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.
Blog Author: curator, page 2
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.
Like Us? Help Us Reach the Next 1,000
At The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, we have a lot to celebrate this month. We have the long-awaited Super Bowl victory, now added to our page about professional football. One of our co-editors, Howard Gillette, has been selected to receive the 2018 Visionary Historian Award from the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. In addition, throughout this February we are celebrating Black History Month by highlighting more than thirty of our articles on African American history in the Philadelphia area, including essays about the region’s role in the Civil Rights movement, prominent black Philadelphians, and contributions from black communities in the region. We have at least one essay a day lined up to be shared on our Facebook page for the whole month of February. We have a diverse collection of essays on African American history covering a wide range of topics–our social media feed for this month of celebration will never be boring!
We’re also pleased to announce that we have reached a milestone of 1,000 followers on Facebook. We can’t wait to reach the next thousand with you! As we work to add to our essays available as well as our number of fans across social media, we’d love to hear from you about what your favorite articles have been or if you have a topic you’d like to nominate for an essay.
We love engaging with our fans across social media with comments, shares, and suggestions. If you haven’t already, please like us on Facebook at the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and follow us on Twitter @Backgrounders for daily essay postings and notifications about new articles up on the site. We look forward to reaching the next thousand followers and sharing some great essays with you this year!
May 11 Roundtable – waiting list
Our registration for the May 11 Greater Philadelphia Roundtable, “Philadelphia’s Black Attorneys,” has reached the capacity of 200! Thanks to everyone, especially Michael Coard, Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and the Barristers for helping to spread the word. We encourage anyone who still wishes to attend this program to register for the waiting list at http://attorneys.eventbrite.com . Also, if you registered but will not attend, please let us know so that your place may be opened to someone on the waiting list.
We look forward to seeing so many people next Tuesday evening! We will also post a summary of the program on the Encyclopedia’s web site so it will be accessible to an even wider audience.
Milestone: 650 Topics Published
We’re pleased to announce that The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia has reached a new milestone of 650 topics published online. The 650th topic, published on December 27, 2019, is Turnpikes, written by the encyclopedia’s Editor in Chief, Charlene Mires.
Our publishing during 2019 was supported by generous contributions by individual donors, including those who gave during our annual one-day fund-raiser on Rutgers Giving Day. Watch for your next opportunity to contribute on March 25, 2020–the next Rutgers Giving Day–or add your support any time by using the link on our home page. Thank you!
More Space! “Imagining Philadelphia’s Future”
We have been thrilled with the interest in our April 22 roundtable, “Imagining Philadelphia’s Future,” at the Academy of Natural Sciences. For a brief time, we had reached the capacity of our room, but thanks to the generosity of the Academy we have moved the event into the auditorium there. Registration has been opened once again, so please invite friends and colleagues. Everyone on the waiting list should receive an email notice so they may confirm their registration.
Thanks to Young Involved Philadelphia and all of our partners involved in organizing this very compelling program, which will help to shape the future content of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
National Constitution Center Joins Advisory Board
We are pleased to welcome the National Constitution Center to our Civic Advisory Board. These important partners provide guidance to assure that The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project creates civic benefits and meets community needs. To learn more about the National Constitution Center, visit the web site http://www.constitutioncenter.org .
National History Day Webinar
Teachers, please join us on Wednesday, November 2, at 4:30 p.m. for a free webinar tutorial with our education outreach coordinator, Melissa Callahan. The webinar will provide an overview of the resources available from The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia and offer ways in which students might use those resources to create an outstanding National History Day project. Once you sign up for the webinar you will receive a confirmation email.
NEH Teacher Institute: Cultures of Independence
Applications are due March 2 for this new teacher workshop funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Cultures of Independence: Perspectives on Independence Hall and the Meaning of Freedom will raise awareness of how Independence Hall has been involved in the ongoing process of creating a nation and civic life, not just in the magical moment of July 1776. During each day of a week-long workshop, 36 teachers will be immersed in a process of discovering and developing strategies for teaching the ongoing history of the American independence. Dr. Charlene Mires, author of Independence Hall in American Memory and Editor-in-Chief of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia will be the scholar-in-residence. Other editors, contributors, and civic partners of the Encyclopedia will participate as speakers and hosts.
