Did you know that George Washington stopped in Harrisburg on his way to address the Whiskey Rebellion in October 1794? A new Harrisburg Historical story, titled "George Washington in Harrisburg," explores the first U.S. President's visit here. Written by Messiah University alums Kylie Smith (2026) and J.T. Crocenzi (2025), who also served as managing editor … Continue reading George Washington in Harrisburg
Public historian and Messiah University alumna Molly Elspas' recent Harrisburg Historical story tackles the history of restrictive housing covenants in the capital region. Titled "Restrictions on Locust Street: Building Homes to Build Fences," this piece examines the ways developers combined restrictive covenants and high prices to prevent African Americans and immigrants from moving into certain … Continue reading Restrictions on Locust Street
Public History junior Hannah Boes' most recent Harrisburg Historical article explores the history of the Catholic community in Harrisburg's Old Eighth Ward. It spotlights the story of Sister Mary Clare Grace, founder of the Harrisburg Sisters of Mercy, and the Sisters' efforts to care for those in need throughout Harrisburg. Here's the lede to the … Continue reading Sister Mary Clare Grace and the St. Clare Infirmary
The final week of the Fall 2023 semester is upon us, and thus our student team is putting the final touches on our contribution to the Chester Way Civil Rights Tour on the Harrisburg Historical website. If you’re new to this story, Harrisburg Historical is a Curatescape project by Messiah University, the T. Morris Chester Welcome … Continue reading A Tour Takes Shape: December Update on Harrisburg Historical
Image Credit: Aidan Hubley For May Term 2023, I joined a team of professors and students from Messiah University and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology and traveled to Greece. While we were there, we expected to gain exposure to a few archaeology skills, such as drone surveying, photogrammetry, and artifact illustration. Our focus was … Continue reading Digitizing Washingtonia: Telling the Story of the “American” Colony in Greece
The landing page of Harrisburg Historical, a collection of digital tours through the city. What if there was a way to conveniently access a diverse array of histories surrounding the Pennsylvania capitol in the palm of your hand? This is the very goal of Harrisburg Historical, an upcoming website and mobile application that will tell … Continue reading Harrisburg Historical: Developing a Digital Civil Rights Tour
Image Source: Alex Shehigian by Alex Shehigian When this semester’s Digital History course began, I was capable of discussing the more theoretical elements to this facet of the discipline of History but lacked technical experience in the vast majority of applications and tools that have now become central to the field. As our class explored … Continue reading Sharing the Stories of Harrisburg’s Schools through Story Maps
Image Source: Alex Shehigian by Alex Shehigian For part one of this story, click here. For part two, click here. As the semester draws to a close, it is time to provide a final update on the Women’s History Garden project. It’s been an incredible journey working with the Civic Club of Harrisburg and the … Continue reading Wrapping Up the Women’s History Garden Project
Image source: Pexels by Alex Shehigian As we move deeper into the month of November, it is incredible to think how far our Digital History Class has come. Since the first few weeks of class, we have explored so many different aspects of this way of doing history, from learning the benefits and drawbacks of … Continue reading Digital History and Data
Image Source: The Civic Club of Harrisburg by Alex Shehigian As we move into the month of November, I’m pleased to be able to provide another update on the Women’s History Garden project. The project is off to an excellent start. Over the past two months, our team sought out information on and crafted … Continue reading A Mid-Semester Update on the Women’s History Garden Project
