Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives

Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives New Collection!

2018-09-18T10:37:00.002-04:00

The Scranton Public Library and LackawannaValley Digital Archives is happy to announce a new collection; The Century Club of Scranton!

The Century Club of Scranton was founded in 1911 when four women’s organizations merged together. The Century Club at one time had 400 members who were highly involved in social reforms throughout the city. In 1914, William Walker Scranton purchased and built the clubhouse at 612 Jefferson Avenue where the Century Club has remained for over 100 years. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

This collection features over 400 items including a guest book, bulletins, and scrapbooks. Robert Frost, Louis Horst, Martha Graham, Langston Hughes, and Carl Sandberg are among just a few of the internationally known poets, singers, dancers and composers who were invited to perform at the Century Club. These names can be found in the guest book. The bulletins were written from October to May and contain articles about events, speakers and performers and the scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, events programs and photos through the years. This collection was funded by a grant from the Willary Foundation.

About the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives:

The Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives was developed by the Scranton Public Library thanks to a generous grant from the Willary Foundation. Its primary mission is to make the history of the Lackawanna Valley and surrounding areas accessible to anyone with a computer and Internet connection. The LVDA is divided into collections based on time periods or themes and contains high quality images of books, photographs, printings, letters, maps, videos, and other artifacts. Items have been collected from a number of organizations and individuals and can be viewed with great detail and clarity. New collections will debut on a regular basis.

To access the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives: http://www.lackawannadigitalarchives.org/

Today in Scranton Public Library News

2016-03-17T16:05:00.001-04:00

Today the Scranton Public Library's Board of Directors is celebrating their 125th anniversary. 125 years ago fifteen board members were appointed to form a library in the City of Scranton. The Albright family of Buffalo NY and formerly of Scranton had donated money and their homestead for the purpose of a "place of learning". The original trustees were appointed from the clergy, Board of Trade (now Chamber of Commerce) members at large and bar association. Below are a listing of the men and if you would like more information please see the Reference Department at the Scranton Public Library. If you would like to see photos of these men please check out From Lace Makers to Coal Miners--Life in the Lackawanna Valley from 1866-1920

Reverend David C. (D.C) Hughes
Thomas H. Dale
Reverend Samuel C. Logan
Reverend Patrick J McManus
Honorable Frederick W. Gunster
Samuel B. Price
Milo J. Wilson, esq.
Reverend Henry C. Swentzel, D.D
William Tallman Smith
Alfred Hand
James Archbald
William Connell
Col. Henry Martyn Boise
Henry Belin, Jr
Webster H. Pearce D.D

Scranton Family Papers on the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archive

2015-11-02T09:49:00.001-05:00

On October 24th and 25th at the University of Scranton there was a scan-a-thon conducted with members from the University of Scranton's Weinberg Library, U of S History students and their professor Dr. Adam Pratt, Lackawanna Historical Society, and members of the LVDA and Scranton Public Library working to create this new collection.

Two volumes of the George W. Scranton letters were scanned with the help of the history students. These same students created the metadata that will be used when these files go live on the LVDA! So look for this new collection in 2016 and for more to come. There are 19 volumes of these letters at the Lackawanna Historical Society and we hope to have the whole collection available to researchers.

Thanks to all who helped organize this great event!

National Chocolate Day

2015-10-28T11:32:00.001-04:00

In honor of October 28th being National Chocolate Day I would like to present some yummy recipes from the Myrtle Street United Methodist Church cookbook.

Enjoy, bake, and eat lots of chocolate today if you can. I supplied my staff with chocolate covered salt water taffy today in hour of this wonderful day.

Hahnemann Hospital

2015-09-19T16:20:00.001-04:00

This photo dated May 24, 1905 shows the groundbreaking of Hahnemann Hospital. This hospital eventually became what is Geisinger Community Medical Center today. I wanted to show this photo as a remembrance of that hospital and to celebrate the City of Scranton's 150th anniversary.

Hurricane Diane 60 years ago

2015-08-20T16:33:00.004-04:00

It has been 60 years since Hurricane Diane caused so much devastation and flooding in the Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley's. The flooding was widespread and even areas of the Pocono's flooded. This flood happened in August 1955 and is featured in the footage above. This video is from WGBI-TV which is now WBRE-TV. Besides this video there are other photos and video histories of the flood on the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archive.

Frace's Market in Clarks Green

2015-07-29T13:48:00.000-04:00

This undated photo is of Frace's Market in Clarks Green. It can be found in the book History of the Abingtons which is part of the Celebrating Our Towns--Lackawanna Co. Centennial Books and Community collection.

Diamond Jubilee of Scranton

2015-07-22T19:11:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the 74th anniversary of the Diamond Jubilee celebration in Scranton. We have a scanned copy of historical booklet in our digital archive. The direct link is shown below. This celebration happened 75 years from the incorporation of the city and this year Scranton is celebrating the 150th anniversary. There are events and exhibits around town celebrating this important anniversary.

Diamond Jubilee

Favorite Dessert

2015-06-26T11:26:00.002-04:00

A book of favorite Recipes by Ladies Auxiliary of Archbald Athletic Association contains one of my most favorite recipes. I absolutely love no bake cookies. This recipe calls them quickie's which may be what I'll call these from now on. I also make my cookies with peanut butter as I believe peanut butter enhances any kind of dessert. I remove the nuts though. I'm just not a nut kind of woman.

To get back on track, this weekend is my birthday and while not a milestone I love to pig out. I'll be making these cookies and probably eating the whole batch. I will then run four miles to appease my guilt. It will all be worth it as I always eat the best foods on my special day.

