Contents
1776

Abolitionism

Abscam

Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

Admiral Wilson Boulevard

Aeronautics and Aerospace Industry

African American Migration

AIDS and AIDS Activism

Airports

Alien and Sedition Acts

Almshouses (Poorhouses)

American Bandstand

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
The American Civil Liberties Union, a national legal organization dedicated to the defense and preservation of civil liberties in the United States, has been organized in the Philadelphia region since 1951, when chapters formed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as part of a move toward establishing branches throughout the nation. Both chapters played a role ⇒ Read More
American Friends Service Committee

American Philosophical Society

American Revolution Era

Anatomy and Anatomy Education

Anglican Church (Church of England)

Animal Protection

Appeal of Forty Thousand Citizens

Arboretums

Armories

Armstrong Association of Philadelphia

Arsenals

Art Colonies

Art Deco

Art of Cecilia Beaux

Art of Dox Thrash

Art of Thomas Eakins

Arthur Mervyn; or, Memoirs of the Year 1793

Articles of Confederation

Artisans

Arts and Crafts Movement

Arts of Wharton Esherick

Astronomy

Athenæum of Philadelphia

Athens of America

Atlantic City

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (The)

Automats

Automobile Racing

Automobiles

Automotive Manufacturing

Avenue of the Arts

Bakeries and Bakers

Ballet

Bank of North America

Bank of the United States (First)

Bank War

Banking

Barbershops and Barbers

Barnes Foundation

Bartram’s Garden

Baseball (Professional)

Baseball: Negro Leagues

Basketball (Professional)

Before Colonization

Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Better Philadelphia Exhibition (1947)

Bicentennial (1976)

Bicycles

Big 5

Billiards (Pool)

Birch’s Views of Philadelphia

Black Power

Bloody Fifth Ward

Blue Route

Board of Health (Philadelphia)

Boarding and Lodging Houses

Boathouse Row

Book Publishing and Publishers

Bookselling

Bootlegging

Botany

Boxing and Boxers

Brickmaking and Brickmakers

Bridgeton, New Jersey

British Occupation of Philadelphia

Broad Street

Broad Street Bullies

Brownfields Redevelopment

Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Burlesque

Buses

Byberry (Philadelphia State Hospital)

Camden County, New Jersey

Camden, New Jersey

Campbell Soup Company

Canals

Capital of the United States (Selection of Philadelphia)

Capital of the United States Era

Carpet Weaving and Rug Making

Cartoons and Cartoonists

Casinos

Cast Iron Architecture

Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul

Cemeteries

Centennial Exhibition (1876)

Center City

Ceramics

Charter Schools

Cheesesteaks

Chemical Industry

Chemistry

Chester County, Pennsylvania

Chester, Pennsylvania

Children’s Aid Society of Pennsylvania

Children’s Television

Children’s Theater
In Philadelphia, the theater capital of the United States until New York overtook it in the 1830s, an array of children’s theater activity has long sparked creativity and imagination, informed, and educated young people with live performances. Early staged productions for the entire family increasingly gave way to child-specific theater combining education with entertainment. In the twentieth century, the children’s theater company grew to include commercial and non–commercial professional productions, non–professional ⇒ Read More
China Trade

Chinatown

Cholera

Christiana Riot Trial

City Beautiful Movement

City Councils (Philadelphia)

City Hall (Philadelphia)

City Merchant (The); or, The Mysterious Failure

City of Brotherly Love

City of Firsts

City of Homes

City of Medicine

City of Neighborhoods

Civil Defense

Civil Rights (African American)

Civil Rights (LGBT)

Civil War Museum of Philadelphia

Civil War Sanitary Fairs

Classical Music

Clocks and Clockmakers

Co-Working Spaces

Coal

Coffeehouses

Cold War

College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Colonial Era

Colonial Revival

Colonization Movement (Africa)

Columbia Avenue Riot

Columbus Day

Commercial Museum

Common Sense

Community Colleges

Community Development

Community Development Corporations (CDCs)

Commuter Trains

Consolidation Act of 1854

Constitution Commemorations

Constitutional Convention of 1787

Continental Congresses

Contractor Bosses (1880s to 1930s)

Convention Centers

Convents

Cordwainers Trial of 1806

Corrupt and Contented

Country Clubs

Courthouses (County)

Cradle of Liberty

Cricket

Crime

Crosstown Expressway

Crowds (Colonial and Revolution Eras)

Cumberland County, New Jersey

Cycling (Sport)

Dancing Assembly

Deafness and the Deaf

Declaration of Independence

Deindustrialization

Delaware Avenue (Columbus Boulevard)

Delaware Bay

Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Delaware River Basin Commission

