February 2007 Archives

Leonard Pitts Jr., will be the featured speaker at York County Community Against Racism’s fifth anniversary meeting March 3. The meeting runs from 9:30 a.m. through lunch, and Pitts will meet with young people at 1 p.m. Call 718-2260 for tickets. Pitts is a nationally syndicated columnist for the York Daily Record/Sunday News.

A large gathering attended the official opening of the exhibit "A Rich History of Black Artistry in York County" over the weekend.

With some exceptions, the exhibit at Bradley Academy's Community Gallery brings together the work of contemporary black artists. The work was collected from the Crispus Attucks Community Center, the York County Heritage Trust and other locations around town.

The exhibit runs through Saturday, March 3 at the Springettsbury Township gallery.

Various upcoming news involving black history:

Stan Musial, left, and Hinkey Haines converse at York Sports Night in 1976. Haines was inducted in the York Sports Hall of Fame that night. Butch Wynegar, background, holds a pen, anticipating an autograph.

'York native Butch Wynegar is back in pinstripes.'

That's how the YDR's story on Red Lion-native and 13-year major-league veteran Butch Wynegar began. See Butch. It went on to explain that the recently released hitting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers was now a hitting instructor in the Yankees organization.

Anytime I read about Wynegar, I think about this photo bringing together three generations of baseball greats - Stan Musial, Hinkey Haines and young Wynegar... .

The rock group Live, actor Craig Sheffer, Dixie Chick Martie Erwin Seidel all have York County roots. (See stars from York County.)

But often-forgotten Cameron Mitchell ranks near the top of a short list of accomplished entertainers hailing from York County.

Longtime York County journalist Jim Hubley knew Cameron Mitchell and remembers a moment when the future actor was mulling a career decision.

Hubley's York Daily Record column from 1994 follows:

Cameron Mitzell, better known as actor Cameron Mitchell, was York County born and raised.

In fact, people alive today remember him and his father, the Rev. C.M. Mitzell, who held pastorates in the county.

Well, an out-of-county resident is looking for some details about the "High Chaparall" star's war record.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Eddie Deerfield is editor of the 303rd Bomb Group (H) Association's Hell's Angels newsletter.

He writes:

Dr. John C. Bieri put on a magic show for Naval Ordnance Division workers at White Oak Park. One account states that he pulled rabbits out of hats, changed the color of flowers, converted a flag into dozens of flags, spilled candy from empty boxes and made boxes, tables and chairs disappear.

Prompted by a reader's query, a previous York Town Square post asked for photos of White Oak Park. See: Fun in North York

Well, I found some.

The park was a picnic grounds and a hangout for teens and concerts in the 1950s and 1960s. It was located in the vicinity of the Masonic Lodge, north of York.

I ran across these two photos and six others in a Blaw-Knox Naval Ordnance Plant publication. The plant now forms part of Harley-Davidson See recent H-D posts.... .

That the New York Times received information about the Confederate invasion of York County in late-June 1863 was remarkable because the rebels had knocked down telegraph lines west of the Susquehanna. But the Times published the breaking news the next day, and for the most part, the newspaper got it right.

The same telegraph lines that Confederates tore down to impair the passage of military intelligence also carried dispatches from war correspondents.

So it was remarkable that the New York Times' coverage of the rebel occupation of York County on Monday, June 29, 1863, was topped with headlines summarizing the previous day's events with accuracy. For background of the occupation see: Gordon's raid and books.

The exception was the report of the defeat of two rebel cavalry companies below York.

Col. Elijah V. White's Comanches chose not to atack Yankee troops guarding railroad bridges near Hanover Junction, hardly a Union victory. Rebel cavalry took them down the next day anyway.

The Times' story admits that reports from the direction of York, locked in a rebel stranglehold, were conflicting.

It also tells of 'contrabands' responding to the call to defend Harrisburg. Authorities provided these fugitive slaves with guns, sending them to fortifications opposite Harrisburg on the west shore of the Susquehanna.

This postcard shows the steeples, right, of what today is Trinity United Church of Christ and, far right, the mother church that became Zion United Church of Christ. The congregations had to address immense issues during the mid-19th century.

Several previous posts have established York County churches as a battleground for differences in the Civil War. See: York's Civil War.

Simply put, York's position on the Mason-Dixon Line irritated political differences on whether the Civil War was justified. Those differences spilled into the churches.

But York County German Reformed and Lutheran churches were undergoing additional conflicts. Both churches wrestled with whether services should be conduct in English, German or both.
The German Reformed Church also was consumed with a controversy over style of worship - high church or low church. This was a national controversy in that denomination that probably impacted locally.

Consider:

Since 1925, The Yorktowne Hotel has anchored the corner of East Market and South Duke Street. This postcard shows the hotel before 1959, when the courthouse expansion took down the building separating the two.

