History & Politics   

The Haines Shoe House in Hellam Township, York County, PA is an excellent example of programmatic architecture. In the twentieth century, buildings were constructed to advertise products and grab the attention of motorists as they traveled along the highway. Discover the history of York's most famous roadside attraction and other unusual buildings across the country.

When the remodeled Valencia Ballroom reopened after renovations in October 1934, famed big band leaders who performed there considered it one of the best swing dance halls in America. The 2,000 people attending the opening of this venue did too and they kept coming back to the hall. Fourteen murals of landscapes tied to the venue's namesake region in Spain added to the setting for dancers and later greeted the swing orchestras of Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller and the vocals of Frank Sinatra. Today, the Valencia carries the same reputation as a first-class venue.

The competition for ever faster aircraft in World War II pushed the development of internal combustion engine aircraft and their propellers to their theoretical and mechanical limits of performance. The solution to providing more power was found in the axial and centrifugal flow turbine engines. Ken Weiler will discuss the transition from the final development of the internal combustion engines and the aircraft equipped with them, to the aircraft flying with the early, primitive turbine engines. We'll look at the early jet and rocket-powered aircraft of the major combatants.

Learn about the new Susquehanna Discovery Center in Wrightsville and Hellam Township. This storied property, known locally as the Mifflin Farm or Hybla, is more than 200 years old. In 2017, the farm was almost demolished to make way for warehouses. Now, it is getting a new life as a visitor destination telling the nationally important stories of York and Lancaster Counties. Join Pete Miele for a journey through the history of this Underground Railroad site and Civil War battlefield, learn about the grassroots efforts to save it, and Susquehanna National Heritage Area's plans for the future.

Together, we will immerse ourselves in the politics, religion, and leaders of 1600s New England, and old England. We will learn of a remarkable, largely forgotten giant of religious liberty, republican government, and tolerance guided by love. It is the American story, both the agony and the glory.

Explore the first ninety-four years of Crispus Attucks York's (CAY) history and culture, and learn what will be featured in their new History and Culture Center. We will share this story through photographs, artwork, oral histories, newspaper articles, and primary source documents. Join us for this interactive dialogue, and be among the first to glimpse the CAY story as it will be told in the new History and Culture Center.

We may think our current situation is unique in featuring partisan bubbles in which people mistrust information from the other side. But immediately after the Civil War, a toxic partisan climate caused racial violence to become politicized, with accounts dismissed as fictions to mask a political agenda. To fight this attitude, military officers led by Ulysses S. Grant mobilized the Freedmen’s Bureau to document crimes against African Americans. They needed hard data to counter the nineteenth-century version of “fake news.” The results fortified efforts to pass the Fourteenth Amendment.

We may think our current situation is unique in featuring partisan bubbles in which people mistrust information from the other side. But immediately after the Civil War, a toxic partisan climate caused racial violence to become politicized, with accounts dismissed as fictions to mask a political agenda. To fight this attitude, military officers led by Ulysses S. Grant mobilized the Freedmen’s Bureau to document crimes against African Americans. They needed hard data to counter the nineteenth-century version of “fake news.” The results fortified efforts to pass the Fourteenth Amendment.