South Central Pennsylvania Legends & Lore

by David J. Puglia

Powwow practitioners of York County, the headless ghost of a murdered girl that roams the back roads of Schuylkill County and the Hummelstown Hermit who still lingers in Indian Echo Caverns--these tales are all part of the lore of South Central Pennsylvania. Such legends offer a fuller history of the region, from the folkways of the Pennsylvania Dutch to the stories of the rocky relations between German and English settlers and local tribes. Folklorist David J. Puglia reveals this lore to a new audience and explores the region's more recent legends like the Wizard of Cumberland County" and Milton Hershey's narrow miss with the Titanic. Join Puglia as he tracks through the hills, houses and hollows of South Central Pennsylvania in search of its legends and lore."

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2012

About the author

David J. Puglia, Ph.D., is a Professor and Deputy Chairperson in the English Department at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York, where he teaches courses in folklore, children's literature, and writing.

He received his master’s degree in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University, under the supervision of Dr. Michael Ann Williams, and his Ph.D. in American Studies from Penn State Harrisburg, under the supervision of Dr. Simon J. Bronner.

He is the author of three books: Tradition, Urban Identity, and the Baltimore “Hon”: The Folk in the City (2018), Maryland Legends: Folklore from the Old Line State (2014, with co-author Trevor J. Blank), and South Central Pennsylvania Legends and Lore (2012). His essays have appeared in the Folklore Historian, New Directions in Folklore, Contemporary Legend, Children’s Folklore Review, and the Oxford Handbook of Folklore and Folklife Studies.

He is the past editor of the scholarly journal New Directions in Folklore and the past president of the Middle Atlantic Folklife Association. He currently serves on the Executive Council of the International Society for Contemporary Legend Research and the editorial boards of Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore, Supernatural Studies, and New Directions in Folklore.