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Jonathan Burdick is a history teacher and writer residing in Erie, Pennsylvania. He has written for publications including the Erie Reader, Belt Magazine, Pittsburgh City Paper, Contingent Magazine, NBA.com, and Grunge. He can be reached at jburdick@eriereader.com
Latest Stories
"Canada Lee's Knockout Path from Erie to Broadway" (September 25, 2025)
"80 Years Since World War II: From Hitler's Rise to Hiroshima's End" (August 15, 2025)
"Piracy on the Baseball Seas: How an Erie ballplayer became the inspiration for the Pittsburgh Pirates team name" (July 11, 2025)
"The Power of Nature: 40 Year Anniversary of Albion Storms" (May 16, 2025)
"How to Get to Sesame Street: The History and Future of Public Television" (January 14, 2025)
"Doomed to Repeat It: Extremism Throughout America's History" (December 17, 2024)
Selected Work
The unflinching radicalism of Thaddeus Stevens
'A-No. 1,' the legendary rambler, spent thirty years riding the rails and thirty more preaching against that lifestyle
"A Hero in the Midst of Cowards"
The righteous rage of John Brown
"Spelling Out a New Narrative"
Despite racial threats, Black student wins first-ever national spelling bee in 1908
Work | Rust & Dirt | Media | Store
"Female Journalism Takes Flight" Barbara Hawley reached new altitudes for her profession in Erie
"Personalities at Play in 1904 Cambridge Springs Chess Tournament"
The story of four top players and who prevailed
Hammermill Paper's new plant drawn up amidst the historic Civil Rights marches
"Tracing Erie's History of Redlining"
Institutional racism that still resonates in our community
EMail: [jBURDICK AT ERIEREADER DOT com]
"The Benninghoff Heist: The Wild West of Pennsylvania"
Boomtowns beget treachery, intrigue
"A Day in the Life of an Erieite, 1923"
What the world looked like 100 years ago
One-time Erieite Stephen Galloway recounts a career of creative movement
The Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy in Erie
"The Trailblazing Practice of Dr. Adella B. Woods"
Learning more about Erie's first female physician
"Erie's Greek Dogs: A Slow-cooked History"
How one of Erie's irrepressibly messy delicacies came to be
Ironically, eugenics movement brought out humanity's worst traits
"How Wendell King Found His Frequency in Erie"
African American radio engineer met and obliterated the 'color line'
Why little people like Erie's Alice Zenda are among history's greatest omissions
"The Unmistakable Anuszkiewicz"
Erie-born Op Art pioneer's work spoke for itself
How mass vaccination eradicated poliovirus, helped prevent repeat of 1918 flu pandemic
"The Story of the Erie Triangle"
How Pennsylvania's early expansion was fraught with tension and threats of war
"Unlocking the Legacy of The Pope Hotel"
How Erie's hub for black musicians thrived amidst adversity
"Pithole City: A Boomtown that Burst with Personality"
How the true stories from the oil region breed the stuff of tall tales
"Henry Alden Clark: Erie's Intellectual of the Highest Order"
A local life lived in service from the Civil War to the Second World War
"Kayla McBride: Hungry, Humble, and Thankful… But Never Satisfied"
WNBA All-Star and Erie basketball great keeps working
Grappling with smartphones, childhood, and their bitter convergence
"Erie's Evolving Taco Scene"
There's a taco for everyone in the Gem City
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