April
16, 2009
Editor
Sullivan Review
Main
& Water Street
PO Box 305
Dushore, PA
18614
To
the Editor:
Images of America:
Sullivan County (South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2009) by Connie J. Hatch is an impressive pictorial record of
life and culture in north central Pennsylvania
from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. As one who was born and grew up
there in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I can still recall many of the people,
towns, industries and landscapes referenced in this wonderful publication.
She has enabled those of us who lived among the last of the old timers to
reconnect with out own pasts, and those who know Sullivan County
only from afar to imagine a unique and critical part of our regional heritage.
Sullivan County sits directly in the center of a six-county
region that played a fundamental role in the survival of the American nation,
its transition through industrialization and Civil War, and the creation of one
of the true melting pots for the Irish, German, English, Dutch, Italian and
Eastern European immigrants who built its canals and farms and later worked its
forests, mines and railways. This publication recalls in black and
white the central characters, their way of life, their beliefs and their bonds in
a way that no text volume could ever accomplish on its own. While the
book contains many photographs known previously to historians of the area, it
also contains new images never publicly distributed before as well as
explanations for processes and events not easily determined from simply looking
at a photograph. My favorite example is the oldest known picture of
Dushore, the largest town, taken before 1860. In the photo, St. Basils
church has not yet been built, which helps dates it, and the townsfolk are
carrying what appear to be large planks. Having seen this photo before, I
could never imagine what was going on, perhaps several coffins being displayed
for a mass funeral. No, the book helps us to realize that these were the first
“streets” and sidewalks being placed on the turnpike.
Connie has been assisted in her achievement by the resources
and staff of one of the finest community museum and historical societies in the
north east. The Sullivan County Historical Society and Museum, located in
Laporte, PA,
the county seat, exceed any comparable organization with which I have worked in
the last thirty years in terms of organization, preservation of records, and
commitment to living history. It would well be worth the time for anyone
who reads this book to also schedule a visit to Laporte and at least a good 2
or 3 hours in the museum itself.
I would recommend this book to anyone with a desire to
understand the history of local Pennsylvania
while our nation “grew up”, to genealogists of Pennsylvania families interested in how
their ancestors lived, and to any citizen eager to imagine the lives and
ventures of Americans more than 100 years ago. It would be useful if the
next edition carries an index, but, other than that minor quibble, this is a
first rate version of Americana.
--Robert E. Sweeney, PhD, MS
Sullivan County Historian
Sullivan County Genealogical Web Page
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pasulliv
CEO
Challenger Corporation
Memphis, TN
http://www.chall.com
bobs@chall.com