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- February 22, 2012-6:30-8 p.m.: Philadelphia, the Place That Loves You Back, Independence Visitor Center, 6th and Market Sts., Philadelphia
- March 28, 2012-6:30-8 p.m.: City of Neighborhoods, City of Homes, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent
- April 17, 2012-4-6:30 p.m.: Educator Workshop: City of Neighborhoods, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, 15 S. Seventh St., Philadelphia
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is a civic project to increase understanding of one of America’s greatest cities. The Encyclopedia as a digital resource and print volume will offer the most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region.
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- Themes
- Time Periods
City of Firsts
The Convention and Visitors Bureau touts Philadelphia as “a city of firsts.” The Independence Hall Association lists five pages of “Philadelphia Firsts” on its website. A walking tour of the city links “Philadelphia Firsts” to its home page. George Morgan may have been the first to title a book on Philadelphia The City of Firsts, in 1926, but even that far back he acknowledged the research of others who had been tracking those firsts for “many years past.” Although Philadelphia lost its rank as first city in the nineteenth century, it claimed for itself the title of city of firsts.
World War II
World War II, which created change for industries, populations, and politics in many urban areas in the United States, had a transforming effect on the Philadelphia region. Although the war caused many dislocations and cost the lives of 3,500 servicemen from the city and thousands more around the region, many look back on this era as a “golden age” of opportunity and prosperity.