April 2018 News from the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum

Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 April 2018 16:34

The following events were announced by the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.

Cement City Model Home

SPRING CEMENT CITY HOME AND WALKING TOUR DATE SET

Our spring Cement City Home and Walking Tour and your chance to see Thomas Edison’s solution for worker housing created 101 years ago in 1917 is scheduled for Sunday, April 22 at 1 p.m. If Sunday sells out, Saturday, April 21 will be the overflow date. The cost of the tour is $13/person and space is limited. If you have any questions about Cement City or one of our Home and Walking Tours, please consult our website and click the “Cement City” tab, or contact the historical society.

The tour will start at the museum located at 595 McKean Avenue with a photo, artifact and blueprint presentation on Donora’s National Historic District – Thomas Edison’s Cement City created 101 years ago in 1917. A walking and home tour follows in the Historic District to point out various architectural and social details. The tour concludes by touring the interiors of at least two homes with rooms restored to the period.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME FILMS

Among the many items that the Donora Historical Society has in its collection are over 115 reels of game film of football teams from all over the Mon Valley and beyond from 1963 to 1970. There are even basketball games from 1966 to 1979. They are all original 16mm films that are still in the process of being converted to DVD, but after launching this project over two years ago, many games have already been converted. Some games even show footage of cheerleaders, majorettes, band members and parents during senior night. The games that contain that content are noted on our website.

The games feature notable players such as: Larry Crawford, Bernie Galiffa, Malcolm Lomax and Ken Griffey, Sr. (Donora); Fred Angerman (Monongahela); Gary Seykoski and John Radic (Ringgold); Larry Hughes and Ken Burkes (Rostraver); Gary Cramer and Gene Belczyk (Belle Vernon); Jeff Petrucci and George Carlock (Charleroi); Joe Zdravecky and Lance Wall (Monessen); Jim Brumfield (Elizabeth Forward); and Jack Ham (Bishop McCort) to name just a few.

Some teams have multiple games per season. The high school teams from the Mon Valley that have at least one game in a given season include: Donora, Charleroi, Rostraver, Belle Vernon, Monongahela, Monessen, Clairton, Elizabeth Forward, Brownsville, Mon Valley Catholic, Thomas Jefferson, and Ringgold.

If you have any interest or have questions on exactly which games we have, please consult the Historical Society by voicemail or email listed below, or see the full list of games on our website under the “Game Films” tab.

ADDITIONAL INFO

If you have additional questions about the subjects mentioned above, the historical society, museum, presentations or possibly volunteering, feel free to stop by on Saturdays or by special appointment (with at least a week’s notice), email us at DonoraHistoricalSociety@gmail.com, call us at 724-823-0364 and leave a message, visit us on the web at www.DonoraHistoricalSociety.org, or follow us and like us on Facebook at “Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum.”