Earlier this summer, two of the Encyclopedia’s editors, Charlene Mires and Howard Gillette, participated in a meeting of the Association of Philadelphia Tourguides. Building on that fruitful discusison, we now welcome this organization to our growing board of civic partners. Bob Skiba will serve as liaison between the guides and the Encyclopedia.
Blog Category: Blog, page 12
Update: Our Website Functions
Frequent users of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia may notice that some features of our website are unavailable or not working properly. The website is undergoing review and maintenance to improve functions and security, so thank you for your patience. You will still be able to read the text for all topics.
If you wish to reach other features, such as texts in image galleries, you may be able to access them through the copy of the website in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20200926124637/https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/
Vietnamese Scholars Visit The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia
The editors, authors, and staff of The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia are honored to welcome scholars from Vietnam on November 29. Under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council, the delegation has come to the United States to learn about encyclopedia projects in preparation for producing an Encyclopedia of Vietnam. Read more about the visit on the website of Rutgers-Camden, where The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia is produced.
We’re Augmenting Reality
What if you could stand in the present and see the past? It might look something like this. Over the last several months, the Encyclopedia team has been involved in an exciting project with the City of Philadelphia Department of Records and Azavea Inc. to develop an augmented reality app for the lastest generation of smartphones. Read all about it on Azavea’s blog, and get your phones ready for the app in the near future!
We’re in the Knight News Challenge – you can help!
We are working on an exciting new project – “Backgrounder,” which will provide journalists with links to historical background information, delivered via Twitter. Working with WHYY, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Temple University Libraries Special Collections Center, we propose to build up news-related content in the Encyclopedia, then provide it to reporters when they need it. We also propose to provide new content related to breaking news, and that will become part of the Encyclopedia as well.
You can help us shape this project and earn funding for it by adding your feedback to the project proposal, which we have just posted in the Knight News Challenge:
http://newschallenge.tumblr.com/post/18812768763/backgrounder-blasts-from-the-past-for-busy-reporters
You may also follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/Backgrounders
Thank you for your participation in the Encyclopedia project!
We’re In The News
An array of organizations and individuals met April 16-17 at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to begin the work of imagining and planning The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project. Our first Civic Partnership and Planning Workshop made the news in the Inquirer and on WHYY. Thanks to the many people who devoted time, energy, and inquisitive minds to make this event a success.
We’re Inspired, Too
Drawing inspiration from The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, a new encyclopedia effort is underway in Cheshire, Connecticut. We’re pleased that the town historian, Jeanné Chesanow, shares our commitment to building a strong community for history and connections between the past and the present. Read about her project in a Cheshire Patch report, where you can also add comments to encourage this endeavor.
Welcome to Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery
We are pleased to add the Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery to our growing Civic Advisory Board, which helps to assure that the Encyclopedia project serves community needs. Gwen Kaminski, Director of Development and Programs for the Friends of Laurel Hill, has helped us plan our “Green Country Town” roundtable, coming up in May at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The President and CEO of Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill Cemeteries, Pete Hoskins, will be a panelist for the program. Welcome to these supportive friends of the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project!
Welcome to the Team
As The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia expands, so does our team of editors. We are pleased to welcome the following colleagues, whose work you will begin to see in the Encyclopedia over the next several months:
- Donald D. Groff, a veteran journalist, is our new managing editor.
- Tyler Hoffman, Professor of English at Rutgers-Camden, is an associate editor who will oversee topics related to literature and theater.
- Jean Soderlund, Professor of History at Lehigh University, is associate editor for early American topics up to 1800.
- Roger Turner, Associate Fellow at Dickinson College, is associate editor for topics in the areas of science, technology and medicine.
The expertise and talents of these individuals undoubtedly will enrich The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia in many ways as the project continues to grow. Welcome to the team!
Whither the Downtown Department Store?
Readers who may have found David Sullivan’s essay on the history of department stores in Philadelphia of interest may well want to read a recent essay on the subject in Next City. With downtown booming, we might well expect to hold on to the one remaining standalone store, but even that prospect can not be assured.