-
Continue reading →: The Phantom Threat: How the “Missile Gap” Launched a PresidencyNixon knew the missile gap was a lie. He had classified intelligence proving it and couldn’t say a word. That silence helped hand John Kennedy the presidency — and nearly ended the world. #ColdWar #AmericanHistory #1960Election #MissileGap #KennedyNixon #USHistory
-
Continue reading →: Fire and Be Damned: The Regulator MovementNorth Carolina’s Regulators fought corrupt sheriffs, lost at Alamance, and got hanged for it. Five years later, the men who crushed them led a revolution. Most Regulators didn’t follow. #RegulatorMovement #AmericanRevolution #WhiskeyRebellion #SouthwesternPennsylvania #AmericanHistory
-
Continue reading →: Old Hickory and the KingIn 1835, two pistols misfire at point-blank range, Andrew Jackson survives, and a senator’s career gets destroyed by an accusation that was never true. The real story starts after. #AmericanHistory #AndrewJackson #USHistory #ForgottenHistory #LegalHistory #PresidentialHistory
-
Continue reading →: Outrun: The Hartford Convention of 18141814: New England Federalists publicly voted down secession at Hartford. Privately, their governor was negotiating with British commanders and their banks were funding the enemy. History wasn’t clean then either. #HartfordConvention #War1812 #AmericanHistory #USHistory
-
Continue reading →: Two Ballparks: The Homestead GraysIn 1943, the Homestead Grays outdrew the Washington Senators in the Senators’ own ballpark. Four years later, integration killed the team segregation had built. This is Pittsburgh’s forgotten baseball dynasty. #HomesteadGrays #NegroLeagues #JoshGibson #PittsburghHistory #CumberlandPosey #BaseballHistory #WesternPennsylvania #MLB
-
Continue reading →: Thirty First-Rate StripesIn May 1856, a senator was nearly beaten to death at his Senate desk. Every telling since has avoided what he’d said, two days earlier, about an old man’s stroke. #BleedingKansas #AmericanHistory #CivilWarHistory #RoadToCivilWar #SenateHistory #USHistory
-
Continue reading →: The Machine in Forest Hills: A New Lease on Life for the Atom SmasherThe Atom Smasher spent a decade rotting on its side in Forest Hills. Now it’s being carefully taken apart and rebuilt at Westinghouse’s nuclear headquarters — a fitting kind of homecoming. #Pittsburgh #WesternPennsylvania #IndustrialHistory #Westinghouse #ForestHills #AtomSmasher
-
Continue reading →: Scoop Them Up: Pennsylvania’s Cossacks and the Westmoreland StrikeIn 1910, Pennsylvania’s “reform” state police became more violent than the company thugs they replaced. One sheriff fought back — and paid for it with two felony convictions and fifteen months in solitary. #WestmorelandCounty #PennsylvaniaHistory #CoalMiners #LaborHistory #AmericanHistory #UMWA #StatePolice #1910s #AppalachianHistory #SouthwesternPA
Welcome!
I’ve always been drawn to the past and the stories that live there. Here you’ll find my musings, sometimes about history, sometimes memory, sometimes both. I hope you’ll join me for stories of the people, places, and events that made us.
Let’s connect
Join the fun!
Stay updated with our history and stories by joining our newsletter.
