Wyoming Valley Seminary buildings aerial view
Resources

Resources

Teachers: consider using Present, Personal: A Guide for Doing Local History in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania by William Kashatus to help your students with the foundations of research.

Kashatus gives strong examples of how to choose a topic for research, structure the paper, photo analysis examples, and much more.

  • Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Growing Up in Coal Country. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1996.
  • A Coal Miner's Bride, The Diary of Anetka Kaminska Lattimer, Pennsylvania 1896 New York: Scholastic. 2000.
  • Kids on Strike. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1999
  • Catrignano, Elena. Wilkes-Barre Postcard History Series. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing. 2008.
  • Ciesla, C. Charles. A History of Sans Souci Park. Wilkes-Barré, PA: C. Charles Ciesla. 2002.
  • Chapman, Isaac A. History of Wyoming. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.: Sharp D. Lewis. 1830.
  • Cooper, James Fenimore. The Deerslayer. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. 1841.
  • Cox, Harold E. Wyoming Valley Trolleys. Forty Fort, Pa.: Harold E. Cox. 1988.
  • Dziak, Mark. The Battle of Wyoming. Pittston: Our History Initiative, 2008.
  • Digging Up Wyoming Valley: An Archaeological Search in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Dallas PA: Misericordia University. 2014.
  • Dye, Kitty. Maconaquah's Story. Ohio: LeClere Publishing Co. 2000.
  • Frank, Louis. The Story of Wyoming. Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: Smith-Bennett Corporation. 1930.
  • Glahn, Bryan. Mining Disasters of the Wyoming Valley. Charleston, SC.: Arcadia Press. 2016.
  • Hanlon, Edward and Paul Zbiek,. The Wyoming Valley An American Portrait. California: Windsor Publications. 1983.
  • Harris, Avery. Avery Harris Civil War Journal, edited by Peter Tomasak. Lucerne National Bank. 2000.
  • Harvey, Oscar and Earnest Gray Smith. A History of Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barre, PA: The Smith Bennett Corp. 1929.
  • Jones, Benjamin. "The Settlement of the Pennsylvania-Connecticut Territorial Dispute." Unpublished manuscript. Luzerne County Historical Society Call #974.8 J77s.
  • Joyce, Mary Hinchcliffe. Pioneer Days in the Wyoming Valley. University of Minnesota. 1928.
  • Kashatus, William. Dapper Dan Flood: The Controversial Life of a Congressional Power Broker. The Pennsylvania State University Press: University Park. 2010.
  • "One-Armed Wonder Pete Gray, Wartime Baseball, and the American Dream." North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. 1995.
  • Past, Present, Personal: A Guide for Doing Local History in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Nanticoke, Pa: Trescanis Company. 2004.
  • Valley With A Heart. Luzerne County, PA: Luzerne County Historical Society and Luzerne County Community College. 2012.
  • Keating, Joseph. Anthracite Tears: Youth Mining Fatalities in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties Ages 7 - 18, 1870 - 1920. U.S.: Laura Keating. 2008.
  • Kent, Barry C. Susquehanna's Indians. Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commision. 2001.
  • Levin, Marjorie. Editor. The Jews of Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Jewish Community Center of Wyoming Valley. 1999.
  • Lottick, Sally Teller. Bridging Change A Wyoming Valley Sketchbook. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. 1992.
  • Merrifield, Edward. Luke Swetland's Captivity. Scranton, Pa. 1915.
  • Miller, Donald L. and Richard E. Sharpless. Kingdom of Coal. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1985.
  • Miner, Charles. History of Wyoming. Philadelphia: J.Crissy, No.4 Minor Street. 1845.
  • Moss, Edmund. African Americans in the Wyoming Valley 1178-1990. Wilkes-Barre:
  • Wyoming Historical and Geological Society and the Wilkes-University Press. 1992.
  • Moyer, Paul B. Wild Yankees. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 2007.
  • Mussari, Anthony. Appointment with Disaster: the Swelling of the Flood. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.: Northeast Pulbishers. 1974.
