Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

Mark, yes, “art and artists” is a natural. Thanks for starting this list. We’d love to see the Encyclopedia encourage new books, articles, and public programs about Philadelphia. — The Editors
@Mark Sullivan

Dustin, thanks for nominating this important work. Your idea also points to a category for us to think about: works about Philadelphia (books, films, music, and more) that have had impact reaching far beyond the city. — The Editors
@Dustin Kidd

A longer essay about monuments and memory would be important, too — we could think about how monuments shape our ideas about Philadelphia’s history, and how they connect Philadelphia other times and places. If we could make information about the monuments available by cell phone, it would add a great deal to the experience of walking around our city. (Notice the signs for information by cell phone that already are in place at Independence and Valley Forge National Historical Parks.) Thanks, Victoria, for adding to our list and helping us plan the content of the Encyclopedia. – The Editors
@Victoria Zagarino

I nominate theological education and seminaries as topics for the Encyclopedia. The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, for example, started at 42 N. 9th Street in 1864. It later constructed a building adjacent to Franklin Square and then relocated to Mt. Airy in 1889 where it has been ever since.

First off, I’m not mentioning the obvious, like Independence Hall. I figure you’ve got those bases covered.

Maps! Historical maps that show graphically how things change over time. Be sure to include examples from “the neighborhoods”, not just downtown. Photographs can be offered in a similar way. Imagine a presentation for each of the traditional shopping streets, places that everyone knows and that there are generations of photos for. Side-by-side photo and map of, say, K & A, every decade for 150 years. Or 52nd Street. 69th Street. Passyunk Avenue. Germantown Avenue. Now there’s a topic for ya: Germantown Avenue, that ran from the Delaware River all the way to Montgomery County, could tell the story of Philadelphia all by itself with its long and important history, diverse neighborhoods, beloved trolley lines.

Old Movie and “Legitimate” Theaters and how they were woven into their communities.

Railroads and Philadelphia. That could be an encyclopedia on its own.

The Trolley Barons of Philadelphia. Which leads me to think of…

The Great Mansions, displaying the particular opulence of every period and the continuing movement of the “suburbs” as the city grew.

And of course, influential individuals: Franklin, Rittenhouse, Wistar/Wister, Bartram, Widener, Stotesbury, Wanamaker, Strawbridge(s)

Philadelphia, the manufacturing hub, which sprung from…

Mills in early Philadelphia.

Philadelphia before and after various bridges. It’s easy to forget that all the bridges crossing our rivers weren’t always there. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that ferries were an integral part of the transportation network (not to mention canals). And in many cases, when we built bridges, they were of record-setting size, at least for a while.

An encyclopedia wouldn’t be complete without a long article about the 1854 Consolidation.

World’s Fairs (the two we all know about) and the forgotten Expositions that we also hosted.

Libraries, Societies, Institutes, Colleges, and Universities. We have a whole lotta learnin’ goin’ on here, and have had for hundreds of years.

Street Names’ Histories. Incorporate the city’s existing list.

Lists of great achievers, like Nobel Prize laureates, etc.

Inventors and Industrialists (Besides Franklin). Atwater Kent, Eckert & Mauchley, Baldwin, Rittenhouse, Fulton, Farnsworth

You need to pick up where the Bulletin Almanac left off, providing an encyclopedic source for a lot of raw data. With voluminous hyperlinking wherever possible!

As much history as possible of who lived here before the Europeans came should be included.

Philadelphia as a publishing center.

Weather history, like the Bulletin Almanac had.

And that’s just off the top of my head!

Congratulations for getting the project started, and good luck!

Gay and Lesbian history. Check out [the books]
GayLesbian Philadelphia by Thom Nickels,
as well as Philadelphia Architecture by
Thom Nickels.

What an exciting project! I nominate sports as a topic. Baseball, boxing, rowing, track & field and others have a rich history in the City and are tied to important locations and famous people.

GREAT project. The Merchants Fund was founded in 1854 by the usual suspects: Kinght, Cummins, Wood, Benson, Ludwig, etc. Men of commerce joined together to found an early progenitor of the Chamber of Commerce, a mutual benefit fund and hardship fund. We gave all our record to PHP last year. You can’t write about the evolution of commerce in Philadelphia without the men and women of The Merchants Fund.

Philadelphia deserves its own encyclopedia, and I sincerely hope that Philadelphia’s very rich jazz history will be included. If the editors need any help in this regard, my doctoral dissertation was on the Philadelphia jazz community, and I was one of the many writers who participated in Henry Louis Gates’ African-American Biography Encyclopedia. Please, don’t hesitate to contact me.

