Doing Local History

What's Inside

Current Projects & Features

A digital public history exhibit featuring Beaver County and Western Pennsylvania eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust, WWII, and antisemitism. 

WHAT'S INSIDE

Albert Zimmerman
Dachau

Fritz Ottenheimer
Patriotic Duty & Without Conscience

Joe Capone
That Happened

Jaqueline Winowich
Cries

Tony Sercel
It Made Us Awful Angry

Judah Samet
Camp Survivor

Guy Prestia
In My Own Words

Edith Stein
I Feel Guilty for Surviving

Antisemitism of the Pre-War Years
KKK in Beaver County

Bess Winograd
Antisemitism & the Jewish Experience in Rochester, Pennsylvania

Public History Matters

Critical Essays & Thoughts on Local History

Featured News

Historical Society kicks off western Pennsylvania historical coalition

At present, 16 organizations intend to participate, including Beaver-Lawrence Railway Historical Society, Ellwood City Area Historical Society, Enon Valley Community Historical Society, Historic Warner Cascade Theatre Museum, Mount Jackson Museum Foundation, New Castle Library Genealogy Group, SNPJ Slovenian Heritage Center, Beaver County Historical Research, Butler County Historical Society, Historic Harmony, Zelienople Historical Society, Grove City Area Historical Society, Sharon Historical Society, the Slippery Rock Heritage Association, the King Beaver Archaeological Group and the Lawrence County Historical Society.

Beaver Area Museum wins national award for Matthew Quay exhibit


The Beaver Area Heritage Foundation and Museum has earned a national award. The American Association for State and Local History bestowed a 2023 Award of Excellence to the Beaver museum's provocative 2022-2023 exhibit "Saint or Sinner? The Complicated Legacy of Senator Matthew Stanley Quay.” The award will be presented Sept. 8 at the AASLH annual conference in Boise, ID.

The Pig Lady and other folk tales show why recording stories matters

In an effort to celebrate local folklore and encourage people to explore their own folkways . . . This year the event will feature the annual retelling of the Barbara Davidson tale, as well as presentations on Appalachian storytelling through music, the folk tradition of tarot and a paranormal investigation at the Barbara Davidson homestead.