New owners of the venerable Yorktowne say they will keep the landmark as an operating hotel. See anchor sold.

There can be no better news to York and efforts to revitalize the downtown.

For some, the Yorktowne represents a nostalgic site where famous people have stayed for decades. See Tiny Tim.

For others:

It is the night out of the decade in the Commonwealth Room. It's the wedding reception venue for an only child. It's an overnight part of First Night York festivities. It's the regular meeting place for Rotary or Lions clubs.

It, well, embodies everything that's good about York.

For Voni Grimes and others in the black community, it represented the pinnacle of success, as he expressed in my November 2006 column:

York County Sheriff William Hose

Bill Hose's decision to not seek re-election as York County sheriff seemingly will end his long, distinguished tenure at or near the top of county law enforcement work.

The Hose family is perhaps the most prominent of many county family lines who have toiled in the public safety arena. Family members have served for more than a century.

Consider this, adapted from "Never to be Forgotten":

Myrtle Legotte, left, and Mary Sims use the key to identify community achievers during the unveiling of the 'Civil Rights Heroes of York' mural in 2005.

An unsung mural of York does not appear on the side of a building, as do the 18 panels in the Murals of York. program.

"Civil Rights Heroes of York" is a three-panel, life-size mural that is often on display at events around town.

Through March 3, it's part of Bradley Academy's exhibit: "A Rich History of Black Artistry in York County.

I worked with Bradley Academy officials to identify art by black artists or depicting black people in York's past.

The exhibit impressively brings together works from collections at Crispus Attucks Community Center, York City Human Relations Commission, York County Heritage Trust, private collections and current artists... .

Workers produced Bofors anti-aircraft guns at the Special Ordnance Division plant, now part of Harley-Davidson's complex, during WWII.

Decades before market leader Harley-Davidson operated out of its Springettsbury plant, another top-of-category company occupied the complex.

First, it was York Safe & Lock and later Blaw-Knox Special Ordnance Division, and their prime product was Bofors guns. You know, Ack-Acks, the guns on ships that you see in World War II movies.

The 40-mm anti-aircraft guns represented the Navy's response to Japanese Kamikaze planes.

The double- and quad-mounted York County-made guns are credited with bringing down Kamakaze planes at a rate of 32 a minute in Pacific Theater fighting.

Some facts about Bofors, according to a Naval Ordnance Plant publication, February 1946: ...

Norman Goss, an employee at Harley-Davidson's Springettsbury Township facility, sports two Harley tattoos: The company's bar-and-shield logos appear on his back and on his right arm. 'I don't know of any other brand where people take the logo and tattoo it on their arm,' Mel Campbell, York advertising exec, said in 2005. 'That kind of loyalty . . . you don't find that in any other product.' See all Harley posts from the start at H-D archives.

Think Harley-Davidson, and you think Hog or Hawg.

Where did that connection come from?

It started in 1920 when a pig, the Harley racing team's mascot, was carried on a victory lap after each race won by H-D's team of cyclists.

Six decades later, the brand was reinforced when Harley inaugurated Harley Owners Group - Hog.

The owner's group, the largest cycle club in the world, was started to put Harley in touch with users.

Honda tried it, but failed, in part, because its executives didn't ride with users, Peter Reid wrote in "Well Made in America."

Which brings us to former Harley CEOs Rich Teerlink's account of the time he was leading a big ride and forgot to fill up the gas tank, common for novice riders... .

:

President Bush sought - and gained - permission from Joel Toner, left, to start a Harley. Bush observed that Toner had a cool job. Toner said: "I agreed and said, ‘Yeah, I think I got one of the greatest jobs in the world.’”

Unlike his predecessors Reagan and Clinton, President George Bush got on the hawg during a visit on Aug. 16, 2006 to Harley-Davidson's York plant.

Some bullet points about his visit:

Scene setter from York Daily Record: "At Harley-Davidson’s Springettsbury Township plant, George W. Bush might as well have been a rock star. Donning sunglasses similar to ones worn by U2 front man Bono, President Bush strutted into the motorcycle maker’s Softail plant Wednesday afternoon for a two-hour foray. He stopped to sign an autograph, frequently shook hands with workers and later straddled a shiny blue-and-white Softail Deluxe, revving the engine to workers’ screams and hollers." ...

A hug to remember: Bobby Ramsey, chief shop steward for Harley-Davidson’s York plant, embraces President Clinton after introducing him. Clinton spoke before more than 2,000 employees.

President Bill Clinton enjoyed what amounted to a pep rally during his November 1999 visit to York’s Harley-Davidson plant.

Some bullet points from his visit, attended by 2,000 employees: ...

In 1987, Ronald Reagan visited the Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant in Springettsbury Township. Plant employee Eric Myers, right, is sitting on the motorcycle. Employees remember Reagan's charisma during the visit.

Harley-Davidson workers in York have struck the company three times since 1969.

