Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society

10/02/2026

A reminder, before all the football games, Tuesday coming is our last GSAHS Presentation Meeting of the year. We'll discuss Old Time Medicine from our town of Shenandoah. We'll start at 6:30 at our Museum at 201 S. Main. NO admission, social and refreshments to follow. Come share the fellowship.

09/23/2026

On September 21, 1900, gunfire on a street in Shenandoah, PA left a striking coal miner dead. He was shot during a clash between local law enforcement and men who had walked off the job under the banner of the United Mine Workers of America.

Within days, hundreds of Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers occupied the Schuylkill County mining town.

They pitched camps on the outskirts, posted men throughout the streets, and settled into a routine of patrols and public shows of force that defined life in Shenandoah through October 1900.

In photographs published by an official Pennsylvania National Guard publication dated 1900, the occupation is documented in remarkable detail - rank after rank of soldiers with artillery and even early machine guns.

Read the full story:

https://wynninghistory.com/2026/06/23/photographs-pa-national-guard-1900-1/

(Image: Members of the 12th Pennsylvania National Guard in Shenandoah)

09/14/2026

Album found at the "Filthy Fortunes" estate sale in Shenandoah for $1! The cover is a little worse for wear, but the record itself looks great! A big "Thank you!" to Travis Briggs for the donation to the Greater Shenandoah Area Historical Society. We appreciate you all looking out for us! :) PS- Read the write up on the album's back cover

09/02/2026

08/31/2026

Na zdrowie! Tuesday, September 1 - Join us for a presentation on "Shenandoah/Coal Region Weddings." The talk will be held at our museum on S. Main St. at 6:30 - no charge, but you may want to bring some money for "The Dollar Dance!" (okay, just kidding- but we may have an accordianist there!) As usual, refreshments and social to follow. We are hoping to stream live here on Facebook and then upload the video to YouTube within a few days for our friends who can't make it. Hope you can, though! :)

08/27/2026

Students in a classroom in Pennsylvania's Coal Region | 1892

With students heading back to school, I wanted to share a photograph I recently came across. It comes from a March 1892 magazine story about Pennsylvania's Coal Region.

The photographer visited the patches and communities around Shenandoah in northern Schuylkill County, and while the school is not identified, that is likely where this image was captured.

08/25/2026

Upcoming GSAHS Presentation: Annie Taylor talking on Coal Region Weddings. Audience participation welcomed in this one, come share your memories of our marriage traditions. Tuesday, September 1st. At our Museum 201 S. Main. Begins at 6:30 and social and refreshments afterwards... Bring a friend.

08/18/2026

In 1902, soldiers of the 8th Pennsylvania National Guard marched through the streets of Shenandoah in a show of force during the Great Coal Strike.

Walter Swab of Girardville captured the moment for Leslie’s Illustrated magazine.

Read more:

https://wynninghistory.com/2026/08/18/a-town-under-watch-1902-coal-strike/

08/12/2026

Illustration of Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers amassed in Shenandoah, PA | 1900

This illustration appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on September 25, 1900, showing hundreds of members of the 8th Pennsylvania National Guard regiment at Shenandoah, PA.

As the 1900 Coal Strike began, a shooting in Shenandoah left one dead and the whole region on edge; as a result the Governor sent in the National Guard to enforce order, and according to the striking miners, threaten them into returning to work at the point of the bayonet.

06/01/2026

Lots of nice press on our upcoming talk on Father Walter Ciszek... see you all at 6:30 at our Greater Shen. Area Historical Society Museum, Tuesday, June 2.