Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

Presented by The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and our Cultural Partners

July 16-20, 2012 (with project research following, including one-hour consultations with editors July 23-24)

3 Graduate Credits

Join fellow humanities instructors this summer to discover new ways of exploring and teaching Philadelphia history, hands-on and up-close at the 2012 Teacher Institute of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Guided by renowned historians, archivists, museum educators and editors of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, this course will provide immersive learning experiences at locations related to each day’s session, including: “City of Brotherly Love” and “City of Neighborhoods” at the Philadelphia History Museum; “Cradle of Liberty” at Independence National Historical Park; “Workshop of the World” at the National Archives; and “Corrupt and Contented” at the National Constitution Center. Sessions also include research time at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Urban Archives at Temple University, and the National Archives.

Beyond just lectures, Philadelphia History for Teachers includes hands-on workshops, behind-the-scenes tours, and discussion about putting this knowledge into action in the classroom during the intensive week-long institute. Participants will put the knowledge gained to use in two practical final projects, due August 3:

• Lesson plans on Philadelphia history or researching local history.
• An essay on a Philadelphia history topic, including reflection on the craft of researching and writing history.

Essays may be selected to appear in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, and lesson plans may be selected for posting to the Encyclopedia and its partners’ web sites.

The Institute is being offered through the Professional Institute for Educators at the University of the Arts, with tuition payable to the University. PIE offers discounts to UArts alumni and scholarships for teachers in the School District of Philadelphia.

Register online through the University of the Arts.  

(The title currently is listed incorrectly as “Philadelphia Museums” – but that’s the right one!)

Location: various locations

The Fredric M. Miller Memorial Lecture on Public History

Reflecting on a 40-year career teaching and writing, Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia co-editor and Rutgers historian Howard Gillette will address the ways history can and should be employed as a central tool in renewing civil well-being and advancing social justice.

The annual Miller Lecture on public history honors Fredric M. Miller, whose curatorship of the Urban Archives at Temple University and dedication to the archives profession created resources of enduring value for scholars and the public, especially in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.  Howard  Gillette is Professor of History at Rutgers University in Camden and a founding director of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH).  This year’s lecture marks his retirement  from the faculty at Rutgers-Camden.

For more information and to register for this event, which is free and open to the public, visit the web site http://miller2011.eventbrite.com.  Rutgers-Camden is easily reached by public transportation, and limited parking will be available on campus.

Location: Rutgers-Camden, Campus Center

The Encyclopedia team has organized two sessions for the Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Conference, which meets in Philadelphia Nov. 3-5.:

• Who Do We Think We Are? Philadelphia’s Civic Identity, Friday, Nov. 4, 10:30-11:45 a.m. (note time change!), featuring three of the Encyclopedia’s theme essayists: Chris Satullo, “City of Brotherly Love”; Walter Licht, “Workshop of the World”; and Richardson Dilworth, “Philadelphia, the Place That Loves You Back.”
• Help Plan the Popular Culture Contents for The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, Friday, Nov. 4, 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. (note time change!). The Encyclopedia editors will invite this gathering of popular culture experts to help shape the table of contents for this area of the project.

Please note that a registration fee is required to attend this conference, which features many sessions on Philadelphia topics.  For information and to register, go to http://www.mapaca.net/confer/conferHome.html.

Location: Radisson Warwick Hotel, 220 S. 17th Street, Philadelphia

In the 1800s Philadelphia became an industrial powerhouse.  Learn more about its industries and the people who worked in them and consider new ways to introduce the topics to students.   The program will include an opportunity to get up close with rarely exhibited artifacts and documents from consortia partnering organizations and to discuss with peers creative and relevant means of including industrialization in your curriculum.

Building upon the Phrasing Philadelphia Roundtable series, the workshop is sponsored by The Encyclopedia of Greater  Philadelphia in partnership with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania  and colleague institutions the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, National Constitution Center, National Archives at Philadelphia, and Independence National Historical Park.  The workshop is open to teachers and pre-service students; three credits of ACT 48 will be provided.  Workshop participants also will receive a CD with a bibliography, images of documents and artifacts used in the workshop, and links to related resources.  Workshop is free but limited to 40 participants.  Light refreshments will be served.

To register, visit the Historical Society of Pennsylvania calendar of events,  http://www.hsp.org/node/2311.

Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia

Philadelphians have claimed the title “City of Firsts” for achievements such as the first hospital in America and the first municipal water system. This discussion focuses on innovation, especially in science and technology. Moderated by Babak Ashrafi of the Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science, this program featured panelists Michael Zuckerman of the University of Pennsylvania; Steven Peitzman of the Drexel University College of Medicine; and Grover Silcox of WLVT PBS39. Program co-sponsors include the Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science, the Franklin Institute, and the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Read a summary of the discussion.

The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable is a partnership of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, presented in cooperation with numerous civic partners. This program has been supported in part by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ We the People initiative on American history.

Series co-sponsors: Young Involved Philadelphia, the Friends of Independence, WHYY, the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, Philadelphia Media Network, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Neighborhood Interfaith Movement, Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities.

Location: Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St., Philadelphia

The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable: Tourism has become increasingly important to Greater Philadelphia’s economy, generating in one year 36 million visitors and $8 billion in economic impact, while supporting 83,000 jobs. In this discussion, we took a look behind the campaigns that promote Philadelphia to the region, the nation, and the world. The discussion was moderated by Charlene Mires of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities at Rutgers-Camden with panelists Richardson Dilworth of Drexel University, Meryl Levitz of the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, and Bob Skiba of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides. Program co-sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.

Location: Independence Visitor Center, 6th and Market Sts., Philadelphia

The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable: Philadelphia’s strong tradition of neighborhood distinctiveness has lasting power and deep roots.  In this culmination of the series, we looked at the foundations of community experience. How do neighborhood ties unite and sometimes divide us? Across neighborhood boundaries, how do we form the common bonds of civic life?  This panel was moderated by Carolyn Adams of Temple University with panelists including Linn Washington of Temple University, Domenic Vitiello of the University of Pennsylvania, and Thoai Nguyen of SEAMAAC.  Program co-sponsors included the Philadelphia History Museum and SEAMAAC.

Attendees had the opportunity to see the museum’s new exhibits:

The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent recently reopened, in part, as a preview to the museum’s full reopening this summer. A three-year renovation has upgraded the pre-Civil War structure (the original home of the Franklin Institute) adding new galleries and two currently opened exhibitions with more to come this summer.

Start in the orientation gallery where City Stories: An Introduction to Philadelphia welcomes visitors in a multi-layered exhibition featuring almost 30 artifacts that help illustrate Philadelphia’s transition from the “greene country towne” founded by William Penn to the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed to the Workshop of the World and the World Champion Phillies. City Stories features an original media presentation with contemporary Philadelphians sharing their feelings on the city of neighborhoods.

Philadelphia Voices: The Community History Gallery serves as a preview space for the five additional galleries to be unveiled this summer. Celebrated artifacts displayed here, including Joe Frazier’s boxing gloves, George Washington’s pocket watch, and a Passmore Williamson family portrait, provide a further glimpse into the Museum’s extensive collection.

Location: Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, 15 S. Seventh St., Philadelphia

What creates a neighborhood? Why do they change over time? Explore these questions while learning about some of the neighborhoods of Philadelphia and the diversity of people who have lived and worked in the City. This teacher workshop program will include an opportunity to get up close with rarely exhibited artifacts and documents. Teachers will leave with a CD of materials to help them adapt the methodology to their own neighborhoods.

Free workshop for 2.5 hours Act 48 credit.

Please register in advance with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

This workshop is presented by the Education Consortium of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia History Museum, the National Constitution Center, the National Archives in Philadelphia, and Independence National Historical Park.

Location: Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, 15 S. Seventh St., Philadelphia

“The Gayborhood Then and Now,” a presentation by archivist Bob Skiba, tells how, in a city that covers 142 square miles, a dozen blocks near City Hall came to be a welcoming home to Philadelphia’s large and diverse LGBT community. Using rare images from newspapers, city and university archives, Bob will explore the influences of the post-WW II nightclub scene, the 1960s urban rehab movement, Pennsylvania liquor laws and 1970s political activism on the social life and geography of the area. “The Gayborhood Then and Now” is the amazing story of what we were, what we have become and how we got here.

$5 donation requested.  Advance registration not required.

Location: William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., Philadelphia

This year’s Fredric M. Miller Memorial Lecture in public history will feature John Palfrey of Harvard Law School, chair of the Digital Public Library of America Steering Committee. Palfrey, co-author of Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives, will give the lecture, “Building the Digital Public Library of America,” followed by a commentary, “The Digital Library in Physical Space,” by Amanda French of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.  This program, which is free and open to the public, is presented by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden, also the home of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project, in cooperation with the Delaware Valley Archivists Group (DVAG) and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia