Some few other topics/themes I didn’t see covered were the “Philadelphia Dialect or speaking Phluffyan”; “pre-European Philadelphia”; the “history of Volunteerism in the city”; the “Philadelphia Diaspora” and its cultural/linguistic impact on other areas of the country. Best of luck on this worthy project.

As a financial planner for over 15 yrs, I believe one of the most dubious topics that we very little education on is economical development. We need to bring in Black Entrepreneurs to help educate our communities about the importance of teaching, educating, and help build businesses. We have been in the U.S. since the 1600’s and we are still in the worst economical level of most culturals but spend close to $950 billion as consumers. Please, bring me in along with other business owners to tackle and possibly put a dent in increasing our buying power in our own communities. Thx

The following nominations were collected on comment cards at the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable on May 11, 2010: “Philadelphia’s Black Attorneys: Not Just Lawyers, But ‘Social Engineers’”.

– Legal injustice in the black community.
– Blacks in medicine.
– Blacks in education.
– Making higher education accessible for blacks.
– History of black lawyers in Philadelphia.
– Support of black lawyers by black clients.
– Analysis of gentrification.
– Education scholarship / mentor programs.
– Hypocrisy vs democracy.
– History of hundreds of years ago remains the same. What is a good teacher? What is a good school?
– Prison = modern-day slavery; prison industrial complex; lack of education.
– Grace Jackson, Philadlephia entertainer.
– Racism and employment.
– Programs that lawyers have created to help Black people particularly the youth. How can we uplift our youth?
– Race, politics, economics, law.
– Find common ground.
– Can you be a social attorney in corporate America.
– Decline of Blacks in law school. What does it signify? Status – cutoff money — flagship school — need grades — anti-affirmative action.
– What issues should attorneys be focusing on?
– The concept of reparations as a way to remedy unjust enrichment caused by slavery.
– City planning history in Philadelphia (e.g., how/why the city was laid out the way it was).
– Discussion of repration and how it may come about.
– Major legal accomplishments in Philadelphia.
– Landmarks of protests, battles.
– Law/family law: nursing home – what are rights of the family and parents. Insurances – home, family, car.
– Cecil B. Moore, Esq.
– Evolution of some neighborhoods.
– African history, grassroot level.
– Economic development
– The true savage nature of slavery and the effects on the African psyche.
– Achievements of African Americans throughout history.
– As a law student, I would like to be challenged to contribute more.
– We need a program to reach young African Americans (elementary school, high school) of the possibility of a law career. It should be guided given a historical overview of African and African American history.
– There should be tracks committed to the African community (i.e., law career).
– Many young people, high school students desire employment. Unfortunately, they are not prepared by the public school system to apply for vacant positions. Is it possible to have a sponsored job-readiness training workshop available after the school day has ended and during the summer? Some young people do not even know that a resume is needed, or what a cover letter is.
– I’d like to see community involvement IN THE COMMUNITY on a regular basis. Regular everyday people (some of them) are afraid to even speak to lawyers.

I have been doing extensive research on the people who lived in the Powelton Village neighborhood in University City. There are numerous individuals who should be included in any encyclopedia of Philadelphia. As a start, I nominate Hanah Schoff.

I know there is a special interest in 20th century women. A good person to start with is Hannah Schoff. First, she almost single handedly pushed through Philadelphia’s juvinile justice system in 1901 – only the 2nd after Jane Adams’s success in Chicago. Second, from 1902-1920, she was president of the National Congress of Women which was founded in 1897. Although it is not remembered under that name, Schoff developed it into a truely national organization that became the PTA (Parent Teachers Association).

I’ve written a brief bio of her which is available at:
http://poweltonvillage.org/interactivemap/Biographies/Post-SchoffJune09.pdf

I would like to know more about the community of “free blacks” that has been in Holmesburg since before the Civil War. I belonged to Emmanuel Episcopal Church as a child and my mother told me about it…but she had very little information.

The following suggestions were submitted on comment cards during the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable, “Imagining Philadelphia’s Future: The Plans and the Realities,” held April 22, 2010, at the Academy of the Natural Sciences:

– How can prinsons, casinos, and other growth industries be “utilized” to restore and reuse/recycle major sites in Phila., such as Eastern State and also SS United States?

– Communities in Philadelphia: ethnic, geographic, vocaitonal, business/economic/industrial. How do communities form, evolve, and fade away?

– Role of developers. Planning Philadelphia has often circumvented by the need for jobs in the near term.

