The deadline for comments to our Knight News Challenge proposal has been extended to March 29. Please see the links in the next post – it only takes two clicks to “like” us, and we also welcome comments, suggestions, and questions. This week we have more than doubled our “likes” – thank you! This is vital to our chances of moving to the next round of consideration.
Blog Category: Blog, page 5
In Memoriam: Gary Nash
We are so saddened to learn the news of the passing of our good friend and colleague, Gary Nash, a consulting editor of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. While Gary spent his career in California at UCLA, he never lost touch with Philadelphia, the city where he was born. Among many other works of scholarship, Gary’s research opened new ways of understanding Philadelphia with Quakers and Politics: Pennsylvania 1681-1726 (published in 1968), The Urban Crucible: Social Change, Political Consciousness, and the Origins of the American Revolution (1979), Forging Freedom: The Formation of Philadelphia’s Black Community, 1720-1840 (1988), First City: Philadelphia and the Forging of Historical Memory (2002), and many other books and articles.
An engaged scholar who promoted excellence in education and public history, Gary also played a pivotal role in significant Philadelphia projects. He amplified critical needs for inclusive history, particularly by intervening in the public interpretation of the Liberty Bell and the President’s House site to assure the recognition of enslaved Africans and the complexities of freedom in early America. And in 2007, he amplified the need for a comprehensive, public, and inclusive history of Philadelphia — The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, which continues as an active project today. In addition to serving as a valued adviser and advocate, he wrote essays about the Cradle of Liberty and the Liberty Bell.
To learn more about Gary Nash’s life and career, we invite you to read the tribute published by the UCLA History Department, linked here. Moreover, we encourage you to honor his life’s work by following his example of commitment to Philadelphia history.
In the Cradle of Industry & Liberty: A History of Manufacturing in Philadelphia – New Book by Encyclopedia Contributor
Philadelphia’s manufacturing history is the subject of a new book by archivist and historian Jack McCarthy, best known to readers of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia as the author of many of our music topics. In the Cradle of Industry & Liberty: A History of Manufacturing in Philadelphia, published for the Manufacturing Alliance of Philadelphia by HPN Books, traces local manufacturing from the colonial period to the transition to machine-based factory production methods, the development of manufacturing on a massive scale, and the dramatic downsizing in manufacturing that led to the city’s transition to a post-industrial, service-based economy. This month, McCarthy will talk about the topics of his book at a meeting of the Philadelphia Association of Tour Guides on January 11 and at the annual dinner of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology on January 20.
In the News: Admiral Wilson Boulevard
We’re delighted to see our recently published essay about Admiral Wilson Boulevard, by Bart Everts, featured in the New Jersey edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Learn more about the author and the surprising history of the highway in Kevin Riordan’s column, “Camden’s Boulevard of Unfulfilled Dreams.”
In the News: Encyclopedia Author Featured on St. Patrick’s Day
The author of our essay about St. Patrick’s Day, Mikaela Maria, appeared on CBS3 news on March 17 to provide historical background about the holiday. Reporter David Spunt posted a portion of the interview and his additional tracking of St. Patrick’s Day in Philadelphia on the CBS3 website. (Reporters, contact us any time you need to reach our expert authors, and follow the @Backgrounders Twitter feed for additional context to the news.)
Inga Saffron wins Pulitzer Prize for criticism
Congratulations to Inga Saffron of The Philadelphia Inquirer, who is the 2014 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. Inga helped us launch the Encyclopedia with her theme essay on “Green Country Town,” which now anchors our growing coverage of topics related to the natural and built environment.
Join the Discussion about Jewelers Row
Join us at the Philadelphia History Museum on Thursday, September 22, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. as we co-sponsor a conversation about the history and significance of Philadelphia’s Jewelers Row. Speakers will include Paul Steinke, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia; Hy Goldberg, Jewelers Row Business Association; Bob Skiba, Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides; and representatives from Visit Philadelphia. The program is free, but registration is required.
Join the Encyclopedia List-Serv
We are pleased to announce the creation of a list-serv to build and sustain the growing community of interest in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Anyone who would like to receive periodic updates about the project is invited to join the list. To join, send an e-mail to Howard Gillette at hfg@camden.rutgers.edu or add a comment expressing your interest to this post.
Join Us: The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable
Our public discussion of Greater Philadelphia history and issues expands this spring with the introduction of the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable, a forum for community dialogue that will help shape the future content of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. With the help of many civic partners, four programs have been organized for this spring. Please visit our Events page or our Eventbrite listings for complete information. (Advance registration will help us assure enough seats for everyone at these events.) The Eventbrite listings allow you to email your own electronic invitations to these events, post them on Facebook, or alert your followers on Twitter — please do! Press Release
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.
Lessons of the yellow fever epidemic
This week we noticed another uptick in traffic to our essay on the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, written by Simon Finger. We’re pleased to discover that the essay was included in an assignment for students at Jack Jouett Middle School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Welcome to our new readers from Charlottesville!