Universal York

We probably have all known local people who bravely served in the military during World War II. During that time the home front was also very busy. I have written columns and blog posts about the York Plan, the system of cooperatively switching our factories from peacetime to wartime production

Sources say that about 350,000 women served in the United States armed forces during World War II. WACS (Women’s Army Corps), WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy, women in the Coast Guard (SPARS) and Women Marines served as nurses, administrators, instructors, office workers and in many

Those of us who were born in the first half of the 20th century remember what a big deal polio, measles, diphtheria, whooping cough and other communicable diseases were, before effective preventative vaccines were developed and immunizations were routinely available. Even those of us who were very small recall how

Dr. Florence Gipe was a very interesting woman. She was a pioneer in modern nursing education and also deeply interested in York County History and Civil War history. I only met Dr. Gipe once, even though she was a childhood friend of both my parents and my stepfather. They all

Here is the last, and most disturbing, part of the lengthy article from the March 12, 1878 York Gazette article on recent improvements to the York County Almshouse. These links will take you to the first and second installments. Again, I want to emphasize that, although the York County Nursing

The first buildings at the York County Almshouse were erected in 1805 at a cost of $4,761. According to Gibson’s 1886 History of York County, Pennsylvania the “poor of all the townships of the county moved thither in April 1806.” Buildings need upkeep, and according to the Lewis Miller drawing

The countryside and the streets of York, Hanover, Wrightsville, Dover and other towns that witnessed the 1863 invasion were quiet once again. It was time to count up the losses of the farmers and merchants and access the damage. As reported in the June 30 weekly York Gazette, the citizens

Just out–the brand new 2012 edition of Journal of York County Heritage, a popular periodical published annually by York County Heritage Trust. The new edition offers five well-researched articles on a variety of events from the 19th and 20th centuries. They include: “The Cartridge Box: The Inside-Out Newspaper of the

My most recent post was on the chapel that was part of U.S. Army Hospital on Penn Common in York during the Civil War. It was built by hospital convalescents and was large enough to accommodate religious services and public entertainments as well as rooms for a library and classes