C-COR manufactured equipment for the rapidly expanding cable TV industry after World War II, while its sister firm, Centre Video, owned and operated cable systems throughout Pennsylvania. The companies were key players in the development of cable television, and their leaders were generous members of the community.
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international organization that promotes abstinence from alcohol and also campaigns for other social causes. The organization was active in Centre County for decades with chapters across the county.
The State College Choral Society is a 100-member choral group that been performing regularly around Centre County since 1948. The society began as a 35-member chorus organized by the State College Women’s Club. Starting in 1949, men joined the choir.
Homophiles of Penn State (HOPS) was a student organization organized in 1971 to advocate for and bring together homosexuals that was part of the wave of activism which spread across college campuses during the decade.
At least twenty-eight Black men from Centre County served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. Their experiences provide insight into the recruitment of the North’s Free Blacks into the army during the war.
The Alpha Fire Company is the volunteer company that serves State College, Penn State, and the surrounding townships. The company was founded in 1899 as the Union Fire Company. A year later, the name was changed to Alpha Fire Company.
Evangelical churches share common roots in the Protestant Reformation and later “awakenings” that established new denominations stressing personal salvation, holiness, emotional worship, and simplicity.
The University Club, often known simply as the UClub, is a social organization founded in 1908. Until it was demolished in 2022, the club’s three-story building was a landmark in State College.
University Baptist & Brethren Church, founded in 1922, was the first Baptist church established in State College. Originally founded as University Baptist Church, it affiliated with the Church of the Brethren in 1968.
St. John’s Episcopal is one of the oldest churches in Bellefonte and the last to still have its spire. Episcopalians began meeting in Bellefonte in 1825, first in a cabinet shop and later in the Masonic Lodge.
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