I read about the idea of a Philadelphia Almanac in the papers and would like to recommend “THE PHILADELPHIA FIRE DEPARTMENT,” both the early volunteer era and the paid department. My husband Dan and I are long time volunteers at Fireman’s Hall Museum, and there is so much information that can be used, including the book “Hike Out” which is a history of the department. So much was involved with the different volunteer companies, including the founders of Philadelphia, its immigrants and many, many leaders of the city and eventually the country, and many social issues such as the riots of the 1800’s, the integration of the department of both African Americans and women, Benjamin Franklin and much more. If you have not already contacted him, you can talk to the curator of Fireman’s Hall, FF Harry Magee, and he can provide you with all the information, dates, etc you need. I hope you will take advantage of the wealth of information that is available in our archives because it encompasses not only the famous but the working class and ordinary citizens who made up and continue to influence Philadelphia today.

Philadelphia’s own film pioneer, Siegmund Lubin. He was one of the earliest film pioneers, and made Philadelphia’s first movies in his backyard at 1608 N. Fifteenth Street where there is now a State Historical Marker noting his contributions. He ran his early film business out of his optical shop on S. Eighth Street where there is another Historical marker noting his work. He started the first chain of movie theaters and eventually had a huge studio at the corner of 20th St and Indiana Avenues. It was mostly destroyed by an arsonist in 1995, though part of the complex stil stands there. A documentary based on his life and work is planned: kingofthemovies.com

Medicine and healthcare. Philadelphia has played a huge role in the development of medical education and medical practice, with two notable examples: Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation’s first hospital and Woman’s Medical College, the first degree-granting medical school for women.
[comment originally received April 21; re-posted by the editors May 1]

Judy Giesberg :Churches — a must have category, don’t you think?

Absolutely. Penn’s ‘holy’ experiment allowed for religious diversity in Philadelphia which made it unique among colonial cities. That variety in the churchscape had a significant impact on the urban experience as well as the city’s skyline. As was noted in the one of the presentations on Friday, one of the reasons that Philadelphia was chosen as the site for the Continental Congress was because all the members who attended would have found a house of worship within the city.
[comment originally posted April 21; re-posted by the editors May 1]

Oldest still-existing carbonated flavored “soda” (I think) — Hires Root Beer First advertising agency Foundation of Knights of Labor (all in 1860s)–The “Philadelphians” (Kelpius of Wissahickon / Society of the Woman in the Wilderness) — Sarah Josepha Hale and Godey’s Ladies Book – Poe and his friend T S Arthur (both coming from Baltimore) — Temperance in Philadelphia from 1840 — Saturday Evening Post — Alcoholics Anonymous in Philadelphia from 1940 — Baseball in Phila — of course Franklin (editorial parallel with S J Hale) — those are some I’d like to work on — and Science Fiction in Philadelphia
[comment originally posted April 25; re-posted by the editors May 1]

17th and 18th century German immigration and settlement and associated satellite topics, such as the establishment of Germantown,Pastorius, the German Society, Pennsylvania Germans, the Woman of the Wilderness, Johannes Kelpius etc. etc.
[comment originally posted April 24; re-posted by the editors May 1]

A correspondent in Germantown emails, “Be sure to include all the movie theaters throughout the city…about 20 were featured in the Germantown Historical Society magazine last year. GHS…great starting point for this area. Be sure to include the opera contests that produced stars … Mario Lanza, Anna Moffo.” The writer also calls our attention to the Hal Taylor Marionettes (1950-1999); the Philadelphia Marionette Theater & Museum (1978-today); the Catherine Brownholtz Philadelphia Mini Circus and Museum (1950-today); local boys clubs and dances; and the Bob Houston Yearsley Drum and Bugle Corps. Many drum and bugle corps started after WWI, she writes. “There were drum and bugle corps throughout the city…some still operate today.” — Posted by the Editors.

Philadelphia was home to the only urban Shaker community. It was primarily populated by Black women who worked as domestic servants. The community functioned under the auspices of the Watervliet Shaker community in Albany, NY. The Watervliet Shakers sheltered fugitive slaves and had a close relationship with the Philadelphia Shakers (Rebecca Jackson, the leader of the Philadelphia Shakers was involved in assisting run away slaves). This history has been largely overlooked but should be included in your encyclopedia. The Philidelphia Shakers were mentioned in Du Bois’ work but I think they were active longer than he states.
[comment received April 23; re-posted by the editors May 1]

@Starlyn D’Angelo
Dear Starlyn,

So nice to see your comment! I didn’t know that the Watervliet community had such a close relationship with the Philadelphia Shakers. Thanks for adding that to the mix.

Very best,
Shan

By mail we have received the suggestion: “Hoping that you won’t overlook the great warship “Philadelphia,” which was built here (1798) at the internationally famous shipyard of Philadelphia’s own Samuel Humphrey et. al.” — The Editors

Jay Worrall mentioned the Quakers. The encyclopedia needs, in some fashion, to address the tension between Quaker pacifism and the violence that marked much of Philadelphia’s history. Consider: Ben Franklin’s difficulties in founding “The Associators”, tension within the Friends during the Revolution (“Fighting Quakers”), the role of Quakers during Philadelphia’s occupation in 1777-78 and the role of individuals and the meetings in the abolitionist movement and ensuing Civil War.

