‘American Tapestry’ Details Family’s Efforts

American Tapestry: Portrait of a ‘Middling’ Family, 1746-1934 was published recently by Pat Speth Sherman. 

“American Tapestry began as a simple family history project about my great-grandfather,” writes Ms. Sherman, who was born in Buffalo and now lives in Oregon. “He was a Civil War veteran and a community leader area in the 1870s through the 1890s. But he was also a mine superintendent who had supervised little boys working in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal mines.”

The book’s story wanders throughout Pennsylvania and western New York, following the family as it dealt with nearly every major event in U.S. history between 1746 and 1934. 

“My family members were everyday people - farmers, wheelwrights, teachers, engineers, managers, physicians,” Ms. Sherman notes. “They marched in wars. They built railroads and canals. They were politicians and public servants. They healed the sick. And although they were not major historical figures, they had served as local community leaders for 200 years. As I looked about, I could not find any books about people like my family, that is, a family with a record of local leadership that persisted for such a long time.”

Ms. Sherman decided to tell her family's story within the context of the time and places that they lived, and within the context of the events that shaped their lives. She quickly learned that the history lessons of her youth had glossed over or ignored altogether certain aspects of American history. 

American Tapestry revisits the history of the devolving relationship between Euro-Americans and Native Americans, with a focus on the Haudenosaunee people. The book also examines in careful detail the deplorable working conditions endured by young boys employed in Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal mines, and it shows how xenophobia, religious bigotry, and racism have persisted in American society.

To learn more about American Tapestry and its author, visit www.patspethsherman.com.