I would love to know of the Fishtown area,east of Front street and down to the Delaware River, I have been told repeatedly that William Penn made his treaty with the Indians along the River which is called, I believe, Penn Treaty Park. Can you write of this occurrence if in fact it is true?

Outdoor Sculpture in Philadelphia is a substantial presence. Very few places have as much and as interesting as our collection. The Calder family is one topic; Frank Bender, forensic portraiture is another;
Zellin’s sculptural ironwork is valid subject.
Arts and crafts people might be interested in the Furniture industry here. Or, the woodcarvers who did the carousels,and amusement park art (Germantown, Phila Tobaggan Co etc).
And the Germantown Wool from Main St.

pre-European Philadelphia

Lenape tribe and William Penn. This topic is relegated to a few lines when describing Philadelphia’s founding. I think the topic should be broaden to not only reveal Penn’s relationship with the Native Americans (his respect and fair treatment compared to other colonies), but also describe Native American life in the Philadelphia area before Penn’s arrival.

The following topics were suggested on comment cards submitted following the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program “City of Firsts,” on January 19, 2012, at the Franklin Institute:

- List all items which completely detail Philadelphia as City of Firsts
- First musical concert, opera theater, art, sculptors, impact of Italians
- Include how the immigrant communities brought changes – innovation, skills, their traditions – to the area.
- 1876 Centennial Exposition.
- Water works.
- The history of electronics in Philadelphia – e.g. Atwater Kent, Philco, etc., Elihu Thomson. (Depending on what constitutes “Greater Philadelphia,” also expand this discussion to include work carried out at RCA’s laboratories in Camden and Princeton.)
- The chemical industry in and around Philadelphia (e.g. Dow, Rohm & Haas, DuPont, etc.)
- The publishing industry in Philadelphia (the Poor Richard Club).
- Philadelphia specific foods (cheesesteak, Tastykakes, etc.)
- Philadelphia’s numerous museums, both well known (e.g. Franklin Institute) and more obscure (e.g. The Wagner Free Institute).
- The LeFax (pocket organizer and database), later known as the Filofax – invented 1910 by Phila. Engineer J.C. Parker.
- The sack and destruction of the Commercial Museum, the first of its kind in the U.S.
- Piano manufacture in Philadelphia.
- Bicycle manufacturing in Philadelphia.
- History of the bicycle advocacy movement in Philadelphia.
- Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
- Oxford Provident Building & Loan.
- Comly Rich.
- Catharine Barnes & Henry R. Chock (the Elder) – 1st mortgage to a female.
- Elm Tree Post #88.
- 79th California (Civil War only regiment for CA & troops raised in Frankford. Monument in North Cedar Hill Cemetery.)
- Rev. Wm Tennent & the Log College.
- Phono-cardiology.
- Bram Stoker – Dracula.
- Philadelphia Collectors & Collections.
- Immigration’s role in shaping artistic, scientific, social firsts.
- The difference between scientific firsts and social, normative firsts.
- Entrepreneurship in Philadelphia.
- Research and publish lesser known but significant firsts such as: first portrait photograph (shorter exposure time invented), Volunteer Sanitary Commission (first service organization for soldiers).
- Sports history.
- Amateur organizations that helped to cross economic lines, such as cricket teams.
- First computer in Philly – but there are many sub-topics in the computer field that should be mentioned. E.G. most computer languages were invented in Phila.

Perhaps a little research into the Lefax Society might be in order. Founded in the 1920s, this company produced pocket sized 6-ring organizers. The name came from loose LEaf-FActs. The binder concept was invented by Philadelphia engineer J.C. Parker in 1910. From the beginning, it was a canny blend of practical information storage.

First, these organizers were meant to bring together multiple collections of information:
calendar, addresses and phone numbers, shopping lists, diaries and more.

The second part of the system took advantage of the ease of inserting and removing pages to allow Lefax users to place special sets of data–information sheets with chemical formulas, radio technology, lists of companies and so on. A galaxy of special forms were available: leases, graph paper, mineral rights charts, legal forms, even a detachable air mail envelope–all could clip into the binder, reflecting the exact needs of the user.

This customization meant each person only needed bring the information for a particular job or meeting. The other sheets could be filed in special home cabinets provided by Lefax. The company encouraged users to create their own custom reference systems, but also put Lefax codes at the top corner of each page.

The parallels between this system and today’s smart phones, which sync with a hard drive, are striking. Small magazines were even printed in the six-rung format, just to fit Filofaxes.

The Lefax system was exported to England and renamed Filofax (FileOfFacts). These little books became a staple of the striving class clear into WWII. Ministers, soldiers, politicians, heads of wealthy households all used special pages which helped them keep track of everything from shopping to lists of men to be awarded promotions. When a German bomb destroyed the headquarters of Filofax and all its records, company secretary Grace Scurr, helped rebuild the business–she’d kept all the important information in her own Filofax, which she took home with her each day. She later rose to lead the company, and resigned as chairman in 1974.

The organizers became a status symbol through the 1980s, and though the wave of electronic organizers took a toll, Filofax sales are again rising in the US, UK and around the world.

There have been many imitators over the years–Franklin Planners, DayRunners, etc.; but the Filofax carries the original DNA of its Philadelphia inventor. Pages from the 1950s and even the 1920s can be snapped into a modern Filofax. The Lefax is a Philadelphia First that still exists today.

–Michael McGettigan /Trophy Bikes

I would like to nominate how the idea of row houses came into existence and also when and how the City became known for its trashiness and blight

How about something on ethnic diversity and conflict in the city’s history? A few names to add to Mr. Hopkin’s list of influential individuals: James Forten, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, Benjamin Tucker Tanner and his son – Henry Ossawa Tanner, Frances E. W. Harper, and so many others of African descent. I was fascinated to read about Sulzberger. My parents and cousins attended the school named after him. It was fascinating to read about who he was and what he accomplished in one of the above entries.

Thanks for visitng our site! The date (April 1, 2010) is on the parent page for the event: http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/events/philadelphia-area-women-in-the-twentieth-century-what-do-we-know-and-what-do-we-need-to-know/

When was this panel? Can’t find a date, which helps when recording history.