Latest news with #BerksHistoryCenter
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Story of Navy sailor killed during World War II told by Muhlenberg man
It is difficult to imagine the terror onboard the U.S.S. Tang on Oct. 24, 1944. The submarine was in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of China that day when it was struck by a circular run of its own torpedo and sunk, costing the lives of 78 men. The nine survivors were picked up by a Japanese frigate and taken prisoner. About one-third of the crew was killed instantly by the explosive hit, author Dennis Damiani said. One of them was Homer Anthony, a 21-year-old Reading man. Anthony's diary entries for the first six months of 1943 are the subject of Damiani's recently published book, 'Homer Anthony — The Diary of a Navy Sailor.' Damiani edited and annotated the diary and wrote the introduction and epilogue of the slim volume, published by Masthoff Press, Morgantown. Dennis Damiano's book, Homer Anthony - The Diary of a Navy Sailor." (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) The Muhlenberg Township author presented a pre-Memorial Day program on Anthony at the Berks History Center in Reading. 'I have to thank the Philadelphia Phillies for this book,' Damiani said, only partly joking. He and his wife, Sharon, like to watch baseball games on TV, he explained. But they found one game in the summer of 2015 difficult to watch. The Phillies were losing badly, and Damiani was bored. He opened his iPad and began searching for topics of interest. A 1973 to 1978 veteran of the Air Force whose father served in World War II, Damiani said he has long been intrigued by U.S. history, particularly military history. He landed on the homepage of a website dedicated to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in the U.S. submarine force. 'As I viewed pictures of the lost crew members, I was immediately struck by their youth,' he said. Homer Anthony, a World War II sailor who is the subject of a book by Dennis Damiani. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) Then on the pages for the Tang, he saw the photo of Fireman First Class Anthony with his name and hometown. 'Who is this guy from Reading?' Damiani said he wondered. 'I want to know more about him.' His journey to learn more took him to the Reading Public Library, where he found a 1941 Reading High School yearbook with the young man's photograph. It also took him to the history center, through more internet research and eventually to Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, where he found the grave of Anthony's brother Socrates. 'His marker also listed his wife, Ruth, but there was no death date,' Damiani said. 'So I figured she was living.' He found a phone listing, and after several weeks overcame his hesitation to call. They spoke for a few minutes before arranging for Damiani to visit the homebound Ruth. That visit turned into many more and an enduring friendship. On one visit, Ruth smiled and held up a small black, leather-bound book. It was Anthony's diary. 'You know a lot about Homer, Dennis,' she said, 'but you don't know about this.' The opening pages of Homer Anthony's diary, the basis of Dennis Damiani's book "Homer Anthony - The Diary of a Navy Sailor. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE) By reading the diary, Damiani felt he came to know Anthony. 'Homer was an intelligent young man,' he said. 'He loved to learn and read. His honesty and humor draw the reader of the diary to him in a heartwarming way.' Anthony's sense of humor and talent for writing come through on the pages of the diary, he said. Damiani said he was struck by Anthony's patriotism and commitment to doing his duty for his country. 'I believe those who read the diary will come to admire and respect Homer the way I have,' he said. The entries provide a sense of the man Anthony was, his goal of saving for college, his dream of becoming a poet and his acceptance of the fact that he might not survive the war. His poem 'Morbid Thoughts on a Rainy Day,' written Jan. 26 and 27, 1943, seems almost a premonition of his death, Damiani said. The entries also reflect an era, turning a lens on the patriotism, pop culture and racism of the period. While in Norfolk, Va., attending what he called torpedo school, Anthony witnessed extreme racism for perhaps the first time, Damiani said. 'They definitely draw the race line down here,' the serviceman wrote on Jan. 19, 1943, describing the segregation practiced in public buildings, on streetcars and elsewhere. 'To one who was born under Northern Climes, it comes as a surprise, but an interesting one, nonetheless.' In several entries, Anthony mentions high school friends, most of whom were also serving in the military. 'Reading High School in 1941, the year Homer graduated, had 807 seniors,' Damiani said. 'Of those, 430 were boys, and out of this figure, 327, or 76%, either enlisted or were drafted. 'Twelve lost their lives while serving in World War II.' Damiani said he is honored to preserve the story of one of these sometimes-forgotten heroes. 'I am convinced that Homer would have been an author of books and articles,' he said. 'His diary testifies to this.' With the publication of his diary, Anthony has become the published author he aspired to be. The book, 'Homer Anthony — Diary of a Navy Sailor' is available for sale in the Berks History Center's gift shop. For more information, email Damiani at civilman71@
