author
Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
1880–1958
Best known for collecting Pennsylvania folklore, this energetic writer and public historian turned local legends, landscape, and memory into a lifelong project. His books helped preserve stories of the state’s towns, mountains, and people for later generations.
7 Audiobooks
Allegheny Episodes Folk Lore and Legends Collected in Northern and Western Pennsylvania
by Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
A Catalogue of Early Pennsylvania and Other Firearms and Edged Weapons at "Restless Oaks", McElhattan, Pa.
by Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
The Black Moose in Pennsylvania
by Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
The Importance of Marking Historic Spots, an Address
by Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
The changing of historic place names : With an introduction and glossary of some historic names changed or misspelled in Pennsylvania
by George Patterson Donehoo, Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
Pennsylvania wild cats
by Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
Some forgotten Pennsylvania heroines
by Henry W. (Henry Wharton) Shoemaker
About the author
Born in New York City in 1880, he became deeply identified with Pennsylvania and spent much of his life documenting its history, traditions, and folklore. He studied at Columbia, served in World War I, and worked in a wide range of roles over the years, including diplomat, publisher, conservation advocate, and public official.
Shoemaker wrote extensively, with a special gift for gathering regional legends and historical anecdotes. He was a leading figure in the Pennsylvania Folklore Society and was later appointed Pennsylvania's state folklorist, a role often noted as the first official position of its kind in the United States.
Today he is remembered less for a single book than for the sheer range of his efforts to record local stories before they disappeared. For readers interested in Pennsylvania’s past, his work offers a lively mix of folklore, place-based history, and early preservation-minded storytelling.