HENSZEY-PYLE DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR SERIES
Henszey-Pyle Distinguished Author Series
The inspiration for the Henszey-Pyle Fund include the interest that Anne and Kenneth have in the history of the community in which they grew up and their belief in the value of the study of history. Anne is the great-great-grand daughter of Moses and Mary Irvin Thompson and great-grand daughter of John Hamilton all of whose contributions to regional history are honored at the Centre Furnace Mansion and within the Centre County Historical Society. Kenneth, who acquired a love of the study of history growing up in State College, is the Henry M. Jackson Professor of History and International Studies Emeritus at the University of Washington where he has taught history for over fifty years.
This author series is coordinated by CCHS Board of Governors member Dr. Ford Risley.
This distinguished author series is underwritten by the Anne Hamilton Henszey Pyle and Kenneth B. Pyle Educational Fund for Regional Heritage Preservation (Henszey Pyle Fund.)
2021 Henszey-Pyle Distinguished Author Series:
Sunday, April 18
Nighthawk's Wing: A Gideon Stoltz Mystery book talk by Charles Fergus
Set in 1836, Nighthawk's Wing is the sequel to Fergus's 2019 A Stranger Here Below. Fergus brings the period to life as he expertly melds setting and plot.
This program will be held via Zoom and will be streamed and available on YouTube.
Stephen Browne
George Washington’s First Inaugural Address and Why It Still Matters
Sunday, March 14, 2021
@ 3pm via Zoom
Stephen Howard Browne is a Liberal Arts Professor of Rhetoric at The Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of five books, including, most recently, The Ides of War: George Washington and the Newberg Crisis, and The First Inauguration: George Washington and the Invention of the Republic.
This program is available to view on YouTube.
Dr. Kurt Carr
First Pennsylvanians: The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania”
February 2, 2020
Carr has been the Senior Curator of Archaeology at the State Museum of Pennsylvania since November 2007.
R. Thomas Berner
A Two Newspaper Town
October 18, 2020
Retired journalism professor R Thomas Berner, who worked for both newspapers, the Pennsylvania Mirror and the Centre Daily Times, shares some memories of those days.
This program is available to view on YouTube.
Peter Gilmore
Irish Presbyterians and the Shaping of Western Pennsylvania, 1770-1830
March 31, 2019
Peter Gilmore, adjunct lecturer in history who teaches at Carlow University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Patrick Parsons
January 15, 2017
Presented by Dr. Patrick Parsons, College of Communications, Penn State
Dr. Carolyn Kitch
Pennsylvania in Public Memory: Reclaiming the Industrial Past
June 25, 2017
Presented by Dr. Carolyn Kitch, Temple University
Dr. Gary Cross
Consumed Nostalgia: Memory in the Age of Fast Capitalism
October 15, 2017
Presented by Dr. Gary Cross, Distinguished Professor of Modern History at Pennsylvania State University.
Roger L. Williams
March 25, 2018
Presented by author Roger L. Williams, past Associate Vice President and Executive Director of the Penn State Alumni Association.
Dr. Sally McMurry
Pennsylvania Farming: A History in Landscapes
September 9, 2018
Presented by Dr. Sally McMurry, Professor Emerita of History, Penn State University
Charles Fergus
Nighthawk's Wing: A Gideon Stoltz Mystery
Sunday, April 18, 2021
@ 2pm via Zoom
Fergus will speak about and read from his latest historical mystery, set in 1836 in fictional Colerain County, Pennsylvania. According to Publisher's Weekly, "Nighthawk's Wing" is a "superior sequel" to "A Stranger Here Below," Fergus's first Gideon Stoltz mystery. Both books feature a young Pennsylvania German sheriff trying to solve crimes in a clannish Scots-Irish community in the central Pennsylvania backcountry.
More details about his book HERE.
Rebecca Inlow
The Rowland Story: Beauty from Ashes
September 27, 2020
Presented by author and Rowland Theatre volunteer, Rebecca Inlow.
This program is available to view on YouTube.
Russell Frank
Among the Woo People: A Survival Guide for Living in a College Town
January 15, 2019
Frank worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers in California and Pennsylvania for 13 years before joining the journalism faculty at Penn State in 1998.
Dr. Roger L. Geiger
American Higher Education since World War II: A History
July 28, 2019
Dr. Roger L. Geiger, distinguished professor of higher education emeritus at Pennsylvania State University.
William W. Donner
March 26, 2017
Presented by William W. Donner, Department of Anthropology, Kutztown University
Dr. Amy S. Greenberg
Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk
October 3, 2019
Amy Greenburg is the George Winfree Professor of History and Women’s Studies at Penn State University.
Simon J. Bronner, Ph.D.
January 28, 2018
Presented by Simon J. Bronner, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor Emeritus of American Studies and Folklore and Founding Director Emeritus of the Center for Pennsylvania Culture Studies at Penn State Harrisburg.
Ralph Seeley
Native People and Their Paths in Central Pennsylvania
August 26, 2018
Ralph’s greatest legacy stems from his love of the outdoors which he has shared with and helped to instill in generations of Centre Countians.