[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E311-E312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  LACKAWANNA VALLEY HERITAGE AREA ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DON SHERWOOD

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 2, 1999

  Mr. SHERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Lackawanna 
Valley Heritage Area Act. By designating the Lackawanna Valley of 
Pennsylvania as a National Heritage Area, this important legislation 
would ensure the conservation of its significant natural, historic and 
cultural resources. The Lackawanna Valley was the first heritage area 
designated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and is a nationally 
significant historic area as documented in the U.S. Department of 
Interior's Register of Historic Places, Multiple Property Documentation 
Submittal of the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (1996).
  For every federal dollar provided over the last decade, the 
Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority--which oversees the Valley's 
historical and cultural resources--has leveraged ten dollars in State, 
local and private sector funds to finance preservation activities. The 
Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority would continue to foster these 
important relationships with all levels of government, the private 
sector and local communities.
  The Valley represents the development of anthracite coal, one of 
North America's greatest natural resources. From early in the 19th 
century, Pennsylvania's coal provided an extraordinary source of energy 
which fueled America's economic growth for over a hundred years. At the 
center of the world's most productive anthracite field, the Lackawanna 
Valley witnessed the inception, spectacular growth and eventual 
deterioration of an industry which led us to unparalleled prosperity.
  The Valley's current mix of ethnicity, its combination of dense urban 
areas and isolated settlements, and the desolate remains of coal mines 
surrounded by beautiful countryside are a microcosm of our legacy from 
the industrial revolution. As these contrasts illustrate, the 
industrial era was not without human

[[Page E312]]

and environmental costs. Thousands of immigrants worked in deep mines 
under horrible conditions. Death and injury were commonplace, with no 
survivor benefits or disability compensation to withstand these 
calamities. Anthracite miners created the nation's first labor unions 
and they fought for the implementation of child labor laws, workplace 
safety, pension security and fair labor standards.
  The new Americans who populated the Lackawanna Valley established 
strong communities where ethnic ties were reinforced by churches and 
fraternal societies that created a sense of security noticeably absent 
in the mines. The Valley's remaining ethnic neighborhoods are a 
testament to a pattern of urban growth once common in U.S. cities, but 
now disappearing.
  The landscape of the Valley conveys the story of the industrial 
revolution most clearly. Miles of track and hundreds of industrial 
sites and abandoned mines are daily reminders of the importance of the 
region to industry. Heritage sites like Pennsylvania's Anthracite 
Heritage Museum, the Scranton Iron Furnace Historic Site, the 
Lackawanna County Coal Mine and the Steamtown National Historic Site 
help to commemorate this struggle. These sites provide the framework 
for historic preservation which will be cemented by my proposed 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, the designation of the Lackawanna Valley as a National 
Heritage Area will enable all Americans for years to come to witness 
and learn the story of anthracite mining, the labor movement, and the 
industrialization of our great nation. I urge my colleagues to support 
the Lackawanna Valley Heritage Act.

                          ____________________