Erie, Pennsylvania MAYORS: 150 Years of Political History, the much-anticipated book by eminent historian Dr. William P. Garvey, is now available for purchase through the Jefferson Educational Society. Cost is just $20, plus tax.
Publishing the all-hardcover first edition of Erie, Pennsylvania MAYORS: 150 Years of Political History culminates several decades of work by Jefferson Educational Society President Garvey and scores of researchers examining Erie politics, the men and women who led the government, and the global, national and local events they were forced to encounter – the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Flu Epidemic of 1918, the Great Mill Creek Flood of 1915 and the cleanup of Presque Isle Bay, among others.
Above all, MAYORS will help residents of the Erie region better understand the city, its political history, and their own urban and political identities as city residents prepare to elect a new mayor in the critical primaries and election of 2017.
Garvey’s book is both a narrative history and a political record that includes results of every Erie mayoral primary and election of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as most of the 19th century after the Borough of Erie made the bold decision to become a city in 1851. It also tracks City Council members and their occupations from 1900.
The 492 unique sources used in the book include Erie histories, including John Miller, S.B. Nelson, William Reed and Ed Wellejus; newspapers, including the Erie Times-News, Erie Daily Times, Morning News, Erie Dispatch-Herald and Erie Gazette; historic documents, including City Council minutes and census reports; research papers, such as Journal of Erie Studies articles and Mercyhurst University senior theses; and personal interviews.
To purchase a book, please click here, or call the Jefferson Educational Society at 814.459.8000.