– Politics
– Casinos in PA
– Eminent Domain for improvements
– History of Transit in Philly

– Plumbing
– Electrical power
– Gardens
– Creeks (underground & above ground)

– The history of sports stadiums in Philadelphia
– The history of public transit in the Delaware Valley

– Ed Bacon
– Mass transit

– Sports
– Religious history in Philly
– Suburban history

– There should be an interactive website (preferably free for those who purchase hard copy), where users can type in any address in the city and see what used to be located there over the years.

– Examples of councilman (person) corruption
– Waste
– Poor promotion

– Urban design
– Delaware River / other rivers
– City planning
– CDCs
– History of Philadelphia
– City architecture
– Neighborhoods
– Geography
– Demographics
– Political make-up
– Athletics
– Trails

– William Penn
– Society of Friends (Quakers)
– Gazela (Philadelphia’s tall ship!)
– The tug Jupiter
– Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild
– Community theater in Philadelphia – for example Old Academy Players, Stagecrafters, Allen’s Lane Theatre

– Historical & future development (theoretical & actual)
– Planning & architecture

– Potential for greenway connectors through South Philly from the Delaware trail to the Schuylkill Trail
– Permanent connectors through downtown Philly and North Philly
– Exploration into the demographics of newcomers in the city of Philadelphia
– History of architectural style in Philadelphia

– Small developers of housing, industry beyond early 19th C
– Railway land assemblage & politicking
– Political / financial maneuvering around Philadelphia city/county consolidation
– Rise & fall of great Phila banks

– Philadelphia’s relations w/ Harrisburg politics

– Development of Wissahickon Park

– Long-term development of downtown as it relates to close neighborhoods.
– Discussion about WWW & internet/wireless access one community to the next, expanding the reigon’s interconnectivity.
– Intra-neighborhood sharing of ideas and process for growth & inclusion.

– Ed Bacon
– World’s Fair
– Catherine Sue Leske
– Wissahickon
– Greber Plan
– OPDC
– TIGER Great PA/NJ
– Casino-Free Philadelphia
– East Coast Greenway
– Waterowrks
– Society Hill Greenway
– Disneyquest
– Civic Vision for Central DE
– William Penn Foundation

– Creation of Independence Hall
– East Poplar Urban Renewal
– Urban Nutrition Initiative
– Philly Orchard Project
– PHA
– Clark Park
– UC Green
– Young Involved Phhiladelphia
– Navy Hard
– Penn’s Landing Corp.
– West Philly Tool Library
– Naked Chocolate Cafe
– Capogiro Gelato
– Metropolitan Bakery
– Hidden City Philadelphia
– Mansions in Fairmount Park
– Mural Arts Program
– City Hall
– Philly Green Fest
– Crane Building
– Pennconnects Plan
– Mother Bethel AME
– Connecting 38th Street & Reading Terminal
– Baldwin Locomotive
– Stetson Hats
– Bartram’s Garden
– DVRPC
– Kimmel Center
– Prseervation Alliance
– Wallace Roberts & Todd
– Liberty Place

– Fairmount Park
– William Penn
– Quakers
– Artists
– Mural Arts Program
– Underground Railraod
– Trolley System
– Universities
– Water / Waterfront Development
– Textiles
– Parks / Greenspace
– The Barnes
– Chinatown
– Ed Bacon
– Sports
– PSC & HS
– Corruption in city hall
– World’s Fair

– Pretzels
– Cheesesteaks
– Beth Shalom / Frank Lloyd Wright
– Dad Vails
– Diversity
– Archdiocese
– Paper mills

Former beautiful historic buildings, now underused surface parking lots, garages and auto parks.

How about a discussion of how Philadelphia eradicated most of its cultural and historical fabric to appease the automobile and its drivers over the natural citizen of this city and how our car-centric architecture infects our public spaces today.

On a positive note, you could highlight and applaud those designers and planners who argue for reuse and renovation of existing sites and location to public transit.

I nominate a case study of Elizabeth Drinker in early Philadelphia. I have done some work on her, whose diary provides a fascinating insight into the world of early American gender issues, women’s work, domesticity, child-birth, family relations, diffusion of knowledge, and masculinity. A topic about her certainly could be applied microhistorically, i.e. her life reveals broader patterns in the life of women in early America but, especially, the Mid-Atlantic colonies.

I would like to know more about the history os slavery in Philadelphia, the migration of Blacks to the Philadelphia region from the south after slavery, abolitionists in philadelphia history, and the underground railroad throughout Philadelphia. PLEASE, please add this too