My name is Sarah Onufer. I am a junior majoring in Public History at Messiah University. I am a work-study for the History Department and am currently doing an internship in the Messiah University and Brethren in Christ archives on campus.This semester I am enrolled in the Humanities Project course where I am working on … Continue reading A Spring Tour of the Women’s History Garden
This article is the first in a series of posts of the Center for Public Humanities at Messiah University that highlights the voices of activists, educators, and community leaders in the Harrisburg area who are advancing civil rights and preserving history. With this initial post, we honor the late visionary, Lenwood Sloan, whose partnership with … Continue reading Catalytic Agents: The Lenwood Sloan Impact
The winter snow and bitter cold are slowly receding in central Pennsylvania and giving us hope for the early arrival of spring. Our semester at Messiah University is rolling along in the sixth week. Our annual Humanities Symposium is upon us and the Center for Public Humanities student fellows are engaged in a range of … Continue reading Digital Harrisburg: A Winter 2026 Update
Fall semester 2025 at Messiah University began six weeks ago and our students have been busy working on a number of projects related to the history of Harrisburg. As the coordinator for digital humanities with Messiah University's Center for Public Humanities (CPH), I'm excited about what our students will accomplish this term in collaboration with … Continue reading The Digital Harrisburg Initiative in Fall 2025
Amish buggies, Great Danes, Butterscotch Krimpets. All of these were nominated to be on the Pennsylvania state quarter in 1999 because someone thought they represented Pennsylvania. None of these were finalists for the Pennsylvania state quarter, though a ruffed grouse and eastern hemlock tree were. The official chosen quarter features the state outline, a keystone, … Continue reading From Idea to Digital Circulation: The Spirit of the Commonwealth Quarter
As a current student in a Digital History class at Messiah University, I was tasked with creating a Story Map about an aspect of the history of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. For my Digital History Story Map, I chose the topic of the Wildwood Zoological Park that used to exist in the capital city. While the Zoological … Continue reading Researching Harrisburg’s Wildwood Zoological Park
When I first encountered the “Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital” in an archive folder, I hardly expected the challenges I would encounter and the complexity of such a rich history that both intimidated yet excited me. I vividly remember sifting through pages of primary documents at the Pennsylvania State Archives, searching through maps, brochures, photographic images, … Continue reading Digitizing Pennsylvania’s “Lunatic Hospital”
When I began researching the Wildwood Zoological Park that used to exist in the city of Harrisburg, I was skeptical that I would be able to find many, if any, valuable artifacts on the subject. Unfortunately, as I continued my research, I realized that my worries were right; almost all traces of the zoo are … Continue reading Digitizing Harrisburg’s Wildwood Zoological Park
This semester as part of the Center for Public Humanities, I returned to the ongoing work of writing stories in place for the new Harrisburg Historical tour site which is the latest part of the Digital Harrisburg Initiative. More specifically, my work was on the story of the Black laborers who built Fort Couch during … Continue reading Reflecting on Stories Retold
Dominic Gomez This semester, I decided to return to the Center of Public Humanities to contribute another story once again. Roughly a year ago, I began my involvement with the Center as a Fellow working on a Curatescape story for the ongoing series of stories-in-place on the untold narratives of Black History in the Harrisburg … Continue reading The Untold Tale of Fort Couch
Digital Harrisburg 