Delaware River Port Authority

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission

Democratic-Republican Societies

Dentistry and Dentists

Department Stores

Design of Cities

Dewey’s Lunch Counter Sit-In

Diners

Dinosaurs and Paleontology (Study of Fossils and Prehistoric Life)

Dispensaries

Dogfighting

Dogs

Doo Wop

Down There

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Dream Garden

Duffy’s Cut

Dutch (The) and The Netherlands

Eastern State Penitentiary

Edge Cities

Education and Opportunity
In the twentieth century, many urban school districts, which had been among the finest in the nation, became some of the most challenged. The Greater Philadelphia region reflected this trend. In 1900 the region’s school systems consisted of largely uncoordinated public, parochial, and private schools. Between 1900 and 1965 politicians, educational administrators, and civic leaders ⇒ Read More
Educational Reform

Elegy (for MOVE and Philadelphia)

Elfreth’s Alley

ENIAC

Enterprise Zones and Empowerment Zones

Entomology (Study of Insects)

Environmental Movement

Eugenics

Fabric Row

Fair Housing

Fairmount Park

Fairmount Park Commission

Fairmount Park Houses

Fairmount Water Works

Fashion

Ferries

Fever 1793 (Novel)

Films (Feature)

Fire Escapes

First Purchasers of Pennsylvania

Flaxseed and Linen
In the colonial era linen and flaxseed were fundamental to the mercantile life of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. Philadelphia’s linen and flaxseed market extended from the farthest point of settlement, Fort Pitt, to the fields of England and Ireland. Traveling in a circle of trade across the north Atlantic, these goods forged relationships among ⇒ Read More
Flour Milling

Food Processing

Football (Professional)

Fort Wilson

Forts and Fortifications

Fox Hunting

France and the French

Franklin Institute

Free African Society

Free Black Communities

Free Society of Traders

Freedom Train

Freemasonry

French Revolution
The French Revolution of 1789 created political, social, and financial instability throughout Europe, prompting many terrified French aristocrats, businessmen, and intellectuals to flee to the United States. Philadelphia, with its cosmopolitan atmosphere, accessible port, and thriving commerce, attracted many of the French émigrés. Most settled along the Delaware River in the Mulberry district of Philadelphia ⇒ Read More
Friends Neighborhood Guild

Fries Rebellion

Fugitives From Slavery

Funerals and Burial Practices

Furnituremaking

Gallery at Market East

Garbage Barge (Khian Sea)

Gardens (Public)

Garies (The) and Their Friends

Garment Work and Workers

Gas Stations

Gayborhood

Genealogy

General Strike of 1910

General Trades Union Strike (1835)

Gentrification

German Reformed Church

Girard College

Girard’s Bequest

Glassmakers and Glass Manufacturing

Godey’s Lady’s Book

Gospel Music (African American)

Gothic Literature

Grand Federal Procession

Grand Juries

Gray Panthers

Great Depression

Great Wagon Road

Greater Philadelphia

Greater Philadelphia Movement

Greater Philadelphia Region

Greek War for Independence

Greeks and Greece (Modern)

Green Country Town

Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

Gross Clinic (The)

Gunpowder Industry

Hail, Columbia

Haitian Revolution

Heating (Home)

Helicopters

Herpetology (Study of Amphibians and Reptiles)

High School Sports

Higher Education: Private (Religious)

Hinterlands

Historic Districts

Historic Germantown: New Knowledge
in a Very Old Neighborhood

Historic Preservation

Historical Societies

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Hoagies

Hog Island

Holy Experiment

Home Remedies

Horses

Horticulture

Hospitals (Economic Development)

Hotels and Motels

House of Refuge

Hurricanes and Tropical Storms

I-95

I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia

Ice Hockey (Professional)

Immigration (1790-1860)

Immigration (1870-1930)

Immigration (1930-Present)

Immigration and Migration (Colonial Era)

Independence Hall

Independence National Historical Park

Independence Seaport Museum

Indian Rights Associations

Industrial Neighborhoods

Industrial Workers of the World

Infectious Diseases and Epidemics

Influenza (“Spanish Flu” Pandemic, 1918-19)

Inner Suburbs

Insurance

International Peace Mission Movement and Father Divine

Irish (The) and Ireland

Iron Production

Islam

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Italian Market

Italians and Italy

Jawn

Jazz

Jewelers Row

Junto

Killers (The): A Narrative of Real Life in Philadelphia

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Knights of Labor

Korean War

Koreans and Korea

Kwanzaa

Labor Day

Ladies Association of Philadelphia

Lafayette’s Tour

Landfills

Laurel Hill Cemetery

Law and Lawyers

Lawnside, New Jersey

Lazaretto

Legionnaires’ Disease

Lehigh Valley

Levittowns (Pennsylvania and New Jersey)

