George Earle and Pennsylvania's Little New Deal

George H. Earle the Third was born and raised on this street, and he grew up to become one of the most consequential governors Pennsylvania saw in the twentieth century.

Earle served as governor from nineteen thirty-five to nineteen thirty-nine, at the height of the Great Depression. His administration became known as the Little New Deal. It created large numbers of jobs, saw construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike begin, and pushed through landmark labor laws, including stronger union bargaining rights, a forty-hour work week, and teacher tenure.

Before and after Harrisburg, Earle led a dramatically varied life. He earned the Navy Cross in World War One and served again in World War Two, and in between he represented President Franklin Roosevelt as American minister to Austria and then Bulgaria. He died in nineteen seventy-four, leaving behind a reform legacy that still echoes in Pennsylvania law.