Backgrounders Connecting Headlines with History
Featured Topic
New Year’s Traditions
New Year's celebrations in the Philadelphia region have often included parties, formal wear, fireworks, and parades as part of a two-day, secular celebration from December 31 to January 1. The changing of a calendar year has long been cause for commemoration and reflection, and the city’s diverse communities have shaped the holiday.
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The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is a civic project to increase understanding of one of America’s greatest cities.
Produced by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden, the Encyclopedia as a digital resource and in print volumes will offer the most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region.
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Each topic in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is the product of many hours of research, writing, editing, and digital production. To build this resource to more than 1,000 topics spanning the region, we welcome your financial support.
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is produced by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden. Gifts to this project are made through the Rutgers University Foundation.
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