Emily Lenker Long
1923 -
Interview Length: 58 minutes
Interview Date: January 6, 2010
Interview Location: WHBG Channel 20, 223 Walnut Street, Harrisburg, PA
Natives of the Harrisburg area, Emily Lenker Long's parents bought a farm east of the city to start Lenkerbrook Dairy in 1918. The youngest of eight children, Long attended a one-room school a mile from the farm. She rode the milk truck with her dad through Harrisburg, observing her father barter with families who couldn't pay for milk during the Depression. Throughout the 1940s, she participated in community theater and the YWCA. She also helped her mother, a Republican Committeewoman, register the local farmers' wives to vote. When married in 1951, Long moved to Miami, but returned to Harrisburg in 1967. While raising three children, she stayed active in the local schools, the community and the Republican Committee. She also helped organize the building of the Governor's Residence on Third Street.
- Emily Long talks about where she grew up and her family.
- Emily Long talks about her childhood on the farm.
- Emily Long remembers her childhood and her family's love.
- Emily Long remembers her parent's sense of community.
- Emily Long recalls where she went to school.
- Emily Long talks about what she did after college.
- Emily Long describes when she became active in the Republican Party.
- Emily Long talks about Helen Simpson, Mary Schafer, and Helen Loewen.
- Emily Long describes working on the committee that decorated the governor's mansion.
- Emily Long remembers moving back to Harrisburg.
- Emily Long talks about her community involvement.
- Emily Long talks about meeting M.S. Hershey.
