Beneath the Dome of PMC: The Story of Pennsylvania Military College, 1821-1972 Valentine Delvecchio

Known as the "West Point" of the Keystone State, the former Pennsylvania Military Academy (now Widener University), made a significant impact on the US military strength as a nation. It prepared many officers who would be instrumental in the Civil War as well as the wars that would follow. In the mid-1970s the decision was made to re-name the institution Widener University in order to honor the memory of Eleanore Elikins Widener, the maternal grandmother of Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., a generous supporter of the institution for four decades. Eleanore Widener's husband, George Dunton Widener, and her son Harry perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. There have been many "firsts" attributed to the institution that are now permanent additions to the culture; for example, football plays via a numerical code were invented here; the loops on the back of shirts were created here; "taps" was written here.