Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia

The editors of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia invite participation in this session of the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Historical Association.   Help shape the future content of the Encyclopedia by adding your insights into the ways that "Greater Philadelphia" has been defined over time and space.

Location: Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA

On April 16-17, 2009, a Civic Partnership and Planning Workshop launched the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project. Links in the program below provide summaries and the opportunity to continue the discussion. Please join us in imagining what The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia might become. » Read more about this event

Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Greater Philadelphia Roundtable:   What are the challenges facing LGBT people in the fight for equality?  The Greater Philadelphia region has a rich LGBT history.  From the first organized LGBT demonstration in the country at Dewey's Lunch Counter to the passage of the Philadelphia civil rights bill covering sexual orientation in 1982, the Philadelphia civil rights bill covering gender identity in 2002, the statewide Hate Crimes Bill of 2002, and more, recovering the stories of LGBT leaders and people from all communities informs the past and strengthens the future. This inaugural session of the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable met on March 18, 2010, at the William Way Community Center.  Organized by Kathy Padilla, who served as the discussion facilitator, the panel included Stephen Glassman, chairperson, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission; Michael P. Williams, City of Philadelphia Law Department; and Stacey Sobel, Western State University, former executive director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania.  In addition, Professor William Hewitt of West Chester University spoke on the activism and legacy of Bayard Rustin.   To continue the discussion on-line, see the links to program segments. Link to additional discussion topics.  

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

Greater Philadelphia Roundtable:  Since World War II, Philadelphia has been a leading area in creating and sustaining cutting-edge organizations that serve and advocate for women such as the Women's Law Project and Women's Way, a leader in philanthropy by women for women.  Yet in the vast outpouring of history that has been written about Philadelphia, women's experience, especially since World War II, has received very limited attention.  In a region full of women's studies scholars, what might be done to address this gap in the historical record?  What do we know about Philadelphia-area women in the twentieth century, and what do we need to know?  This roundtable looks toward the future of women's history research with panelists Marion Roydhouse, Philadelphia University, author of Women of Industry and Reform: Shaping the History of Pennsylvania, 1865-1940; Kris Myers, Director of Heritage and Outreach, the Alice Paul Institute; and Margaret Jerrido, Independent Archival Consultant.  Facilitator: Cindy Little, the Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent. 

To continue or join this discussion, visit the links for each segment of the program.

Link to additional discussion topics.

Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust St., Philadelphia.

Greater Philadelphia Roundtable:  What does it take to create change (social, political, community, civic) in Philadelphia?  Who has the vision, the power, and the resources?  What is gained or lost in the process?  Panelists at this roundtable focused on the past, present, and future of city planning, from the days of Edmund Bacon to casinos, the waterfront, and the future of I-95.  The dialogue will help shape the content of the Encyclopedia.  Featuring Scott Knowles, editor and co-author of Imagining Philadelphia: Edmund Bacon and the Future of the City, and a panel including Harris Steinberg of PennPraxis; Craig Schelter of Schelter & Associates; and Jethro Heiko, Strategic Organizing Director, The Action Mill; and Spencer Finch, Director of Sustainable Development, Pennsylvania Environmental Council.  Facilitator:  Ariel Ben-Amos, Young Involved Philadelphia. This program was supported in part by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities' We the People initiative on American History.   It was cosponsored by The Academy of Natural Sciences Center for Environmental Policy and has been made possible through the generous donations of the William Penn Foundation and the Environmental Associates of the Academy.  Also cosponsored by Young Involved Philadelphia, PennPraxis, PlanPhilly, and the Great Works Symposium, Drexel University. To add your thoughts to the discussion, follow the links to any segment of the posted program summaries. Watch video of this event on PlanPhilly.com.

Location: Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia

Twelfth Annual Fredric Miller Memorial Lecture by Robert C. Vaughan, founding director and CEO of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Vaughan currently serves as chair of the Lincoln Bicentennial Committee for Virginia and as chair of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was the founding director of the South Atlantic Humanities Center and has served recently as President of the National Humanities Alliance. He is a former chairman of the National Federation of State Humanities Councils. Under his direction, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is launching an electronic encyclopedia of Virginia as a means of capturing the state’s rich cultural resources. A member of the faculty of the University of Virginia’s Darden School, where he teaches in the MBA and Executive Education programs, Vaughan is the author, among other publications, of The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and A New Perspective: Southern Women’s Cultural History. Register for this event.

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

Greater Philadelphia Roundtable:  How have African American lawyers transformed Philadelphia, inside and outside the courtroom?  How has their work contributed to local, national, and international movements for empowerment and civil rights?  This program takes its title from civil rights attorney Charles Hamilton Houston's statement that "A lawyer is either a social engineer or a parasite on society."  A capacity audience at the African American Museum in Philadelphia joined in a discussion of these and other issues with David A. Canton, author of the new biography Raymond Pace Alexander: A New Negro Lawyer Fights for Civil Rights in Philadelphia, and defense attorney Michael Coard, a founding member of Avenging The Ancestors Coalition (ATAC). The speakers and discussion will help to shape the future content of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Facilitator: Alexis Moore, Associate Director of External Affairs and Media Relations for the American Friends Service Committee and daughter of the late Cecil B. Moore, defense attorney and NAACP head during the 1960s.  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. Cosponsored by Avenging The Ancestors Coalition.

To add your thoughts, follow the link to "Panel and Audience Discussion."

Location: African American Museum of Philadelphia, 701 Arch St., Philadelphia