  • Myers, Wilbur and Edward Hanlon. Historical Album of Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming Valley in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania 1729 - 1976. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Lewellyn and McKane, Inc., 1976.
  • Orlandini, John. Ancient Native Americans of the Wyoming Valley, Shavertown, PA: Orlandini. 2008.
  • Palladino, Grace. Another Civil War. New York: Fordham University Press. 2006.
  • Petrillo, F. Charles. Ghost Towns of North Mountain: Ricketts, Mountain Springs, and Stull. Wilkes-Barre, Pa.: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. 1991.
  • Steamboats on the Susquehanna. Wilkes-Barre, PA: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. 1993.
  • Proceedings and Collections of the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. Vols. II (1910), 19 (1926), and 21 (1940). Wilkes-Barre: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society (now the Luzerne County Historical Society).
  • Powell, H. Benjamin. Philadelphia's First Fuel Crisis. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press. 1978.
  • Richards, John Stuart. Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region. Charleston, SC.: Arcadia Press. 2002.
  • Roberts, Ellis. The Breaker Whistle Blows. Scranton, Pa.: Anthracite Museum Press. 1984.
  • Sipe, C. Hale. The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania. Lewisburg, Pa.: Wennawoods Publishing. 1998.
  • Smith, Ira F. III. "The Parker Site: A Manifestation of the Wyoming Valley Culture." Pennsylvania Archaeologist. (1973).
  • Spear, Sheldon. "The Best and Worst of Times: Wyoming Valley at the Turn of the Century (1894-1906)." Eleventh Annual Conference on the History of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Nanticoke: Luzerne County Community College. 1999.
  • Wyoming Valley History Revisited. Shavertown, Pa.: Jemags & Co. 1984.
  • and Zbiek, Paul, and Eric Levin, and Marjorie Levin. The Jews of Wilkes Barre: 150 Years 1845 to 1995 in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barré, Pa. 1999.
  • "The Wyoming Valley During The Great Depression." First Annual Conference on the History of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Nanticoke: Luzerne County community College. 1989.
  • Wyoming Valley History Revisited. Shavertown, PA: Jemags & Co. 1994.
  • Stretanski, Matthew. Independent study: "A Flourish of the People, A History of Slovak Immigrants in the Anthracite Mine Fields". Unpublished manuscript.
  • The Old Forty-Fort Church. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.: Press of the Wilkes-Barre Record. 1888.
  • The Susquehannah Company Papers, edited by Julian P. Boyd. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.: Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. 1930.
  • The Wyoming Valley. Edited by J. A. Clark. Scranton, Pa.: J. A. Clark. 1875.
  • This is Wilkes-Barre. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.: League of Women Voters. 1953.
  • Wallace, Paul A. W. Historic Indian Paths of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 1998.
  • Warnagiris, Paul A. and John J. Rygiel. The Great Flood of 1972. Wyoming, Pa. Observer-Rygiel Publishing Co. 1973.
  • Wick, Harrison. Luzerne County. Charleston, SC.: Arcadia Press. 2011.
  • Pennsylvania's Back Mountain. Charleston, SC.: Arcadia Press. 2009.
  • Williamson, James R. and Linda A. Fossler. The Susquehanna Frontier: Northeastern Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary Years. Wilkes-Barre: Wilkes University Press. 1997.
  • Wolensky, Robert. Better Than Ever! The Flood Recovery Task Force and the 1972 Agnes Disaster. St. Paul, MN: Foundation Press. 1993.
  • and Kenneth Wolensky, and Nicole Wolensky. The Knox Mine Disaster. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 1999.
  • and Joseph M. Keating. Tragedy at Avondale. Easton: Canal History and Technology Press. 2008
  • Zbiek, Paul J. "Development Of Scholastic Football in The Wyoming Valley" First Annual Conference History of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Lucerne County Community College 1989.
  • Luzerne County History of the People and Culture. Massachusetts: Strategic Publications. 1994.

