Pennsylvania is the Keystone State, and its history holds so many of the stories that shaped America. We Love PA History! is an every-other week conversation featuring authors, historians, preservationists and storytellers. Each episode will dive into events, people, and places that define Pennsylvania's heritage, showing how the past still shapes our present. Pennsylvanian's love their history, and we want to celebrate that.
Quick Links to our episodes:
The Scots Irish of Early Pennsylvania, A Varied People, Judith Ridner Available beginning August 12 @4pm
Fort Ligonier and Washington's Brush with Death on the Battlefield, Matt Gault
Heinz History Center: Sharing the Stories of People, Andy Masich
William Penn and "The Holy Experiment", Andrew Murphy
Carpenters' Hall, Michael Norris
Why Pennsylvanians Love Our History, Andrea Lowery
Release Date: August 12, 2026
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The Scots Irish of Early Pennsylvania, A Varied People
Judith Ridner, Professor of History at Mississippi State University
About Judith Ridner
I am a historian of early America with interests in the American frontier, ethnicity and immigration, oral and public history. Although most of my research to date focuses on the eighteenth-century Pennsylvania and the Scots-Irish, my work has broadened over time to include oral history, public and digital history, and especially material culture.
I’m currently working on two book projects. In Clothing the Babel: The Material Culture of Ethnic Identity in Early America, I’m analyzing how clothing and other items of personal adornment that various European immigrants wore influenced how eighteenth-century Americans perceived and reacted to them. My other project, The Dirty History of Soap, traces the material history of this ordinary substance, from the ancient world to the present.
I am also co-editor of the academic journal, Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
1994 Ph.D., History, The College of William & Mary
1988 M.A., History with a concentration in Historical Archaeology, The College of William & Mary
1986 B.A., History and International Studies, Dickinson College -- Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
Release Date: July 29, 2026
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Fort Ligonier and Washington's Brush with Death on the Battlefield
Matt Gault, Director of Education and Living History at Fort Ligonier
Matt Gault was named Fort Ligonier’s Director of Education and Living History in 2025 after acting as the Director of Education since May of 2020. Matt’s career began at Fort Ligonier as a college intern while enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. Upon graduation, he was selected to join Fort Ligonier’s Education Department as the Assistant Director of Education in 2014.
During his time at the Fort, Matt has received several prestigious recognitions including the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau 2017 Tourism Employee of the Year Award and the PA Museums Association Carol Wickkiser Award presented to an outstanding young museum professional.
Matt leads the development and production of Fort Ligonier’s educational initiatives including exciting educational and living history programs for students and visitors from all across the globe. Matt is also known for his riveting portrayal of a young George Washington and will go to great lengths to increase awareness about French and Indian War history. In August 2021, clad in a breechcloth, Matt was the only historical interpreter to complete a 30-mile hike from Fort Ligonier to Bushy Run to commemorate Bushy Run’s anniversary. Matt resides in Greensburg, Pennsylvania with his family.
Release Date: July 15, 2026
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Heinz History Center: Sharing the Stories of People
Andy Masich
President and CEO of the Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh PA
"People are interested in the stories of people..."
"David McCullough, America's favorite historian, Pulitzer Prize winner, Adams, Truman, the Johnstown Flood, he used to say, he was actually quoting the librarian of Congress when he said trying to build a future without understanding the past is like trying to plant cut flowers. You know, it's just not gonna happen. So I think that those roots are important and it's up to us to show that younger generation how they're connected to the past. And young people, the thing that they're interested in are the same things that we were interested in, and that is people. People are interested in the stories of people, and whether you show them that in a book, a film, a performance, an exhibition, or a podcast, it really doesn't matter. It's the stories, the engaging stories of people, the inspiring stories of people that we need to focus on as museum professionals and educators."
About Andy Masich:
Masich is president and CEO of the Smithsonian-affiliated Senator John Heinz History Center, recently recognized by USA TODAY as America’s #1 History Museum three years in a row. The History Center has also been named Pittsburgh’s Best Museum by readers of Pittsburgh Magazine for five consecutive years.
Since 1998, he has led Pittsburgh’s 370,000 square-foot Heinz History Center and family of museums, which includes the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum; Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village (the oldest site of human habitation in North America) located in Avella, Pa.; and the Fort Pitt Museum.
Under Masich’s leadership, the History Center has earned national recognition for its award-winning exhibitions and innovative educational programs that focus on the American experience with a Western Pennsylvania connection.
A respected authority on American history and Western Pennsylvania’s heritage and culture, Masich is a trusted expert for national media outlets, including the Associated Press, New York Times, the Travel Channel, the History Channel, CNN, and more. Masich is the host of the popular “Time Capsules” history podcast on KDKA-AM radio and is a monthly contributor to KDKA-TV’s morning show, “Pittsburgh Today Live.”
