Backgrounders Connecting Headlines with History


Featured Topic

National Freedom Day
Created in 1942 by a Philadelphian born in slavery, the annual National Freedom Day commemoration each February 1 calls attention to the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which ended slavery, and the continuing struggle for African American justice and equality.
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About Us
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is a civic project to increase understanding of one of America’s greatest cities.
Produced by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden, the Encyclopedia as a digital resource and in print volumes will offer the most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region.
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Each topic in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is the product of many hours of research, writing, editing, and digital production. To build this resource to more than 1,000 topics spanning the region, we welcome your financial support.
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is produced by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden. Gifts to this project are made through the Rutgers University Foundation.
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