Home | Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Library

Image: Dam on Mountain Creek by Jim Bradley
An initiative of the Cumberland County Historical Society the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library seeks to fulfill the Society's mission of collecting, engaging, and sharing the stories of Cumberland County.

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      Highlighted Stories    
    
      Catharine MacCaffray (Women in World War II)
      
This is an oral history conducted by Steven Burg with Catharine MacCaffray at her home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 2002 as part of the Cumberland County Women During World War Two Oral History Project. MacCaffray discusses her experience as a volunteer nurse's aid for the American Red Cross in various hostitals in Carlisle. MacCaffray further talks about other various experiences including working at C. H. Masland's, seeing German POWs, and rationing.

      Michelle Ward and Danielle Ward-Smith
      
Michelle Ward and Danielle Ward-Smith interview by the Orton Family Foundation on the Mount Tabor AME Zion Church and cemetery. Both Ward and Ward-Smith discuss connecting with their past as well as community.

      Highlighted Entries    
    
      Venus, slave of Thomas Craighead, was Sister of the first published American Negro poet, Phillis Wheatley 
      
Thomas Craighead’s slave Venus: Sister of the first published American Negro poet Phillis Wheatley. T.C. was Thomas Craighead (1789-1865) the son of John Craighead and his wife Jane Lamb.  The “old Thomas Craighead” he refers to in his letter was his grandfather who died in 1807. In 1845, T.C. also contributed a history of incidents relating to his family that was published in I.D. Rupp’s History of Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry Counties…. p. 440-444.

      Emma Louise Thompson McGowanEmma Louise Thompson McGowan was born in Winchester, Virginia in 1876. When she was thirteen years old, McGowan moved with her family from Winchester, Virginia to Carlisle, Pennsylvania escaping the devastation of the South and seeking a new life in the North.

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      Warren Mullen, Veteran and Artist
      
Warren Mullen was a World War II veteran and artist with a keen sense of humor.  He was a prolific letter writer; and his letters were filled with drawings of his experiences, whether serious, humorous, or outrageous.
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      Dean VaughnInterview of Dean Vaughn for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library Memory Bank of the Cumberland County Historical Society. Vaughn discusses growing up in Boiling Springs in the post-WWII era before volunteering for the United States Army. He then discusses how he developed  his memory techniques while working for RCA in Thule, Greenland and what led him to establish his own company.
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      “A Sleighing Party’s Bad Luck”Sleighing parties to Cumberland County hotels and private houses were managed by livery stable owners who provided  sleighs, horses, drivers, blankets, robes, and foot warmers to keep the sleigh’s occupants warm as the horses carried them along wintry roads. 
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    Railroads
  
Jim E. Largent Sr.Largent discusses his experiences growing up and his time working for a railroad company. Watch Story...
Dillsburg and Mechanicsburg Railroad“The Dillsburg and Mechanicsburg Railroad was built with the backing of the Cumberland Valley Railroad primarily to haul iron ore from the vast reserves around Dillsburg to furnaces in the Harrisburg region. Read Article...
Hey Ollie, Let's Go RailroadingReproduced below are a number of the photographs which were displayed at the Cumberland County Historical Society as an exhibit "Hey Ollie, Let's Go Railroading." Over 250 photographs were put on display as a tribute to all the railroaders, both here and gone, who worked in the Cumberland Valley. Read Story...