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Summer 2015
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TOWER
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By Matt
Santos, M’03
Photo by
Olivia Bernardi
Above Image credit:
George Inness,
The Lackawanna Valley
c. 1856
National Gallery of Art
O
n April 23, 1866, just months before Keystone
Normal School opened its doors for the first time,
the city of Scranton, was incorporated just 90 miles to
the north.
While modern-day Scranton may be best known as
the setting for the popular TV series,
“The Office,”
this
historic gem has a rich and important past.
The job of assisting in the preservation of the region’s
history falls to Mary Ann Moran Savakinus ’90, executive
director of the Lackawanna Historical Society (LHS).
Headquartered in Scranton’s Hill Section, the mission of
the LHS is to collect, preserve and interpret the artifacts,
archives and economic history of Lackawanna County
and northeastern Pennsylvania.
“In its heyday, Scranton was one of the top cities in the
country,” said Moran Savakinus. “It was a microcosm of
the industrial revolution as you had coal, iron and the
railroad happening in one place at one time. Between
1880 and 1920, 85 percent of the world’s anthracite coal
came from here. That’s huge!”
Moran Savakinus’s path to her current position was
not necessarily expected. Growing up as a teen in nearby
Archbald, she had no intentions of going to college or
working to preserve the area’s history.
“I didn’t go to college initially after high school,” Moran
Savakinus said. “Then one day my dad came home with
an application for a factory.”
Soon Moran Savakinus was venturing down the North-
east Extension to Kutztown. She chose anthropology as
a major after developing an interest in Greek mythology
in high school.
“I loved the concept of ancient history and classical
archeology,” Moran Savakinus said. “Anthropology was
really a way to study culture, people and human devel-
opment, and to look at how people interact and grow
through their communities.”
Moran Savakinus made the most of her four years at
KU and has fond recollections of classes, friends and her
membership in Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority.
“Thanatology — the study of death — was a cool class,”
Moran Savakinus said. “I used to drive my roommates
crazy, because I would talk to them
about the morbid details of history.”
She also cites KU professors Dr.
Bill Donner and the late Pete Miller
for expanding her interest in an-
thropology and museum studies.
“The professors were wonderful,”
Moran Savakinus said. “Dr. Donner
taught applied anthropology,
which gave us hope there were
jobs to be had in anthropology.
Moran spent her last semester
interning close to home at the
Anthracite Heritage Museum in
Scranton. After graduation,
opportunity knocked.
“The curator at the heritage museum informed me of
an opening at the Lackawanna Historical Society,” Moran
Savakinus said. “I started serving as librarian/curator on
a very small staff. I developed programs and grew up in
the historical society.”
Twenty-three years on, she is preparing the society to
play a key role in Scranton’s Sesquicentennial Celebration.
“Activities will cut across the year,” Moran Savakinus
said. “Each month we will be celebrating a different de-
cade and tying activities into the area’s popular events.”
Currently, Moran Savakinus is working on a
“150 Objects
for 150 Years,”
display. She also hopes to host select special
events, such as a tribute to the past mayors of Scranton.
All of this in addition to maintaining the success of the
society’s annual events, such as its popular local history
game show, and the business side of the operation,
which includes fundraising and applying for grants.
“It is a different generation now,” Moran Savikuns said.
“People want to talk about their heritage. They want to
talk about what their forefathers did to the make this
country. That is what was going on here in the Lack-
awanna Valley. They were building the country. We are
creating activities, programs and events to get people
excited about that heritage and I, personally, am excited
about continuing the effort!”
When Coal Was King:
Moran Savakinus ’90 Leads Preservation
of Northeast PA’s Rich History