  • Best, William, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2008 - 2017.
  • Brooks, Anthony, interview with Clark Switzer, November 12, 2012.
  • Dunnigan, Bryan, interview with Clark Switzer, June, 2014.
  • Dziak, John, discussions with Clark Switzer, 2005 - 2017.
  • Dziak, Mark, interview with Clark Switzer, 2008.
  • Hastie, William, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2008-16.
  • Kashatus, William, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2002 - 2016
  • Kulesa, Chester, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2006
  • Mischak, Robert, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2001-2017.
  • Moran, John, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2006-2017.
  • Smith, Barbara, discussions with Clark Switzer, 2014.
  • Stella, Joseph, discussion with Clark Switzer, May, 2005.
  • Supey, Thomas, interviews with Clark Switzer, 2015-2016
  • Wolensky, Robert, interview with Clark Switzer, May, 2013.

  • Bell, June D. "Building on Prosperity." Profile 91. Times Leader (Wilkes-Barré, PA), April 27, 1991.
  • Binkley, Christina. "Coal Paved the Road to Riches." Profile 91. Times Leader(Wilkes-Barré, PA), April 27, 1991.
  • Churcher, Kalen. "1889 BLAST CUT SHORT 12 LIVES". Times Leader (Wilkes-Barré, PA), December 23, 2001.
  • Citizen Voice articles on people, places and moments in time by William C. Kashatus
  • Kashatus, William. "Charter Contention: Wyoming Valley once claimed byPennsylvania and Connecticut." Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA). March 8, 2015.
  • "Mail bomb spree by disgruntled coal miner marks 75th Anniversary." Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barré, PA) 10 April 2011.
  • "Murder on W-B Mountain." Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barré, PA) 16 Nov 2014: Section C.
  • "Pottsville Maroons." Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barré, Pa.) 02 Nov 2014.
  • Keller, Travis. "Lives Cut Short." Times Leader (Wilkes-Barré, PA) 12 February 2014.
  • Kerstetter, James. "Sword helped rejuvenate Valley economy." 50 Who Mattered. Times Leader. (Wilkes-Barré, PA), April 25, 1992.
  • Pittston Gazette and other newspapers archived at Osterhout Library and Luzerne County Historical Society
  • Profile '91. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.: Times Leader. 1991.
  • Profile '92 50 Who Mattered. Wilkes-Barré, Pa.; Times Leader. April 27, 1991.
  • O'Boyle, Bill. "Nanticoke native remembered as baseball superstar". Times Leader (Wilkes-Barré Pa), July 19, 2014. timesleader.com online
  • Sembrat, Steve. "Rock drilling, 'scientific shin kicking' among games people played" Times Leader. (Wilkes-Barré, PA), November 11, 2011.
  • Skrapits, Elizabeth. "The Best of the Worst." Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa), Dec. 11, 2014.
  • "Scientific Shin Kicking." New York Times. query.nytimes.com. January 13, 1883.
  • "The Pottsville Maroons." WNEP.com. Nov. 13, 2014.
  • "The Works Progress Administration." PBS. n.d. n.p. Web.
  • Williams, John. "Canadian Sunset Hugo Winterhalter." YouTube. 8 September 2013.

A companion digital presentation to the online book is a DVD entitled Scratching the Surface A look at 300 years of Wyoming Valley History 1675 - 1975.

It is designed for use by teachers in the classroom as each chapter is approximately 20 minutes long. Questions for each chapter are included under the Teacher Menu. Topics and ideas can be found under that heading as well. Resources are listed on its on tab.

A DVD copy is available to borrow from many local libraries in the valley. The video is also able to be viewed on this website in the YouTube page, under the Scratching the Surface section.

 

People, Places, & Moments In Time

Spread throughout our valley are places where significant events took place. We have listed a few here for you to explore.

There are 64 historical markers in Luzerne County as well as 38 places registered on the National Registry of Historic Places.