The workshop will be offered twice: June 21-26 and July 26-July 31. For additional information about the program and procedures for application, visit the workshop website hosted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
New Call for Authors: Winter-Spring 2015
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is expanding and opening new subject categories with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, and Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust. To join more than one hundred leading and emerging scholars who have already contributed to this peer-reviewed, digital-first project, let us know your choice of topics.
To see the list of topics available link here.
The scope of the project includes the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding region of southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and northern Delaware. Prospective authors must have expertise in their chosen subjects demonstrated by previous publications and/or advanced training in historical research. Authors will have the opportunity to select feasible deadlines and will have the option of volunteering or receiving modest stipends. To express interest, please send an email describing your qualifications and specifying topics of interest to the editor-in-chief, Charlene Mires, cmires@camden.rutgers.edu. No attachments, please. Graduate students, please include the name and email address of an academic reference.
Guidelines for writers:
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/about/guidelines-for-writers/
Roster of authors:
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/category/authors/
Editors and staff:
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/about/editors/
New Civic Partner:
Global Philadelphia Association
The mission of the Global Philadelphia Association is “to assist—and to encourage greater interaction among—the many organizations and people who are engaged in international activity in the Greater Philadelphia Region, to promote the development of an international consciousness within the region, and to enhance the region’s global profile.” We are pleased to have Global Philadelphia as a new civic partner, as well as to add The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia to the membership roll of Global Philadelphia. To find out more about Global Philadelphia, visit the association’s web site, and to learn more about Philadelphia’s global heritage, visit our “Philadelphia and the World” content theme.
New Program Series Explores Civil Rights Struggles
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment and the abolition of slavery, local cultural institutions will host screenings of clips from Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle. The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP), Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), the National Constitution Center (NCC), and the Philadelphia History Museum (PHM) have also developed programming using these video clips to launch larger explorations of whether or not equality is ensured with the passage of new laws or amendments. For details about these free events, which are co-sponsored by The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, please visit our events page.
These four documentaries feature riveting new footage illustrating the history of civil rights in America. Each film tells remarkable stories of individuals who challenged the social and legal status quo of deeply rooted institutions, from slavery to segregation. Abolitionists, Slavery by Another Name, The Loving Story, and Freedom Riders include dramatic scenes of incidents in the 150-year effort to achieve equal rights for all. Presentations and discussions featured in the AAMP, HSP, NCC, and PHM programs will focus on the specific themes and subjects of the documentary series.
“We are thankful to the NEH and Gilder Lehrman Institute for the ability to bring these programs to Philadelphia. It is an opportune time to be having these conversations,” said Beth Twiss Houting, HSP’s Senior Director of Programs and Services.
Educators will also be able to receive ACT 48/CEU credits at each Created Equal? event. A teacher workshop on February 28 will also focus on civil rights struggles.
The Created Equal film set and public programs have been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is made possible through a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as part of its Bridging Cultures initiative, in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
New Support from The Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust
We are pleased to announce new financial support for The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project. From The Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, the project has received a grant of $25,000. In addition, Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust has contributed $2,500. These much-needed awards will help us to continue to expand the Encyclopedia’s content, especially in ways that serve the needs of the region’s students and teachers. We extend our thanks to these valued partners as we continue fund-raising efforts among individuals, corporations, and foundations.
New: Teaching With The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
We have learned a great deal from the students and educators who have turned to The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia to explore local, regional, and United States history. In return, we now offer a brief guide, Teaching With The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. The guide offers assignment tips, outlines correlations between encyclopedia essays and typical textbook chapters, and includes a digital scavenger hunt activity for introducing students to The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
Link to download the PDF document — and please share your ideas for the next edition!
Nominate A Topic
What would you like to know about Philadelphia and its history? Nominate a topic and tell us why you’d like to see it in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. To submit your ideas to the editors, simply scroll to the bottom of this page.
Nominations from the Northeast
More nominations for topics have come in from the Free Library of Philadelphia branches in Tacony and Holmesburg. Thanks to all who add their ideas to the library suggestion boxes. Check out the list and add your nominations on our Home page.
