Aaronsburg Story drew 30K people to Penns Valley 75 years ago. Why its message still resonates

On Oct. 23, 1949, an estimated 30,000 people flooded into a small, rural Penns Valley community to hear and share a message of tolerance post-World War II.

While organizers of an event to mark the 75th anniversary of “the Aaronsburg Story” don’t anticipate nearly that size crowd this weekend, they still think the message resonates in today’s world.

Hosted by former journalist Arthur Lewis, who was a staff member of former Pennsylvania Gov. James Duff, along with several Aaronsburg residents, the 1949 event was planned as a pageant and panel to commemorate the town’s founder, Aaron Levy, and his story, according to the Centre County Historical Society.

What happened next was a surprise to Lewis and the people of Aaronsburg. Tens of thousands of people came to the town to attend the event and to hear the message that people of all backgrounds can work together despite their differences. It’s something event organizer and Aaronsburg resident Andrea Vonada feels that people around world could use a lot more of today.

“I think it’s really important that we take the time to recognize such an important event in not only our town’s history, but the county’s and maybe even the state’s history too,” Vonada said. “The Aaronsburg Story is one that can, and should, be told at any given point in time. With all the negative that we see in the world today, tolerance is a lesson that I think anybody can learn, not just the people that attended, heard about, or were involved with the original event.”

‘We all remember’

In 1786, Levy, who was a Jewish immigrant from the Netherlands, donated property in Aaronsburg to a family of German Protestant immigrants to build the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church — the future site of the Aaronsburg Story, although it’s just called the Salem Lutheran Church now.

According to the CCHS, Lewis saw this gesture as a symbol of goodwill and an act of tolerance between the two parties that came from different religious backgrounds.

With World War II ending just four years prior in 1945, Lewis thought it would be appropriate to hold an event at the church that shared the story of Aaronsburg and Levy’s act of tolerance, according to the CCHS.

As shown in the Penns Valley Area Historical Museum, diplomats from across the world, high-ranking United States government officials, movie stars and more were invited to attend the Aaronsburg Story. To the organizers’ surprise, tens of thousands of people showed up.

Vonada has clear memories of stories her family members told her of the part they played in the Aaronsburg Story. Because a large thunderstorm hit the town the day before the event, her family — and many other Aaronsburg residents — opened their homes to the town’s visitors for shelter so that the event could proceed the following day as planned, which it did.

That display of hospitality is another reason why Vonada believes the Aaronsburg Story is as locally celebrated as it is today.

“I think one of the reasons that (the Aaronsburg Story) means a lot to the people of this town is because so many of the residents that live here now had family involved with it,” Vonada said. “Whether they were working at the event or helping take care of the town’s many visitors, they were involved one way or another, and we all remember that today.”

Aaronsburg in the national spotlight

The event’s pageant was titled “The Issue of an Ideal” and was a recreation of Levy’s historic donation. After it concluded, former United Nations Mediator Ralph J. Bunche gave a speech on the world’s need for tolerance following WWII, according to the CCHS.

Governor Duff, Major-General William J. Donovan, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People activist Channing H. Tobias and many other local figures and officials also spoke at the event.

In the weeks that followed, news outlets across the United States shared the message of the Aaronsburg Story, as displayed in the Penns Valley Area Historical Museum, which sent the small town straight into the national spotlight. In the following years, several other events were held at the church, with one of those events in 1953 drawing the attendance of future President Ronald Reagan.

The story would also draw reactions from the world’s brightest minds, including Albert Einstein, who, according to an exhibit at the museum, was impressed that the event was able bring together “broadminded individuals for an exchange of ideas concerning moral education and unprejudiced thinking and action in general.”

The museum also displays a quote from legendary broadcast journalist Edward Murrow, who called the event “challenging and exciting,” and expressed an interest in helping fund future events in Aaronsburg.

A message that still rings true

Now, 75 years after the historic event took place, a group of volunteers are recognizing the Aaronsburg Story’s 75th anniversary to help spread the message that tolerance wasn’t just important in the ‘40s.

“The event that took place 75 years ago here was just an incredible display of tolerance,” said Julia Kasdorf, a organizer of this year’s anniversary event and professor of liberal arts at Penn State. “It was a spectacle that deserves to be recognized, and I think the message is even more important. People could use tolerance today more than ever.”

While there will be no pageant like in 1949, the organizers of the Aaronsburg Story’s 75th anniversary event do have some surprises in store for attendees.

The Rev. Kevin Barron of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania will recite Bunche’s historic speech, hymns of peace and patriotic music will be sung, and a short film recently restored by 3 Dots Downtown will be shown. The film depicts aspects of the original Aaronsburg Story event.

In addition to those festivities, one Penns Valley Area School District student will be awarded $500 for winning an essay contest, and refreshments will be provided to attendees following the recognition.

The Aaronsburg Story’s 75th anniversary event will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Aaronsburg Salem Lutheran Church, located at 138 E Plum St.

For more information on the Aaronsburg Story’s 75th anniversary celebration, visit the Penns Valley Area Historic Museum’s website.

This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 12:10 PM.