Inner Nature: Beekeeping in Ukraine

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times “History is all explained by geography.” Robert Penn Warren, novelist and poet (24 Apr 1905-1989) In this article, I want to pay homage to Ukraine’s beekeepers and beekeeping in light of the many wars that have washed over this beleaguered land. With a land area only slightly smaller than the state of Texas, it lies at many junctions: between Europe...

Inner Nature: Mad Honey

By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times In his book, Anabasis, Xenophon wrote in 401 B.C.E. that his Army of Ten Thousand – Greek soldiers retreating from a failed mission on behalf of Cyrus to dethrone his brother, Artaxerxes – had crossed into a Turkish town called Trabzon, near the Black Sea. Tired but exultant after having arrived at the sea and imminent succor, they rested. They found...

Former Chester County resident co-authors new book on Phillies’ minor league history

A long-time Chester County resident is the co-author of Life in the Minors, 5th Annual Phillies Minor League Digest, an historical book that details the franchise’s minor leagues from the first affiliate in Hazleton, PA, to the current structure. The 355-page book, filled with over 170 photos, many of historic significance, is available now in both color and black and white. A portion of the...

Some really stupid things in history

By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times The other day I watched the movie “Titanic” for the second time. It seemed a lot longer than before, and much less plausible. What seems totally implausible is that any ship was thought unsinkable, that the captain agreed to increase speed in the known presence of icebergs, that the lookout binoculars were left behind in England, that the flotation...

Art Watch: Remembrances of Things Past

‘The Poetry of Nature’ at the Brandywine River Museum of Art By Lele Galer, Columnist, The Times At the Brandywine River Museum of Art, a beautiful new exhibition opened this week through June 12, “The Poetry of Nature: A Golden Age of American Landscape Painting”, which highlights the works from the New York Hudson River School of the 1800s. Forty paintings, including works...

Op/Ed: Fictionalizing history

By Bruce Mowday Bruce Mowday The history Americans know, or think they know, is increasingly coming from polluted sources. Last week I was in Gettysburg digging into original historical documents at the Adams County Historical Society and Gettysburg National Military Park for information on my next book, J. Howard Wert’s Gettysburg. I had several interesting conversations with curators and historians...

Brushing up on the history of the toothbrush

From the simple to the blinged-out wild, 5,000 years of dental health By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times The toothbrush we know today has come a long way since it’s humble beginnings. The earliest toothbrushes were used by the Babylonians and Egyptians around 3500 BC. It was more of a tooth cleaning stick than a brush as we know it.  Small branches of the olive, sassafras or...

In Coatesville, pride means diversity, community, resilience

Longtime Coatesville resident updates 1911 poem to express her love for city By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times Longtime Coatesville resident Doris S. Williams wrote an ode to Coatesville, telling about the pride she has in the city and her hopes for its future. Community means identity. In Coatesville, we share spaces, both physical—sidewalks, schools, lines at the grocery store—and less...

Living History: Chadds Ford Days brings past alive

By Gene Pisasale, Special to The Times A historic reenactor works on an 18th century loom, during a demonstration at the 2011 Chadds Ford Days, which take place Sept. 8 & 9. Photo courtesy of the Chadds Ford Historical Society. Local residents and visitors to the Brandywine Valley know it as the home of the famous Wyeth family of artists and picturesque countryside, but few know the history behind...

Living History: The Kennett Underground Railway

Chester County offered hope and a route to freedom for slaves By Gene Pisasale, Special to The Times The Progressive Friends Meeting House in Kennett is now the Chester County Visitors Center — but was a key border hub in the movement of slaves north of the Mason-Dixon Line and freedom. More than any other issue, the Civil War was fought to decide whether “the peculiar institution” known as...