Blog Category: News, page 9

Which topics were our most-visited during 2015? Our statistics reveal some patterns:  The political season seems to have had an impact on readership of topics related to immigration and nativism.  We also see heavy use of topics related to Philadelphia’s decade as the nation’s capital, a popular subject for students and teachers in U.S. history courses.  Finally, there are some distinctively Philadelphia topics in our top ten.

Here is the list, beginning with the tenth most-read and leading to number one:

10. Immigration and Migration (Colonial Era), by Marie Basile McDaniel

9.  Philadelphia and Its People in Maps: The 1790s, by Paul Sivitz and Billy G. Smith

8.  Yellow Fever, by Simon Finger

7.  Immigration (1870-1930), by Barbara Klaczynska

6.  Row Houses, by Amanda Casper

5.  Nativist Riots of 1844, by Zachary M. Schrag

4.  Immigration (1790-1860), by James Bergquist

3.  Department Stores, by David Sullivan

2.  Political Parties (Origins, 1790s), by Brian Hendricks

And the most-visited topic for 2015 is …

City of Brotherly Love, by Chris Satullo

We always see a surge of traffic to “City of Brotherly Love” when sports announcers invoke the phrase during nationally televised Eagles games!

Thanks to all of our authors and to the 227,733 unique visitors who came to The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia during 2015.  We look forward to expanding our coverage for you in the new year.

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.

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 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!

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.

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!

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!