Northeast Philly Spreads the Word
We’re pleased to see a report of the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program, “Workshop of the World,” on NortheastPhilly.com. Thanks for joining us for this discussion, and we hope you’ll join us again for the “Corrupt and Contented” discussion on November 15.
On the Trail: A History of American Hiking — New Book by Encyclopedia Contributor
We are pleased to share the news of a new book by Silas Chamberlin, author of the essay about recreational trails in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. His book, On the Trail: A History of American Hiking, is a history of American hikers and their role in creating the nation’s trail system. According to Yale University Press:
In the mid-nineteenth century urban walking clubs emerged in the United States. A little more than a century later, tens of millions of Americans were hiking on trails blazed in every region of the country. This groundbreaking book is the first full account of the unique history of the American hiking community and its rich, nationwide culture.
Delving into unexplored archives, including those of the Appalachian Mountain Club, Sierra Club, Green Mountain Club, and many others, Silas Chamberlin recounts the activities of hikers who over many decades formed clubs, built trails, and advocated for environmental protection. He also discusses the shifting attitudes of the late 1960s and early 1970s when ideas about traditional volunteerism shifted and new hikers came to see trail blazing and maintenance as government responsibilities. Chamberlin explores the implications for hiking groups, future club leaders, and the millions of others who find happiness, inspiration, and better health on America’s trails.
Chamberlin will discuss and sign his book at the Penn Book Center, 130 S. Thirty-Fourth Street, Philadelphia, on Thursday, December 8, at 6:30 p.m. For more information, link here.
One Year Later
It’s been a busy year since we launched the Encyclopedia project with a Civic Partnership and Planning Workshop in April 2009. To summarize our progress and challenges, we have prepared a brief annual report. Thanks to all of our partners and the new friends we are making at branch libraries and through the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable. Please continue to add to these discussions on our Events page and join us for our additional programs this spring.
Our Enhanced Digital Platform
Welcome to the newly enhanced Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia! As you explore our website, you will discover an array of new features and pathways for exploring our growing project. This enhanced digital platform builds upon suggestions from our users and partners, and it will allow us to continue to expand and take greater advantage of the capabilities of digital publishing. Take a look around!
Browse by geography. Explore topics through maps of sections of Philadelphia and counties in the region.
Browse by time period. Go to the timeline and link to any of our nine time periods. For each, you’ll find related topics as well as a more detailed timeline, an image gallery, topics on a map, links, and a related reading list.
Connect headlines and history. We have partnered with WHYY NewsWorks to make connections with the news through the Backgrounders feature on our home page and on individual topic pages.
Enhanced topic pages. We have improved our design and added links to additional digital resources so that each essay serves as a topical hub to resources throughout the region.
New theme pages. Our featured essays on themes such as “City of Brotherly Love” and “Workshop of the World” now have an enhanced presence on pages that also feature related topics, timelines, maps, and image galleries.
Author index. At a glance, this page displays biographical information about our authors and provides links to their essays.
Greater coverage. With the addition of timelines for themes and time periods, we provide a more comprehensive chronology of the region.
Greater accessibility. We have sharpened our typography to make the text more readable for individuals with low vision, and we have implemented other accessibility features.
More to come. Our site also enables browsing through artifacts, and we are working with the Philadelphia History Museum to add objects using virtual-reality photography. Also watch for additional maps and, of course, more topics as we continue to build The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. For all of this, we extend thanks for the participation of our users and partners and for the work of our digital publishing team. Implementation of the enhanced website, created in partnership with the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, was made possible by a generous grant from the William Penn Foundation to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (the institutional home of the Encyclopedia). Concept designs, funded by a planning grant to the University of Pennsylvania Press by the Barra Foundation, were created by Brian T. Jacobs with input from participants in THATCamp Philly.
Our Home Base
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is a project of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities, in cooperation with our numerous civic partners, associate editors, and advisers. The new mailing address for the project is: The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities, Department of History, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ 08102.
Our Students Behind the Scenes
At the home base of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden, students and recent alumni play important roles in producing each new topic. In the process they gain a deeper understanding of regional history and build skills in digital publishing. Read more about these activities and other public humanities news on the MARCH website.
