn things you never could have imagined about a place.

Group of people standing outside on a lawn.

SHPO Staff Explore Lackawanna County

November 16, 2022 / Shelby Weaver Splain / 0 Comments

My SHPO colleagues and I, just like the rest of the world, are continuing to emerge from our COVID cocoons. We’ve been getting out and about more each month but still find ourselves wanting to be physically connecting with places in every way we can.

Group of nine people standing in a cemetery. — Meeting at Midland Cemetery, August 2022. From left to right (Dr. Steve Burg (PAHG, Shippensburg University), Erin Emerick (Shippensburg University), Sarah Hoffeditz (Shippensburg University), Ira Beckerman (PAC), Dr. Ben Ford (Indiana University of PA), Barbara Barksdale, Janet Johnson (State Museum), Kim Sebestyen (State Museum), Taylor Napoleon (PA SHPO).

Community Archaeology at Midland Cemetery

October 19, 2022 / Casey Hanson / 2 Comments

Last fall the State Museum of Pennsylvania hosted their annual workshop in archaeology entitled Hidden Stories: Uncovering African American History through Archaeology and Community Engagement. The theme was born out of the acknowledgement that African Americans are vastly underrepresented in the historic record and the representations that are present are typically unfairly biased.