Still, three U.S. presidents have visited York's Harley plant in the past 20 years to, among other things, seek a political advantage by linking up with the venerable American cycle company.

Some bullet points from the first of these presidential pilgrimages:

(Foreground) Arthur Davidson's image is superimposed over a street scene depicting an early motorcycle shop on Beaver Street in downtown York.
(Upper left corner) A motorcycle enthusiast participates in the Jefferson Hill Climb, held in southwestern York County.
(Upper center) Two employees work on motorcycle gas tanks in this factory scene from the 1950s.
(Upper right corner) Elvis Presley enjoys a Hog.

News reports sometimes refer to Harley-Davidson as a York County icon, part of the company's greater brand as one of the last of the mighty American manufacturers.

The company, currently undergoing labor strife, is a vestige of York County's industrial might.

The H-D tracks are so deep in county soil that the cyclemaker earned a spot in the pantheon of 18 murals colorfully dotting downtown York. In fact, 'Harley's Journey a Good Ride' was one of the first of the large-scale panels... .

Lewis Miller captured the Confederates entering York in late-June 1863. Even before the rebels stepped onto York County soil in those days before the Battle of Gettysburg, York County was divided on whether President Abraham Lincoln should prosecute the war or honor a separate peace with the South. Churches provided a local battleground.

York County's civil war amid the Civil War pitted neighbor against neighbor.

One family might support Abraham Lincoln's war policies. The next-door neighbor might support Peace Democrats who viewed the war as an affront to states rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Fighting in churches represented a skirmish within the larger county battle... .

William Wagner captured the building, right, that housed Mad Anthony Wayne's Revolutionary War headquarters, in 1830. In 1929, York Bank purchased the structurally unsound building, tore it down, and contracted with Buchart Associates to design a replica. The principals of design firm Buchart-Horn hailed from Yoe.

Here's a different twist about how the Borough of Yoe got its name.

The oft-told story goes like this:

Moses Snyder, a prominent resident of Snydertown, as the cigar-manufacturing town was called, sought a post office in the 1880s, but another town in the state already claimed the name. Moses chose his late mother's name "Yohe," but dropped the "h" to to not offend his father's second wife.

Russell Horn Jr. contests that story,,, ,

These pieces of clay, used to sculpt the Marquis de Lafayette's boots, rest in Lorann Jacobs' studio.

York's mayor believes the city offers sculptor Lorann Jacobs the largest of galleries.

John Brenner observed recently that Jacobs' gallery measures 5.2 square miles, the city limits of York.

In about a decade, the Dallastown sculptor has made her mark on York by molding about eight publicly displayed statues, with more on the way... .

York County, strongly Democratic for years prior to the Civil War, experienced immense political conflicts during and after war broke out.

No where was the conflict stronger than in local churches, as evidenced by a scene from the day in which the invading rebels entered York prior to the Battle of Gettysburg.

An unnamed York church tried to meet despite the fact that Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon's advance guard was entering town.

This comes from "East of Gettysburg" and is based on the writing of Mrs. L. M. Hartman:

The minister stood in the pulpit of a York church when a messenger approached.

The Confederates had arrived.

"The reverend man folded his arms upon the pulpit, bowed his head upon them, and wept," Mrs. Hartman wrote.

The congregation proceeded to the church steps just as the Confederates marched by playing "Dixie."

The people followed them to the square.

Lewis Miller shows invading rebels taking down York's Centre Square flag. The Civil War divided York, but loss of the flag was a sad event for everyone.

York County experienced a civil war within the Civil War.

That came, in part, because the county is a border county in a border state. A lot of complex political factors swirled then - and persist today.

Nowhere was that battle within county borders more apparent than in churches.

Here's an example of how from "East of Gettysburg," based largely on information from George Sheets' "Children of the Circuit Riders.")

Sheets' book primarily looks at York's largest Methodist Church, known as Asbury United Methodist today. (it's a good read, btw.) The church either had their share of Unionists or else preferred Copperheads - the Peace Democrats - to hold their tongues:

Re-enactor portrays Lafayette
under Washington's gaze.

Shivers from a chilled audience at the unveiling of a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette in York last week might have overshadowed insightful comments from France's consul general.

Jean-Pierre Allex spoke of the generations-long interplay between France and America building on a foundation between best friends Lafayette and George Washington.

That relationship included French support in the American Revolution and delivery of the Statue of Liberty. America reciprocated by sacrificing thousands of lives on French soil during two world wars. (This included the deaths of maybe 200 fighting men from York County.)

But, almost in passing, the diplomat made a powerful point... .

James Smith

A proponent for additional statues in York recently backed James Smith as a candidate. (See who's your candidate for York's next statue?)

After all, he argued, York's most prominent 18th-century lawyer signed America's top three seminal documents: the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, U.S. Constitution.

That's not quite correct, as this Q &A suggests: ...