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Liberia; Or, Mr. Peyton’s Experiments

Liberians and Liberia

Liberty Bell

Liberty County

Library Company of Philadelphia

Lincoln Drive

Listen to the Mocking Bird

Literary Societies

Locomotive Manufacturing

Log Cabins

Lotteries

LOVE (Sculpture)

Lower Delaware Colonies (1609-1704)

Loyalists

Lynching

Machining and Machinists

Magazines, Literary

Magdalen Society

Main Line of Public Works

Mansions

Manufacturing Suburbs

Maps and Mapmaking

March of the Mill Children

Market Street

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Mason-Dixon Line

Mayors (Philadelphia)

Media, Pennsylvania

Medical Publishing

Medicine (Colonial Era)

Mennonites

Mercer Museum

Meschianza

Meteorology (Study of the Atmosphere)

Mexican-American War

Mexicans and Mexico

Mighty Macs

Military Bases

Militia

Model Cities

Modern Chivalry: Containing the Adventures of Captain John Farrago, and Teague O’Regan, his Servant

Monopoly

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Moravians

Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Mother Bethel AME Church:
Congregation and Community

Mother’s Day

Mount Airy (West)

Mount Holly Township, New Jersey

MOVE

Mummers

Mummies

Murals

Murder of Octavius Catto

Musical Fund Society

Musical Instrument Making

Mütter Museum

My Days Have Been So Wondrous Free

National Freedom Day

National Guard

National Negro Convention Movement

National Parks

National Register of Historic Places (Sites)

Nationalities Service Center

Native American-Pennsylvania Relations 1681-1753

Native American-Pennsylvania Relations, 1754-89

Native and Colonial Go-Betweens

Native Peoples to 1680

Nativism

Nativist Riots of 1844

New Sweden

New Year’s Traditions

Newspapers (Suburban)

Nigerians and Nigeria

Nineteenth Century after 1854

Nineteenth Century to 1854

Norristown, Pennsylvania

North Philadelphia

Northeast Philadelphia

Northwest Philadelphia

Nuclear Power

Nursing

O Little Town of Bethlehem

Occupy Philadelphia

Octavia Hill Association

ODUNDE Festival

Office Buildings

Oh, Dem Golden Slippers

Omnibuses

Opera and Opera Houses

Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC)

Orchard Window (The)

Ornithology (Study of Birds)

Orphanages and Orphans

Pacific World (Connections and Impact)

Painters and Painting

Paints and Varnishes

Papal Visits

Paper and Papermaking

PATCO

Peale Family of Painters

Peale’s Philadelphia Museum

Penn Center

Penn’s Landing

Pennhurst State School and Hospital

Pennsylvania (Founding)

Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges

Pennsylvania Emancipation Exposition (1913)

Pennsylvania Hall

Pennsylvania Impressionism

Pennsylvania Prison Society

Petty Island

Pharmaceutical Industry

Philadelphia (Film)

Philadelphia (Warship)

Philadelphia and Its People in Maps:
The 1790s

Philadelphia and the Nation

Philadelphia and the World

Philadelphia Award

Philadelphia Board of Trade

Philadelphia Campaign

Philadelphia Contributionship

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Cream Cheese

Philadelphia Fire

Philadelphia Folk Festival

Philadelphia Gas Works

Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent

Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC)

Philadelphia Lawyer

Philadelphia Maritime Exchange

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Navy Yard

Philadelphia Negro (The)

Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Pepper Pot

Philadelphia Plan

Philadelphia Sketch Club

Philadelphia Social History Project

Philadelphia Stock Exchange

Philadelphia Story (The)

Philadelphia Ten

Philadelphia Transportation Company (PTC) Strike

Philadelphia, the Place that Loves You Back

Pietism

Pine Barrens

Pipelines

Pirates

Plantations

Playgrounds

Plays and Playwrights

Plays of Susanna Rowson

Poetry and Poets

Point Breeze (Bonaparte Estate)

Police Athletic League

Police Department (Philadelphia)

Polish Settlement and Poland

Political Conventions

Political Parties (Origins, 1790s)

Pontiac’s War and the Paxton Boys

Poverty

Prehistoric Native Americans and Archaeology

Presidents of the United States (Presence in Region)

Pretzels

Price of a Child (The)

Printing and Publishing

Printmaking

Prisons and Jails

Private (Independent) Schools

Privateering

Proclamation Line of 1763

Prohibition

PSFS

Public Baths and Bathing

Public Education: High Schools

Public Education: Suburbs

Public Education: The School District of Philadelphia

Public Health

Public Housing

Public Markets

Public Media

Public Parks (Philadelphia)

Public Transportation

Puerto Rican Migration

Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans

Quaker City

Quaker City (The); Or, the Monks of Monk Hall

Quasi-War

Radio (Commercial)

