Title: Former MU archivist to hold book signing at Barnes & Noble
Author: Staff Writer
Publisher: Misericordia University News
Date: 12/4/08
Former Misericordia University archivist Harrison Wick will hold a book signing for his upcoming book, "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain,'' on Saturday, Jan. 24 from 1-3 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Wilkes-Barre Township.
The Arcadia Publishing book, available in January, features more than 200 rare photographs, many of which have never been published. The book also includes more than 30 historical photographs that documents Misericordia's rich history, including its early days in the 1920s to the Agnes flood when people from the Wyoming Valley and Nesbitt Memorial Hospital were evacuated to the Back Mountain campus.
Wick also revisits the history of Back Mountain amusement parks, steamboats, trolleys, railroad stations, houses, churches, schools, agriculture and much more through engaging photographs. Many Northeastern Pennsylvania residents contributed their photographs and memories to make "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain'' a special book about the region's colorful history.
"I fell in love with the scenic beauty of Pennsylvania's Back Mountain when I first started working at Misericordia University in November 2004,'' said Wick, who is now the Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. "I found its history compelling and wanted to write about it. As the Archivist at Misericordia and a member of the Dallas Rotary Club, I met so many people who shared their memories and stories about the Back Mountain. I found there were many rare photographs of the area that had never before been published.''
Overall, "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain'' tells the story of an underrepresented part of Luzerne County's history. Wick hopes the book and its publicity will encourage more people in the region to tell their priceless stories. "The book offers photographs, interviews and information that provide a glimpse into a beautiful and historic part of Pennsylvania,'' the author adds.
For more information about "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain'' or book signing, please contact Lynn Ruggieri, Arcadia Publishing, at (704) 737-3309 or LRuggieri@arcadiapublishing.com. The book can be pre-ordered through Arcadia Publishing, Amazon.com and other book vendors.
Title: Book on Back Mountain highlighted
Author: Staff Writer
Publisher: The Dallas Post Community
Date: 10/5/2008
The upcoming book, "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain" by Harrison Wick, is part of the "Images of America" series from Arcadia Publishing and will be available in stores in early 2009.
The book includes rare images of many villages, boroughs and townships in the Back Mountain, including Trucksville, Shavertown, Dallas, Lehman and Harveys Lake.
"Pennsylvania's Back Mountain" incorporates history and photographs highlighting the Back Mountain's agriculture, transportation, recreation, amusement parks and resorts.
The book has photographs taken by Edward S. Miller and Michael J. Lavelle of the trolley line between Kingston Township and Harvey's Lake. It also includes photographs of Fern Brook Park in Dallas, the steamboats and Hanson's Amusement Park at Harvey's Lake, Hillside Farms, Misericordia University and Penn State University.
For more information about the "Image of America" series, visit Arcadia Publishing, www.arcadiapublishing.com.
Harrison Wick is the Special Collections Librarian and University Archivist at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. For three years, he was the archivist at Misericordia University in Dallas.
He serves on the Back Mountain Historical Association Steering Committee.
Anyone wishing to have a sneak preview of the photographs and history in "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain" may attend the Back Mountain Historical Association presentation by Harrison Wick at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 13, in the Kennedy Room of the Banks Student Life Center at Misericordia University. The presentation will include many never-before-seen photographs of the Back Mountain.
The Back Mountain Historical Association meetings are free and open to the public. Presentations in April and October offer a photographic history of the Back Mountain.
Anyone with photographs of the Back Mountain is asked to contact Harrison Wick at hwick@iup.edu.
Title: Back Mountain's pictorial history preserved in book
Author: Staff Writer
Publication: Citizens' Voice
Date: 11/24/2008
From Hanson's to Fern Brook Park, railroads to steamboats, farming to industry, the Back Mountain has a rich and colorful past.
Harrison Wick, former archivist at Misericordia University, has collected photographs and information and compiled them into a pictorial history, "Pennsylvania's Back Mountain," set for release in two months.
Although he is now special collections librarian and archivist at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the western part of the state, Wick's interest was captured by Northeastern Pennsylvania.
"It's kind of funny. I'd already accepted a position here at IUP, but I was asked by Arcadia Publishing, as part of their 'Images of America' series, to write something about the Back Mountain. So I said, 'Sure, why not,'" he said. "I just always had a love of the history."
The 128-page book has more than 200 photos, Wick said. The book, he said, includes everything.
"Steamboats, different bridges, road systems, schools, buildings, houses and, of course, people," Wick said. "A lot of history dating back before the Revolution to about the 1960s to 1970s."
The book contains four chapters: Kingston Township, Dallas, Lehman Township and surrounding territory, and Harveys Lake. Subjects include recreation, entertainment, family life, businesses, farming and education.
There are photographs and history of the Back Mountain trolley system, the Bowman's Creek Branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, steamboats and boating on Harveys Lake, amusement parks, including Hanson's at Harveys Lake and Fern Brook Park in Dallas Township, Wick said.
He obtained a substantial amount of material with assistance from "many wonderful people and organizations," particularly Misericordia, the Luzerne County Historical Society, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, and photographer Edward S. Miller, who had pictures of the trolley system, Wick said. Local historian F. Charles Petrillo, who wrote a book on Harveys Lake and who maintains the Web site www.harveyslake.org, was also very helpful, Wick said.
Wick plans to have a book signing the first day the volume will be on sale: Saturday, Jan. 24, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble in Wilkes-Barre Township.
History has always been a passion for Wick, who holds a Master of Arts degree in the subject from Indiana University at Bloomington, Ind. He also has a master's degree in library science from there, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Washington College in Maryland.
Wick was born in Seattle, but has "lived all over," he said. He resides in Indiana County with his wife, Kimberly.
