The Valley Forge National Historical Park and energy utility PECO this week have announced the creation of the PECO Podcast Through History.

The Southeast Pennsylvania gas and electric utility has given a $20,000 donation which will fund the creation of a podcast series that can be accessed at the park or from home, that will guide visitors through the park and a seminal event in the birth of our nation.

“Technology offers us new and tremendous opportunities to offer our visitors choices and access to the compelling stories Valley Forge has to tell, from the first-hand accounts of those who were part of the action to those who are working to preserve the objects that were used at the time. The grant is helping us to broaden that range of services for all of our visitors,” said Mike Caldwell, Superintendent.

Visitors to the Park will have the opportunity to sample some of the podcasts, which include the film, “Valley Forge — A Winter Encampment.” Other topics include Muhlenberg Brigade interpretation, Native Americans at Valley Forge, Hannah Till — An African American cook in Washington’s Army, Author Thomas Fleming, the Valley Creek Watershed and the Rifleman’s Role in the American Revolution.

Next week, the Park will launch the “View from the Forge” a monthly podcast of Park news and events. These podcasts are available on the Park’s web site, www.nps.gov/vafo and can also be downloaded from iTunes.

“It is a pleasure to partner with the Valley Forge Historical Park in order to make learning fun with new technology,” said PECO president Denis O’Brien. “Once The PECO Podcast Through History is up and running this Spring students, young and old, will be able to download an audio file from their home computer, load it into their cell phone or MP3 player, and take an exciting trip through the history of Valley Forge.”

During National Tourism Week in May, the Park plans to unveil a complete series of PECO’s Podcast Through History and expects to launch additional podcasts later this summer.

Valley Forge National Historical Park educates present and future generations of Americans about one of the most defining events in our nation’s history by preserving the natural and cultural resources that commemorate the encampment of the Continental Army at Valley Forge in 1777-78.

As an aside, the publisher of Podcasting News recalls a very pleasant college geology class field trip to Valley Forge, where we learned how to “read” the landscape along with topographic maps.¬† We imagine that the weather in the spring of 1985 was much more pleasant than what the Continental Army endured during the winter of 1777.