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Maloney Memorial Home for the AgedThe Maloney Memorial Home for the Aged was endowed by Martin Maloney in memory of his parents and run by the Little Sisters of the Poor. On May 26, 1907, a cornerstone from Martin Maloney’s home in Ireland was blessed and laid for the Home while a cornerstone from Holy Cross Abbey in Ireland was laid for the chapel. By the Home's anniversary in 1937, it had 150 residents of 60 years or older. In 1972, it no longer met codes and had to be replaced. The Holy Family Residence of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Scranton is its direct descendent.Martin Maloney was born in Tipperary, Ireland on Nov. 11, 1847 and came to Scranton at the age of 7 years. He had a small tin roofing and heating business when he visited the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 and saw a gasoline lamp which he adapted for street lighting making his fortune. At that time, gasoline was essentially a waste product in the production of kerosene. He married Margaret Hewitt from Carbondale at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Scranton, on Dec. 31, 1868. He also endowed the Martin Maloney Science (Chemistry) Building at the Catholic University, St. Catherine’s Church in Spring Lake, NJ, and was a donor to the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He was created a Marquis of the Holy Empire by Pope Leo XIII (June 25, 1903) and appointed a Camerara Secreta by Pope Pius X (June 16, 1904). |
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1918 Motor Vehicle RegistrationA recent archive contained mostly bills and receipts from the 1880-1920 period for one insurance agent in Scranton. It is a fabulous window on everyday life for a timeframe that no one remembers now. There are bills for buying and repairing a buggy and for hay and oats for the period as well as a purchase agreement for a Model-T touring car. The 1918 Automobile Certificate (car registration) displayed includes a number of important rules such as “Display always one hour after sunset two white lights on the front of your car,” “24 miles per hour is the maximum rate of speed on any public highway,” and “Do not make a license plate to replace a lost one. Any substitute plate will get you into trouble.” There is also a handwritten itemized receipt for $8.25 for oats, hay, rye, and feed. It’s amazing what some people will save but very fortunate for remembering past days. |
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Troyler PatentPatent No. 3,113,800 was issued December 10, 1963 to Leonard Troy of Scranton for an improved version of the Automobile Transport. The justification for this patent is that “As a general rule, in the transportation business, the greater the cargo, the less the unit hauling rate. At the present time, due to length and axle loading restrictions in many of the states, particularly the eastern states, automobile transports are limited to hauling four full size American automobiles. It is readily apparent that if an automobile transport could be provided for hauling five full sized American automobiles, including the larger ones manufactured, there would be a definite decrease in hauling costs per automobile. It is to this end that the present invention relates.” As a recent engineering graduate, Leonard Troy was involved in designing gliders for the military during World War II before joining the Army himself. After the war, he joined his father in founding Metropolitan Convoy in Clarks Summit to transport automobiles, leading to his interest in improving the trailers of the day. He had invented the basic “Troyler” in 1953 by redesigning trailers to be lighter so that they would use less gasoline, be easier to handle, and cause less wear on their parts. These were built at the Troyler Corporation factory at Glenn St. and Meylert Ave. in the city. Mr. Troy applied advanced engineering innovations to a variety of concerns producing a large number of patents including zone controlled heating systems for buildings. |
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Scranton Public School District Manual and Course of StudyThe Scranton School District in 1886 consisted of 33 schools, numbered but not yet named. A 62-page booklet (title page at left) provides a snapshot of the district at that time. The district had been formed in 1877 from four separate districts (the list of all graduates since that date is contained in the booklet). “No pupil shall be admitted to school who is not six years of age, or who has not been vaccinated.” The Common School Department consisted of nine levels: Grammar A, B, and C; Intermediate A, B, and C; and Primary A, B, and C, with appropriate studies and regulations for each. The High Schools Department consisted of three levels: Preparatory, First Year and Second Year. While the Common School was very structured (in Intermediate, Arithmetic was from 9:10 to 10:10 followed by English Grammar to 10:45), the High School only listed courses with required texts: First year including Astronomy, Geometry, Physics, Trigonometry, Literature, Latin (Caesar), Botany, Moral Philosophy, Composition and Declamation while the Second year added Mental Science, Political Economy, and Greek with an option for the “Normal course.” “None but High School graduates of normal course or of State Normal Schools” were to be employed as teachers. There were over 10,000 students in the district that year of which 230 were in the High School Department. |
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International Correspondence School Informational BookletThe International Correspondence School had been a Scranton fixture since the late 1800’s and, its successor organization Penn Foster still has a vibrant Scranton presence. Established to help working men and women received the technical education they needed to enter skilled jobs, they celebrated their six millionth student in 1952. Among the number of informational and instructional booklets in our collection, we have chosen to display an informational booklet from the 1940’s. In addition to testimonials from former students, it provided details on a number of different courses of study and the instructional booklets needed for each. When a student enrolled, he or she was sent the instructional books as needed and returned homework or other assignments which were graded and returned. If a student has trouble with a lesson, ICS provided a person to help resolve the problem. |