Philadelphia in the Civil War is a major cross-disciplinary project in and of itself. The city was simultaneously a center for both anti slavery and pro-southern sentiment, the north’s major manufacturing center, a central node in the rail transportation system, a center for the training of the U.S. Colored Troops – and their officers, a major hospital center, etc., etc.

Moving ahead a half-century, the Great Influenza is a subject that Philadelphian have, generally, opted not to talk about. The “Spanish Influenza” had a major impact upon the life of the city – and the city’s medical institutions played a great role in understanding it.

In answer to Jared’s question about biographies:

Currently, we’re thinking that people will be named within topical entries, but they would not have separately titled biographies. There would just be so many to do — how would we choose? However, we’re thinking of then following the example of the Encyclopedia of Chicago by creating a “biographical index” that would cover everyone named in the Encyclopedia and provide some additional information about each. Perhaps a version of it online would then allow for more expanded biographies to be created.

How does this sound?

The Editors

@Jared Lobdell

Exploring Philadelphia in the Age of Emancipation

Philadelphia in the early 19th Century was a ‘border city’ with close connections to both North and South. Although Philadelphia contained the largest Free Black population in the North and many immigrants from different ethnic groups, nevertheless, the city was plagued by racial and ethnic hatred, violence and seething discontent. The city did contain a small, but active group of Abolitionists, who worked tirelessly for improvements in civil society. The city boomed with vibrant commerce and industry. Many were attracted to the promise of economic betterment. The 1860 election of Lincoln, who carried Philadelphia and the state, polarized the city into rival camps. Only the outbreak of civil war brought a sense of unity, as thousands answered the call of military service to suppress rebellion. Philadelphia’s industries were vital to the war effort. Units and commanders from the city became famous in the fighting, and the greatest battle of the war was fought at Gettysburg, not far from Philadelphia.

Peace, Union, and the extension of civil rights were benefits of a tragic era, but the struggle for equality continued into the Post-War period. This was also a time to create the story of the war and struggle for rights, to mourn the fallen and to erect monuments to the veterans. The 1876 Centennial celebration in Philadelphia became a centerpiece of post war Philadelphia life.

All aspects of this era should be examined in creative and experiential ways. Citizens can visit sacred sites of memory in the city; view archives and museums to understand better the events through realia, artifacts and documents; and explore Victorian era cemeteries to find firsthand the rituals of remembrance. Especially with the advent of the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War and its momentous consequences, can we derive a thorough panorama of Philadelphia in the Age of Emancipation.

I assume you’ll want to write a considerable amount on housing, the use of land that makes up most of the city and the region (by the way, how are you defining Greater Philadelphia?). In particular, Philadelphia is the flagship city of the rowhouse, no other major city (except maybe nearby Baltimore) developed it to the degree that Philadelphia did. There have also been efforts to develop what we would now call affordable housing that stretch back at least to the late 19th Century. Multi-family housing hasn’t played as strong a role in Philadelphia as elsewhere, but there’s Center City, great complexes like Alden Park, and the “garden apartment”, which become an American prototype. You could end up by considering to what extent New Urbanism is applicable and successful in the Philadelphia region.

I think the gang violence and constant rioting of the 19th century should not be neglected and how much the need for law and order led to to the city-county consolidation of 1854. Among crimes and criminals (up to the present time) we should include: bank robbery at Carpenters Hall. Charly Ross kidnapping, the Arsenic Ring of the 1930s, Deering family murders, H.H. Holmes; Black Mafia, Italian Mafia, MOVE, Einhorn, Smith-Bradford, Noe infant murders, Abscam, Street gangs of the 1950s-60s, Fumo. The list can go-on-and-on.
Two heroes that should not be over-looked are Al Schmidt and Smedley Butler.

I would like to see a topic about the FIRE ESCAPES. Looking at then and now photos, outside fire escapes seem to have disappeared from sight. I think this will be an interesting topic to see how the building codes and regulations have changed over time.

The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 brought millions to the Philadelphia area, changing forever the world’s perception of the United States from an agrarian backwater to an industrialized powerhouse. Although 256 buildings were built on the Fairmount Park site of the exhibition, only two major structures remain—Ohio House on States Road and Memorial Hall on what is now North Concourse Avenue.

Memorial Hall served as the art museum for the Centennial Exhibition, the only building built for the event as a permanent structure. The dedication was made by President Ulysses S. Grant at the Centennial’s opening, and Memorial Hall served as the city’s art museum until the Philadelphia Museum of Art opened in 1928.

The planning and construction of the Ben Franklin Parkway. Also, the history of the major roads that connect Philly to the rest of the region: How have their routes changed over time and why? Do other regions have so many pikes, or is this peculiar to us? What’s with the signs for the different Delaware River bridges scattered all over the area, particularly the Ben Franklin Bridge’s goose-logo signs?

And more about the Lenape (past and present), Peter Rambo, Governor Printz, and anyone else here before William Penn.