The Marquis de Lafayette Visits Chester, 1824. As the United States approaches the 50th anniversary of the Revolution, President Monroe invites General Lafayette to return to America.
60th Anniversary of Washington’s Stay in Chester. General George Washington stays at this hotel after his defeat at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. It is later renamed Washington House.
Henry Thomason was the Valedictorian of his P.M.A. class of 1879. He was trained as a doctor and served in the US Military. In 1898, he enlisted in the Spanish American War as Major and Surgeon in the Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He served as an...
William Penn Marker. In the fall of 1882, the United States celebrates the 200th anniversary of William Penn’s landing on American soil. In this photograph, Chester Baker, a prominent local historian, stands proudly next to the Penn Monument at...
Vacation Bible School, c. 1928. Pastor Abraham Lathem starts the nation’s first Vacation Bible School at the Third Presbyterian Church at 9th and Potter Streets. At its peak, approximately 700 people participate. PMC President Frank Hyatt rents a...
President Hoover at the B&O Railroad Station, 1929. President Hoover reviews the cadets as he and Mrs. Hoover are en route to the final World Series Game in Philadelphia. Although the train stops for a complete minute, the event becomes known...
Ethel Waters, Popular Jazz Singer and Actress. Born in Chester’s Bethel Court neighborhood in 1896, Waters becomes known for her performances on Broadway, in nightclubs and movies, and on television. In 1933, Irving Berlin writes 4 songs for her...
Sun Ship Booms from War Contracts. By 1943, Sun Ship employs 35,000 people, becoming the nation’s leading shipbuilding company. National attention focuses on Sun’s Yard No.4, created to employ only African American workers. Some praise the...
Admissions Photo of Martin Luther King Jr. In 1948, Martin Luther King Jr. begins his bachelor of divinity degree at Crozer Theological Seminary. During his 3 years in Chester, King interns at the Calvary Baptist Church.
The Four Aces Achieve National Popularity. This Chester-based group records such hits as “Three Coins in a Fountain” and “A Stranger in Paradise” in the mid-1950s.
Bill Haley and His Comets. Bill Haley, from Chester radio station WPWA, forms one of the first rock and roll bands. “Rock Around the Clock” and “Shake, Rattle, & Roll,” both recorded in 1954, rise to the top of the charts.
Alex North Conducts Spartacus, 1955. A Chester native and composer of “Unchained Melody,” North wrote more than 50 film scores including A Streetcar Named Desire, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf, Spartacus, and Prizzi’s Honor. He receives the...
National Civil Rights Leaders Gather, Spring 1964. Mr. Garrison, Malcolm X, Gloria Richardson, Woody Woodlyn, and Dick Gregory meet to discuss the campaign to desegregate the schools in Chester. Malcolm X is assassinated less than a year later....
Eisenhower Visits Campus, 1963. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first PMC Honorary 1st Captain. John Lance Geoghegan presents General Eisenhower with a plaque and the sabre that is symbolic of the rank.
