Historical Notes

  • Nuggets of history

    Tall and lanky, Zack Petroski shepherds visitors through the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour with a determined stride and a booming voice. Trying to keep a dozen or so Tuesday morning visitors together in the dank labyrinth 250 feet beneath McDade Park, tour guide Petroski effortlessly alternated between perfunctory safety warnings and a wealth of…

  • Burning HISTORY

    Burning HISTORY

    The Scranton Iron Furnaces, 159 Cedar Ave., serve as a reminder of the city’s forgotten past as the site of the first mass production of iron T-rails in the United States, but June1through 3, it will also serve as the location of one of the city’s most unique festivals and historical fundraisers. The third annual…

  • Recalling Crippen’s act of heroism

    MINING HISTORYROBERT SAVAKINUS This year marks the second year of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. So many people think of the Civil War in terms of a national event, but few realize the mark it made on our local community. One local figure, Ben Crippen, is especially significant and holds a place of honor…

  • Keystone College has unique link to pilot and educator Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.

    Keystone College has unique link to pilot and educator Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr.

    Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. is a living legend. In World War II, he was commander of the 100th Fighter Squadron of the 332nd Fighter Group and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters. The first of the15 pilots to shoot down the advanced German Me-262 jet fighter,…

  • Mining History – Historical link continues

    Mining History – Historical link continues

    MORGAN CHRISTOPHER On Sun., Sept. 25, at 2 p.m., the Anthracite Heritage Museum will present a sampler production of “Under the Lackawanna Moon” to tell the story of the Anthracite Region. But how did northeastern Pennsylvania develop as a center for anthracite? According to Horace Hollister’s “History of the Lackawanna Valley,” local Native Americans are…

  • SISTER M. COLEMAN NEE: She helped school‘stand above rest’

    SISTER M. COLEMAN NEE: She helped school‘stand above rest’

    By Mark Guydish SCRANTON – The burial Tuesday of Sister M. Coleman Nee in St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow closed the door on the life of a religious woman who opened the paths to higher education for thousands. President of Marywood University from 1970-88, Sister Coleman is credited with launching the university’s “Gillet School” in…

  • Diocese Honors A Good Friend

    NIKO J. KALLIANIOTIS SCRANTON – Archbishop of Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali will forever be remembered in Scranton for his service as the apostolic administrator who ran the Scranton Diocese after Bishop Joseph Martino retired. Snow lightly fell as a new statue, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was dedicated in Rigali’s honor at 5:20 p.m. Saturday…