Interview with Lorraine Humer at her home in Carlisle Pennsylvania on June 7, 2002, with Heather Egan as a part of the Women in Cumberland County During World War II Oral History Project. Humer discusses attending Dickinson College during the war, her experiences in the Cadet Nurse Corps, and her familes experiences during the war including rationing.
America has been traditionally seen as the "land of opportunity" where anyone who is willing to work hard enough can become rich. Indeed, it was on this basis that generations of immigrants were lured to America in the belief that they could build a better life for themselves here. During the 1920s, however, many Americans thought that they had found a way to become rich without having to work hard by investing in the stock market.
lndividuals in history are often well known, mostly because of the attention they receive for their accomplishments. However, it is not uncommon for an individual in history to be forgotten when the history textbooks are written. Attempts to break world records happen every day, but the public rarely hears of the attempt, unless it is successful. In the same light, the circumstances affecting political elections are often forgotten.
The guns fired at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, echoed throughout central Pennsylvania. The citizens of the Cumberland and Susquehanna valleys answered this call with a ready response. Such large numbers of men volunteered that companies were turned away from enlisting in the Army.
Archibald Loudon was perhaps the most important printer to set up shop in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Actively at work between the years 1804 and 1818, Loudon was involved in bringing the first bit of cultural material of the United States to what was then the frontier of the new republic.
Grandfather was a sturdy little man with a voice that exceeded his size as Paul Bunyan towered over a pancake. "Four--by goshens" is one of my earliest memories. It was Grandfather's bid that he proclaimed in a tone ordinarily used by a mule driver in discussing the problem of forward ovement with his braying subordinates.
It would be inaccurate to say that Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has been an economic failure. For two and a half centuries It has enjoyed relative prosperity, providing livelihoods for most if not all of its residents, and very comfortable livings to many. On the other hand, the community never achieved the economic superstatus among American cities that its entrepreneurs aspired to at various stages in its development.
Fort Hunter, named during the French and Indian War and located north of Harrisburg on the bank of the Susquehanna River, contains many physical remnants of one of its earlier settlers, Archibald McAllister. Although he originally moved to the property in May of 1785, many of the structures he built still exist.
On 16 July 1790 an act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of government passed by the Congress and was signed by the President of the United States.
John Harris, Jr., the founder of Harrisburg, born on the Pennsylvania frontier in 1727, grew up in Paxton Township on the east side of the Susquehanna River in what was then Harris's Ferry. In 1748 he inherited the land from his immigrant father, and from that time until his death in 1791 he contributed to its development from a fragmented frontier settlement to a structured community town.