Radio (High School and College)

Radio DJs

Railroad Stations

Railroad Strike of 1877

Railroad Suburbs

Railroads

Reading Terminal Market

Recording Industry

Red Arrow Lines

Red City (The)

Red Rose Girls

Redlining

Refineries (Oil)

Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Reminder Days

Restaurants

Revolutionary Crisis (American Revolution)

Rhythm and Blues

Riots (1830s and 1840s)

Rock and Roll (Early Years)

Rock Music and Culture (Late 1960s to Present)

Rocky

Roman Catholic Education
(Elementary and Secondary)

Roman Catholic Parishes

Roosevelt Boulevard

Root Beer

Row Houses

Saint Patrick’s Day

Salem County, New Jersey

Salt Making

Saturday Evening Post

Savings Societies

Saws and Saw Making

School Naming
Family names and place names were almost the only names one needed to know when America was composed of small, homogeneous communities. Often interchangeable, such markers signified social and cultural status. But they ceased to be sufficient when America became more diverse and the family less communal. An institution like the school needed a name ⇒ Read More
Schuylkill Expressway

Schuylkill Navigation Company

Scientific Management

Scientific Societies

Scots Irish (Scotch Irish)

Scrapple

SEPTA

Sesquicentennial International Exposition (1926)

Settlement Houses

Seven Years’ War

Seventh-day Adventists

Sheppard Lee

Shipbuilding and Shipyards

Shirtwaist Strike (1909-10)

Shoemakers and Shoemaking

Shopping Centers

Shrines

Silk and Silk Makers

Silver Linings Playbook

Single Tax Movement

Skate Parks and Skateboarders

Slavery and the Slave Trade

Slinky

Slovaks and Slovakia

Smith’s and Windmill Islands

Smoking and Smoking Regulations

Soccer

Social Dancing

Society Hill

Soul Music

Sounds of the City: The Colonial Era

South Asians

South Philadelphia

South Street

South Street (Song)

Southwest Philadelphia

Spanish-American Revolutions
As a port with longstanding commercial, cultural, and political connections with Spanish America, Philadelphia played a significant role in the era of Spanish-American revolutions in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The City of Brotherly Love welcomed individuals escaping Spanish domination and helped to support their ideas about liberty, equality and independence. Philadelphia’s ⇒ Read More
Spanish-American War

SPHAS

Sports Cards

Sports Fans

Sports Mascots

Sprawl

Stadiums and Arenas

Staircase Group (The)

Street Numbering

Street Vendors

Streetcar Suburbs

Streetcars

Subway Concourses

Subways and Elevated Lines

Sugar and Sugar Refining

Sullivan Principles

Superfund Sites

Surveying (Colonial)

Tastykake

Taverns

Telephones

Television

Television Shows (About Philadelphia)

Tenderloin

Textile Manufacturing and Textile Workers

Thanksgiving

Thrift

Tobacco

Tomato Pie

Tourism

Toy Manufacturing

Trade Unions (1820s and 1830s)

Trails (Indian)

Trails (Recreational)

Train Derailments and Collisions

Treaty Negotiations with Native Americans

Treaty of Shackamaxon

Trees

Trenton and Princeton Campaign (Washington’s Crossing)

Trenton, New Jersey

TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)

Tun Tavern

Turnpikes

Twentieth Century after 1945

Twentieth Century to 1945

Twenty-First Century

Twist (The)

Typhoid Fever and Filtered Water

U.S. Congress (1790-1800)

U.S. Presidency (1790-1800)

Underground Railroad

Union League of Philadelphia

United States Colored Troops

United States Mint (Philadelphia)

University City Science Center

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum)

Urban Renewal

Vagrancy

Valley Forge

Vegetarianism and Veganism

Veterans and Veterans’ Organizations

Vietnam War

Vigilance Committees

Vine Street Expressway

Walking Encyclopedia: Harrowgate

Walking Purchase

Wanamaker Organ

War of 1812

West Chester, Pennsylvania

West New Jersey

West Philadelphia

Whig Party

Whiskey Rebellion Trials

Whiz Kids

Wieland; or, the Transformation: An American Tale

Wilmington, Delaware

Woman Suffrage

Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania

Women’s Clubs

Women’s Education

Woodbury, New Jersey

Working Men’s Party

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

Workshop of the World

World War I

World War II

Yellow Fever
For more than a century beginning in the late seventeenth century, sudden outbreaks of yellow fever sowed death and panic throughout Philadelphia and its environs. With medical science seemingly powerless against it, yellow fever was a terrifying and mysterious threat that rivaled any disease of the era in its capacity to take lives and disrupt ⇒ Read More
Zoning (Philadelphia)