Program Update – Greater Philadelphia Roundtable
We are pleased to announce an addition to the March 18 Greater Philadelphia Roundtable, “Striving for Equality: LGBT Activism in Greater Philadelphia.” Professor William L. Hewitt, the recipient of the 2009 Bayard Rustin Compassion and Courage Award, will speak on the topic of Bayard Rustin’s activism and legacy. This evening also features a panel discussion with Stephen Glassman, chairperson, Pennsylvaina Human Relations Commission; Michael P. Williams, City of Philadelphia Law Department; and Stacey Sobel, Western State University, former executive director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania. Kathy Padilla will facilitate. (Kevin Mumford from the University of Iowa is unable to participate.) For details and registration, visit our Events page.
Program Updates – April Roundtables
We’re so pleased by the brisk registration for the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable events in April. Unfortunately, we have already reached the capacity of our room for the roundtable on April 22, “Imagining Philadelphia’s Future,” at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Please add your name to the wait list by visiting our “Events” page, and we’ll let you know if we can accommodate more people. Also, consider joining us for our other roundtables this spring. An added attraction for the roundtable on April 1 is a book-signing for Women of Industry and Reform: Shaping the History of Pennsylvania, 1865-1940, by Marion Roydhouse, published by the Pennsylvania Historical Association.
Project Milestone: 300 Topics Online
This month we passed a new milestone in the creation of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia: our 300th topic published online. Published on March 8, topic number 300, “Board of Health (Philadelphia),” by James Higgins, added to our growing category of topics about health and medicine. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many contributors, civic partners, and staff members at Rutgers-Camden who are devoting their talents and good will to the service of this resource for the Philadelphia region. Our current phase of expansion is made possible by generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, and Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust.
Project Milestone: 400 Topics Published Online
This week The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia reached and surpassed 400 topics online with the publication of the essay Community Development, by Howard Gillette Jr. and Domenic Vitiello, two of our editors. The continuing growth of this regional resource is made possible by the talents and good will of hundreds of writers, our civic partners, and the staff of editors, fact-checkers, and digital publishers working at our home base at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden. The current phase of expansion is funded by generous grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, and Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust.
Project Milestone: 450 Topics Online
With the help of so many writers, editors, project partners, and financial supporters, The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia has reached a new publishing milestone of 450 topics online–an increase of more than 150 topics from this time a year ago. The distinction of being topic No. 450 goes to the new essay about Norristown, Pennsylvania, by Michael D. Shaffer.
The current phase of expansion is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia, and Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust. To watch us climb to more than 500 topics this spring, follow us on Facebook or Twitter or sign up for our list-serv by submitting your email address on the home page. Thank you for your support!
Project Milestone: 500 Topics Online
This week The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia reached 500 essays online — a major milestone for the project. The editors extend thanks to all of the authors, editors, project partners, and staff members who have contributed their time and talents to creating this unparalleled resource for understanding the Philadelphia region’s history and experience.
Topic #500 is Italians and Italy, by Stefano Luconi. Click here to read the essay and explore links to related reading, collections, places to visit, and websites.
Project Milestone: 550 Topics Online
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia has been growing rapidly this summer, and we are pleased to announce that the project has reached a new milestone: 550 topics published online. The 550th essay to be published is Dispensaries, by Steven J. Peitzman, a longtime contributor who participated in one of our early Greater Philadelphia Roundtable programs, “City of Firsts.” He has written two previous essays for The Encyclopedia: City of Medicine and Typhoid Fever and Filtered Water.
Report from the PHA
The Encyclopedia editors had the opportunity to lead a roundtable discussion about the project at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Historical Association conference, held October 14-16, 2010, at Susquehanna University. We were pleased to see scholars from so many universities taking interest in the project and contributing their ideas and thoughtful questions. Thanks to the historians from Penn State, Temple University, Villanova University, Philadelphia University, Millersville University, Lehigh University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere for your participation. (That was quite a lineup of past presidents of the PHA in the back row!) Specific topics recommendations received have been added to our nominations list on the home page of this site, and we look forward to receiving more.