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Andy McPhee
  • Donora’s Legacy Still Felt Today

    Donora’s Legacy Still Felt Today

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora History
    April 18, 2019

    How has the Donora smog tragedy affected the way we live today?

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  • Secrets of Donora’s Forgotten Cemetery

    Secrets of Donora’s Forgotten Cemetery

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora History, Pertinent History
    April 15, 2019

    We tred carefully through the brambles, weeds, and bushes devouring a hillside cemetery in the north end of Donora, Pa. We step from one small monument to another, making our way as close as we can, without a machete, to the largest monument, the one marking the grave of Capt. John Gilmore. Gilmore was a…

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  • The Curious Case of Stanley Sawa

    The Curious Case of Stanley Sawa

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora Death Fog, Donora Smog Event
    March 22, 2019

    This post was updated Feb. 14, 2020, based on information obtained from Stanley Sawa’s son. One of the first stories I heard about the Donora smog of 1948 concerned the football game between the Donora Dragons and the Monongahela Wildcats on Saturday October 31. Donora lost the game 27–7, a disheartening loss to be sure.…

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  • Where Did the Smog Victims Live and Die?

    Where Did the Smog Victims Live and Die?

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora History, Donora Smog Event
    November 13, 2018

    Knowing where each victim lived — and died — can be instructive for several reasons. Consider how many of those victims and their families must have known each other.

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  • When Did Death Fog Victims Perish?

    When Did Death Fog Victims Perish?

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora Smog Event
    November 7, 2018

    Ceh and Kirkwood were the first Donorans to die in the Donora Death Fog of 1948. At least 18 more followed, most of them the same night. Ceh died from sudden heart failure, Jeanie of asthma. Both of their death certificates indicate they died at 2:00 AM on the deadliest day of the smog, Saturday, October 30,…

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  • The Acceptable Boundaries of Racism in 1940s Donora

    The Acceptable Boundaries of Racism in 1940s Donora

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora History, Pertinent History
    October 26, 2018

    Stacey is right, race relations in the town were indeed strange, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone much, apparently not even black residents.

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  • Social Life in 1940s Donora

    Social Life in 1940s Donora

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora History
    October 25, 2018

    For decades during the mid-1900s a Chamber of Commerce sign at the Donora town line read, “NEXT TO YOURS THE BEST TOWN IN THE USA.” Donorans found an odd pride in being a second-best town, no matter where a visitor came from. Perhaps that was to be expected. The town didn’t originate naturally, as a…

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  • Could Donora Happen Again? Here in the US?

    Could Donora Happen Again? Here in the US?

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora Death Fog, Donora History, Donora Smog Event
    September 4, 2018

    Certainly there have been strides made in the nation’s ability to combat air pollution. The greater Pittsburgh area, which once served basically as “Air Pollution Central” due to the many steel plants there, has seen continued progress (right) for many years, as have most cities throughout the U.S. We need to remain fully committed to…

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  • Do You Know Any of These Donora Smog Victims?

    Do You Know Any of These Donora Smog Victims?

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora Death Fog, Donora Smog Event
    May 19, 2018

    Four people are sometimes listed as having perished in smog, but for many reasons finding definitive information on them has proven extremely difficult. They are Steve Faulchak, Ruth Jones, and Alice Ward.

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  • The Life and Death of a Smog Victim

    The Life and Death of a Smog Victim

    By

    Andy McPhee

    Donora Death Fog, Donora Smog Event
    March 27, 2018

    Susan was having trouble breathing that morning, but she kept ironing nonetheless. She also had a headache that wouldn’t go away. She had never had a health problem before, aside from a twisted ankle when she was young, and she had no history of asthma or other lung disease. Yet on this foggy day a…

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