Few regions have had as energetic and influential a promoter as
Henry W. Shoemaker (1880-1958), who devoted his life's work to
preserving Pennsylvania's cultural and natural heritage. His memory
lives on in the legends he helped promote, such as that of the
Indian princess "Nita-Nee," for whom Central Pennsylvania's Nittany
Mountain is supposedly named. He was also instrumental in creating
Pennsylvania's noted system of parks and forests and the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. In his own day,
Shoemaker was a controversial figure, talked about for his immense
wealth, powerful connections, eccentric hobbies, and, above all,
his consuming passion for conserving and promoting Pennsylvania's
wildlife, mountains, and common folk. During the Progressive Era,
he fell in with national leaders such as Theodore Roosevelt and
Gifford Pinchot, who encouraged Americans to commune with nature
and to appreciate its history and legend. He espoused the
Progressive belief that nature and folk cultures held vital, even
spiritual, powers for a modern age, especially in America, where
Shoemaker hoped to create a mythology supporting nationalism.
Shoemaker hoped to "sell Pennsylvania to Pennsylvanians" and
instill an appreciation for the state's wilderness, threatened by
industrialization. He authored hundreds of pamphlets and books on
nature, history, and folklore. He was publisher of several
influential newspapers in Pennsylvania, including the Altoona
Tribune and the Reading Eagle. He became the first state folklorist
in America, one of the first chairs of the Pennsylvania Historical
Commission, and an influential member of the State Forest
Commission and the State Geographic Board. He is responsible for
the network of historical markers that dot the byways of the
Commonwealth. For this book, the first full-length biography of
Shoemaker, Simon Bronner has located never-before-available private
papers and interviewed many people who knew Shoemaker. Included are
rare photographs and a sampler of Shoemaker stories.
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