Masich has also authored or co-authored award-winning books on a wide range of subjects and is an adjunct professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University.
Masich currently serves as a commissioner (and former chairman) of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC); and on the America250PA Commission, which is charged with developing commemorative programs leading up to the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/
Release Date: July 1, 2026
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William Penn and
"The Holy Experiment"
Andrew Murphy, Professor and Dept Chair
Political Science
University of Michigan
You can't understand Pennsylvania history - "The Holy Experiment" - without knowing about William Penn. There's no better source than the man who wrote the biography of William Penn.
Reflecting his interest in the intersections between political theory and political action (as well as his status as a born-and-raised Pennsylvanian), Murphy has engaged deeply with the life, career and political thought of William Penn, a figure who brought theory and practice together in the early modern British Atlantic. He is the author of William Penn: A Life (Oxford, 2019) and Liberty, Conscience, and Toleration: The Political Thought of William Penn (Oxford, 2016); and co-editor (with John Smolenski) of The Worlds of William Penn (Rutgers, 2019). A scholarly edition of Penn's political writings for the Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought series appeared in 2021.
Murphy's research takes up the intersections between politics and religion, in both historical and contemporary contexts. He is particularly interested in the emergence of religious liberty and liberty of conscience in early modern England and America, and the ongoing ramifications of these debates as they continue to unsettle American politics. He is the author, most recently, of Toleration: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2025), which canvasses the history, development, and contemporary global status of toleration as both a concept and a contested legal practice. His current research continues to bring together the political and the religious, exploring the concept of political martyrdom and the ways in which studying politically-charged deaths can help us make sense of the complex interplay of death, religion, politics, collective memory, and symbolic power.
Release Date: June 17, 2026
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Carpenters' Hall
Michael Norris, Executive Director of
Carpenters' Company of the City of Philadelphia
As the Executive Director of the Carpenters’ Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, which owns and manages Carpenters’ Hall, a National Historic Landmark in Philadelphia’s historic district whose members constitute the nation’s oldest continuously operating craft guild, Michael oversees all of the Company’s programmatic and operational activities. Michael joined the Company in June 2019, after a seven-year tenure as Vice President of External Relations and Chief Strategy Officer at the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, where he oversaw the organization’s policy, advocacy and community-engagement programs and its fundraising activities. Before that, Michael served for eight years as the Executive Director of Art-Reach, which connects underserved audiences with cultural experiences. Prior to leading Art-Reach, Michael spent nine years at the Arden Theatre Company, managing all aspects of fundraising, marketing, public relations and community outreach. Michael began his career in nonprofit administration as the Assistant Development Director at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre, the nation’s oldest continuously operating theatre and a National Historic Landmark. He started his professional career in editing and publishing, working as an editorial researcher at TV Guide magazine in Radnor, PA, and then editing the regional leadership directory Who’s Who in the Delaware Valley. A native of Chester County, PA, Michael received a B.A. in journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia. He received a certificate in fundraising from the University of Pennsylvania and has received supplemental education in nonprofit management through coursework offered by National Arts Strategies, the Fundraising School at the University of Indiana and the Stanford University Business School. He is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Philadelphia, which named him one of the region’s top 76 “Creative Connectors.” He serves on the board of PA Museums, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and the Histories Collaborative of Philadelphia.
To find out more about Carpenters' Company, Carpenters' Hall, and its amazing history, go to: Story of Carpenters' Hall | Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia
Release Date: June 3, 2026
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Why Pennsylvanians Love Our History
Andrea Lowery, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
Andrea Bakewell Lowery, a preservationist with more than 20 years of experience, has served at the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) most recently as chief of the agency's Division of Architecture and Preservation. She managed the budget for PHMC's capital improvements across the state and spearheaded the agency's master planning initiatives.
Lowery's portfolio includes managing the renovation and expansion of the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, rehabilitation of historic structures at Old Economy Village, and refurbishment of The State Museum of Pennsylvania for its 50th anniversary, culminating in its placement in the National Register of Historic Places. She is currently managing the design of the new Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg.
Lowery brings broad experience to the agency's diverse programs, having worked in both the private and public sectors as a preservation architect, architectural historian, and state preservation specialist. She has led a variety of projects, including assignments for the Architect of the Capitol, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the US General Services Administration, and Yale University. Lowery holds a bachelor's degree in history of art from Bryn Mawr College and a master's degree in architecture from the Ohio State University.
We Love PA History! Podcast is sponsored by Markosky Engineering Group, Inc.