Pie season

2015-05-26T15:53:00.000-04:00

Pies,Pies, everywhere!!

Pie making season is upon us. We have just been through the unofficial start of summer where I'm sure you may have had a pie at your picnic. So if you are planning on making some pies for Independence day, family picnics, reunions or other fun festive gatherings here are some wonderful pie crust recipes to get you started. The hardest part of the pie is the crust so good luck, enjoy, and remember that pies freeze very well when left unbaked.

Scranton Public Library Commercials from 2005

2015-05-01T11:07:00.000-04:00

From 1999-2008 the library hosted a community access TV station called Scranton Today so we decided to make library commercials using in-house talent and equipment. This video, part of the History of the Scranton Public Library collection, collects commercials from 2005 including blooper reels. If you look closely you can catch a glimpse of an ancient artifact; the library's web site as it was in the mid 2000s.

Thomson Consumer Electronics Company Cookbook

2015-03-10T11:03:00.000-04:00

I love muffins, They are so yummy and if you add in cream cheese, they can also be very moist. I'm on a healthy eating plan right now and lots of food look good to me; but I love muffins! Yum. So the Thomson Consumer Electronics cookbook stood out to me. Who doesn't like peanut butter and jelly and then make it a muffin. Marvelous. Add to that the other two recipes on this page and I'm set for life! I'll have to bring some in for my staff and see if this recipe is a winner.

Community Cookbooks Collection in the Scranton Times

2015-01-09T13:16:00.001-05:00

Our Community and Church Cookbooks collection was recently featured in an article in The Scranton Times. Read and find out what Martina Soden and others have to say about the project.

Holiday Dishes from Victory Vittles from the Villa

2014-12-23T19:25:00.002-05:00

Here are some recipes from the Victory Vittles cookbook that you may want to consider for holiday cooking. These are old classic recipes.

Community and Church Cookbooks project on TV!!

2014-11-24T12:22:00.002-05:00

We were on TV!! The cookbook project got the interest of Don Jacobs at Pennsylvania Outdoor Life which airs on WNEP TV 16. Check this link to the video for more information about the collection.
POL Cookbook Online

Community and Church Cookbooks from Northeastern PA

2014-11-12T18:30:00.002-05:00

A new collection is now live in the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives. The Community and Church Cookbooks from Northeastern Pa is a collection of cookbooks from different organizations in the Lackawanna Valley. This showcases the histories of men and women who supplied recipes to these places they belonged to. These books also show the diverse cultural and ethnic populations of these areas in recipes. Have fun cooking and baking!

Galway Kinnell

2014-10-31T07:45:00.000-04:00

Poet Galway Kinnell died on October 28th at age 87. He read in the Scranton area in 1979, and a video of his performance appears in the Friends of the Scranton Public Library Poetry Series Collection.

"There's Nothing like Gas"

2014-09-22T07:22:00.000-04:00

This advertisement appears in the Diamond Jubilee and Centennial book (Scranton 1941) in our Celebrating Our Towns collection. In this advertisement for "The Gas Company," gas is advertised as "Anthracite Coal's Finest Product," but in truth it contributed to the death of the anthracite mining industry.

A Page in History

2014-09-04T13:44:00.002-04:00

This random page from a CMC scrapbook shows why these books were and are so important. On this page there is an image of a Vietnam veteran who is meeting his son for the first time.

"New" Circulation Desk

2014-08-21T11:56:00.000-04:00

This photograph from the History of the Scranton Public Library Collection shows what was, in 1969, the "new" Circulation Desk. Note its location in front of the Men's Room, the lack of computers, and the catalog card drawers. Marie Crispino, pictured on the right, is still employed by the library as our Head of Public Services. The room behind the glass on the left, now the library's Administrative Offices, was then the Children's Department. It remained this way until 1987 when the Lackawanna County Children's Library was opened.

Community Medical Center

2014-07-22T15:33:00.003-04:00

The Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives is preparing to launch a new collection later this fall, but as we prepare for that collection we wanted to remind you of the other great collections we have.

This photo is one of many that can be found in the CMC collection. This photo taken in the spring or summer shows how the building looked in the late 70s or early to mid 80s.

Coming Fall 2014....

2014-06-26T10:09:00.001-04:00

We can't reveal details yet about the newest collection that is coming to the Lackawanna Valley Digital Archives, but here's a hint....

The borough of Taylor, Pa.

2014-06-14T14:19:00.000-04:00

Personal Reminiscences of Taylor Borough: As it was in 1844 by N.G Parke, D.D is a book written from N.G. Parke's point of view. He discusses the origins and first families that lived in what is now Taylor. Taylor was originally called Atherton after Eliezer Atherton who made his money by " hauling coal over the mountian from the mines to Honesdale before the railroad was completed." N.G Parke was the reverend and lived with the Atherton's in the area which is now Taylor.

The Abington's

2014-05-16T16:58:00.002-04:00

This is another of our wonderful centennial books. This book discusses the history of the Abington's starting from the the Viewmont Mall to an area called Leggett's Gap. The photo above is a state marker for Elder Miller who was a local pioneer and opened the first church and school.

Aerial View of Marywood Campus and O'Neill Highway (1962)

2014-05-05T13:47:00.002-04:00

This photograph, from the book Dunmore 1862-1962 in the Celebrating Our Towns collection, shows an aerial view of the Marywood College campus as it was in 1962. Note the cloverleaf at the top of the photo. This is the O'Neill Highway / I-81 interchange which looks almost rural. Now, of course, it is highly commercialized and reconfigured.