These are the most recent additions to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s designees for historical markers.
Barney Ewell (1918-1996)
Lancaster, Lancaster County
Mr. Ewell was an African-American sprinter who won a gold and two silver medals at the 1948 Olympics. He is a member of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.
Benjamin Lay (1682-1759)
Abington, Montgomery County
An early Quaker abolitionist, Mr. Lay wrote anti-slavery literature, boycotted products that used slave labor and demonstrated in the streets. He also influenced the broader abolitionist movement in the United States and Great Britain.
D. T. Watson Home for Crippled Children
Leet Township, Allegheny County
Facility at which patients were first to receive the Salk polio vaccine.
Eddystone Rifle Plant
Eddystone, Delaware County
This 34-acre facility supplied nearly half of all infantry weapons issued to US forces during WWI. It was the largest munitions plant in the US during WWI, employing 15,000 workers, 20% of them women.
Ham Fisher
Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County
Mr. Fisher created the Joe Palooka comic strip that was syndicated nationwide for more than 50 years.
Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall (1806-1882), (1807-1889)
Chadds Ford, Chester County
Issac and Dinah Mendenhall were Quaker abolitionists who were active with the Underground Railroad and helped Thomas Garrett and Harriet Tubman.
McAllister Family of Opticians
Philadelphia
John McAllister began selling glasses at his shop in Philadelphia starting in 1799. John, Jr. was instrumental in advances in photography. John, Jr., and William McAllister worked and taught at the pioneering Wills Eye Institute.
John Philip Boehm (1683-1749)
Blue Bell, Montgomery County
Bell founded the German Reformed Church in America, which developed into the modern day United Church of Christ.
Oliver Pollock (1737-1823)
Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County
Mr. Pollock, a successful merchant and major financier of the American Revolution, endured bankruptcy and imprisonment.
Philadelphia Flower Show
Philadelphia
The largest and longest running horticultural event in the nation, the Philadelphia Flower Show features displays by the world’s premier floral and landscape designers.
Richard Moore (1793-1875)
Quakertown, Bucks County
He was a Quaker abolitionist active with the Underground Railroad. Moore’s home was a major station on the network. Moore claimed to have assisted more than 600 fugitive slaves escape.
Ruth Plumly Thompson (1891-1976)
Philadelphia
Ms. Thompson authored of 19 “Wizard of Oz” books following the death of creator L. Frank Baum. She wrote one Oz book per year from 1921 through 1939, maintaining the series’ popularity through the release of the classic film.
Slinky Toy
Clifton Heights, Delaware County
The Slinky is an popular American toy invented by mechanical engineer Richard James in 1943.
Sunset Park
Penn Twp., Chester County
Sunset Park was a country and bluegrass venue that operated for over 50 years.
William J. McKnight, M.D.
Brookville, Jefferson County
Mr. McKnight introduced an act in 1883 while working as a senator that legalized human dissection, provided for unclaimed bodies to be distributed to medical schools for anatomical study and made grave robbery illegal.
Source: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
First Published: April 2, 2018, 10:00 a.m.