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renovations underway for 117-year-old pagoda in Pennsylvania
(WHTM) — Renovations are underway for a historic, 117-year-old pagoda in Pennsylvania. According to the pagoda's website, the 117-year-old pagoda located atop Mount Penn in Reading is being renovated in a broader effort to enhance the structure and the surrounding Skyline Drive Park. The pagoda's website says construction crews will install a new HVAC system, electrical system, and plumbing systems to meet code requirements to reopen to the public. The site says cosmetic fixes will also be done to the interior and exterior, including paint, wood refinishing, and restoring other details. Renovation began on April 1 and is planned to be finished in October 2025. The project cost $4.8 million, awarded by the American Rescue Plan Act and unspent 2024 capital improvement funds, the site added. The Reading Eagle recently reported that unexpected gaps were found in the pagoda's stone foundation. Workers will inject lime-based grout to fill some of the holes in the foundation, then the grout will level out and fill in the rest of them. According to the Berks History Center, the Reading Pagoda was first erected in 1908 as a hotel for a luxury resort, however the plans for the resort were abandoned, but the building remained and became a monument of the City of Reading. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Reading Public Museum to dedicate 100th anniversary time capsule
The Reading Public Museum will dedicate a time capsule, marking the 100th anniversary of the museum's building and grounds. The free event May 1 at the museum, 500 Museum Road, is intended to celebrate the institution's century-long commitment to education and its lasting impact. 'The museum is delighted to celebrate 100 years in its iconic building in the 18th Ward of Reading,' said Geoffrey K. Fleming, executive director and CEO. 'The continuing existence of our building and grounds exemplify the timeless need for communities to have unyielding places to gather, learn and be inspired.' The event will take place exactly 100 years after Reading School District and museum staff, school board members and others from the community gathered May 1, 1925, to place the building's cornerstone. The moment was memorialized in a black and white photograph on display in the museum's current exhibition, 100 Years: A Cornerstone of Our Community, museum officials said in a release. A time capsule placed inside the cornerstone held an American flag, a Holy Bible, a set of 1925 coins ranging from 1cent to $1, daily newspapers from April 30 and May 1, 1925, and the names of Reading School Board members, museum architect Alexander F. Smith, and contractor Irvin Impink, among other items. Reading Public Museum founder Dr. Levi W. Mengel breaks ground Feb. 9, 1925, for the museum building in the 18th Ward. (Courtesy of the Berks History Center) The cornerstone laying May 1, 1925, marked the fulfillment of founder Dr. Levi Mengel's vision of building an educational museum of world treasures, the release said. Mengel, a Reading science teacher, started the museum's collection as a teaching tool. In 1907, the third floor of the school district's old administration building at Eighth and Washington streets, was converted to house the growing collection. Land for a new museum in the 18th Ward was donated to the school district by Wyomissing industrialists Ferdinand Thun, Henry Janssen and Gustav Oberlaender, and the completed museum opened its doors to the public in 1929. Reading School Board members and Reading Public Museum staff inspect the future site of the museum along the Wyomissing Creek before groundbreaking in February 1925. (Courtesy of the Berks History Center) The items in the new time capsule were inspired by the originals and also include materials that mark the achievements and growth of the museum over the past century. These were collected by a committee of museum staff, school district administrators and others who will recreate the 1925 photograph as the new time capsule is dedicated. The event will also include the dedication of an Artemis 1 Moon Tree, planted last year in the museum's arboretum. The sycamore sapling was grown by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Services from a seed that spent four weeks in space aboard the Orion spacecraft as a part of the Artemis 1 mission. The sapling joined 25 acres of plantings, some of which have stood for as long as the museum building. The Moon Tree represents the museum's continued commitment to inspiring curiosity and fostering learning about science, the outdoors, space exploration and the interconnectedness of Earth and the universe, officials said. 'We hope that the community will join us in celebrating as we enter the next 100 years of serving Reading and beyond,' Flemming said. Refreshments will be available for purchase. The Reading Public Museum is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. If you go What: Reading Public Museum time capsule dedication Where: Reading Public Museum, 500 Museum Road When: May 1, 3 p.m. More information:
