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.
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.
Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy
More generally, Philadelphia’s natural history, environmental history, and naturalists. Descriptions and collections of the Delaware Valley’s flora, fauna, and landscapes go back at least to the 17th century and continue to the present. Besides Alexander Wilson, here are some Philadelphians and important visitors who deserve mention: John Bartram, William Bartram, Humphrey Marshall, Peter (Pehr) Kalm,
Karen Reeds
Jeff Holt wrote:
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My name is Ms. Norka Shedlock and I have I initiated with the Philadelphia Sketch Club (PSC) http://www.sketchclub.org to assess the PSC’s library and archives with the initial objective to create a “collection.” Since the PSC is the oldest continuous artists’ organization in the country and located in one of Philadelphia’s historic buildings, I think it should be included in your “City of Firsts” category. Moreover, depending on what I discover in the so far uncatalogued PSC’s library, there may be data for your Bibliography Survey. I also see there are many comments related to including artists and concerning art history in Philadelphia. I believe my project may very well intersect with some of these ideas. Thank you for your consideration.
How about Philadelphia’s historical role as a waystation or permanent destination for immigrants and (for those already on this side of the Atlantic) migrants? That’s a pretty broad topic, and it might even make for more than one essay, but it would certainly help to update and upgrade Philadelphia’s reputation as a persistently insular city.
I would love to know of the Fishtown area,east of Front street and down to the Delaware River, I have been told repeatedly that William Penn made his treaty with the Indians along the River which is called, I believe, Penn Treaty Park. Can you write of this occurrence if in fact it is true?
Outdoor Sculpture in Philadelphia is a substantial presence. Very few places have as much and as interesting as our collection. The Calder family is one topic; Frank Bender, forensic portraiture is another;
Zellin’s sculptural ironwork is valid subject.
Arts and crafts people might be interested in the Furniture industry here. Or, the woodcarvers who did the carousels,and amusement park art (Germantown, Phila Tobaggan Co etc).
And the Germantown Wool from Main St.
pre-European Philadelphia
Lenape tribe and William Penn. This topic is relegated to a few lines when describing Philadelphia’s founding. I think the topic should be broaden to not only reveal Penn’s relationship with the Native Americans (his respect and fair treatment compared to other colonies), but also describe Native American life in the Philadelphia area before Penn’s arrival.
The following topics were suggested on comment cards submitted following the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program “City of Firsts,” on January 19, 2012, at the Franklin Institute:
– List all items which completely detail Philadelphia as City of Firsts
– First musical concert, opera theater, art, sculptors, impact of Italians
– Include how the immigrant communities brought changes – innovation, skills, their traditions – to the area.
– 1876 Centennial Exposition.
– Water works.
– The history of electronics in Philadelphia – e.g. Atwater Kent, Philco, etc., Elihu Thomson. (Depending on what constitutes “Greater Philadelphia,” also expand this discussion to include work carried out at RCA’s laboratories in Camden and Princeton.)
– The chemical industry in and around Philadelphia (e.g. Dow, Rohm & Haas, DuPont, etc.)
– The publishing industry in Philadelphia (the Poor Richard Club).
– Philadelphia specific foods (cheesesteak, Tastykakes, etc.)
– Philadelphia’s numerous museums, both well known (e.g. Franklin Institute) and more obscure (e.g. The Wagner Free Institute).
– The LeFax (pocket organizer and database), later known as the Filofax – invented 1910 by Phila. Engineer J.C. Parker.
– The sack and destruction of the Commercial Museum, the first of its kind in the U.S.
– Piano manufacture in Philadelphia.
– Bicycle manufacturing in Philadelphia.
– History of the bicycle advocacy movement in Philadelphia.
– Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.
– Oxford Provident Building & Loan.
– Comly Rich.
– Catharine Barnes & Henry R. Chock (the Elder) – 1st mortgage to a female.
– Elm Tree Post #88.
– 79th California (Civil War only regiment for CA & troops raised in Frankford. Monument in North Cedar Hill Cemetery.)
– Rev. Wm Tennent & the Log College.
– Phono-cardiology.
– Bram Stoker – Dracula.
– Philadelphia Collectors & Collections.
– Immigration’s role in shaping artistic, scientific, social firsts.
– The difference between scientific firsts and social, normative firsts.
– Entrepreneurship in Philadelphia.
– Research and publish lesser known but significant firsts such as: first portrait photograph (shorter exposure time invented), Volunteer Sanitary Commission (first service organization for soldiers).
– Sports history.
– Amateur organizations that helped to cross economic lines, such as cricket teams.
– First computer in Philly – but there are many sub-topics in the computer field that should be mentioned. E.G. most computer languages were invented in Phila.
Perhaps a little research into the Lefax Society might be in order. Founded in the 1920s, this company produced pocket sized 6-ring organizers. The name came from loose LEaf-FActs. The binder concept was invented by Philadelphia engineer J.C. Parker in 1910. From the beginning, it was a canny blend of practical information storage.
First, these organizers were meant to bring together multiple collections of information:
calendar, addresses and phone numbers, shopping lists, diaries and more.
The second part of the system took advantage of the ease of inserting and removing pages to allow Lefax users to place special sets of data–information sheets with chemical formulas, radio technology, lists of companies and so on. A galaxy of special forms were available: leases, graph paper, mineral rights charts, legal forms, even a detachable air mail envelope–all could clip into the binder, reflecting the exact needs of the user.
This customization meant each person only needed bring the information for a particular job or meeting. The other sheets could be filed in special home cabinets provided by Lefax. The company encouraged users to create their own custom reference systems, but also put Lefax codes at the top corner of each page.
The parallels between this system and today’s smart phones, which sync with a hard drive, are striking. Small magazines were even printed in the six-rung format, just to fit Filofaxes.
The Lefax system was exported to England and renamed Filofax (FileOfFacts). These little books became a staple of the striving class clear into WWII. Ministers, soldiers, politicians, heads of wealthy households all used special pages which helped them keep track of everything from shopping to lists of men to be awarded promotions. When a German bomb destroyed the headquarters of Filofax and all its records, company secretary Grace Scurr, helped rebuild the business–she’d kept all the important information in her own Filofax, which she took home with her each day. She later rose to lead the company, and resigned as chairman in 1974.
The organizers became a status symbol through the 1980s, and though the wave of electronic organizers took a toll, Filofax sales are again rising in the US, UK and around the world.
There have been many imitators over the years–Franklin Planners, DayRunners, etc.; but the Filofax carries the original DNA of its Philadelphia inventor. Pages from the 1950s and even the 1920s can be snapped into a modern Filofax. The Lefax is a Philadelphia First that still exists today.
–Michael McGettigan /Trophy Bikes
I would like to nominate how the idea of row houses came into existence and also when and how the City became known for its trashiness and blight
How about something on ethnic diversity and conflict in the city’s history? A few names to add to Mr. Hopkin’s list of influential individuals: James Forten, Richard Allen, Absalom Jones, Benjamin Tucker Tanner and his son – Henry Ossawa Tanner, Frances E. W. Harper, and so many others of African descent. I was fascinated to read about Sulzberger. My parents and cousins attended the school named after him. It was fascinating to read about who he was and what he accomplished in one of the above entries.
The following topics were nominated by participants in a content planning session at the Mid-Atlantic Popular/American Culture Association conference in Philadelphia on Nov. 4, 2011. Participants recommended lengths for these essays as short, medium, or long. The categories reflect the subject areas of the conference and others suggested by participants in the session.
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES
– W.E.B. DuBois’ Study of the Philadelphia Negro (medium)
– Religion in black Philadelphia (short)
– Racism during World War II (short)
– Black caterers, 19th century (short)
– Francis Johnson (short)
– Abolitionism (short)
– 1960s riots and civil rights (short)
ARCHITECTURE, ENVIRONMENT, BUILT ENVIRONMENT
– Philadelphia Planning Commission (long)
– City Beautiful Movement in Philadelphia (long)
– Suburbanization of 19th/20th centuries (long)
– Walnut Lane Bridge (1st prestressed concrete structure in America) (long)
– Frank Mead, architect and traveler (short)
– Famous streets, buildings, parks, bridges, square (long)
– Parks / green spaces (long)
– Landmarked buildings/areas (long)
– Fairmount Park (short)
– Urban renewal projects (short)
– Rowhouses and twin houses (long)
– Octavia Hill Association (medium)
– Philadelphia Housing Association (medium)
– Working class neighborhood houses – self-building (medium)
– Samuel Yellin (short)
– Post WW2 suburbs (long)
– Recreating the urban Main street in the suburbs (short)
– Stock plan publishers – house plans, 20th century (medium)
– Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, and their collaborators, e.g. Steve Izenour (long)
– The question of a Philadelphia school of architecture, the 1960s (long)
– Afred Penpinto, architect and artist (short)
– Music venues (long)
– Frank Furness (long)
– Malls (short)
– Ben Franklin Parkway (medium)
– Billboard messages throughout the city (short)
– Growth of the Main Line suburbs (medium)
– Chestnut Hill growth (medium)
– Bartram’s Gardens (short)
– The Woodlands (short)
– Irish Immigration Memorial (short)
ART
– Painting (long)
– Sculpture (long)
– Architecture (long)
– Photography (long)
– Graphic arts (long)
– Decorative Arts – furniture, pottery, silver, glass (long)
– Wyeth family (long)
– Thomas Eakins (long)
– New Hope School of Artists (long)
– Panoramas, dioramas, scale models of the city of Philadelphia (long)
– PAFA (medium)
– Mural Arts (medium)
– Hudson River School painters from Philadelphia (medium)
– Philadelphia Museum of Art (medium)
– Charles Willson Peale (medium)
– Columbianum (medium)
– Philly public “wall writing” (graffiti) (long)
– Darby School of Art (medium)
– Isaiah (sp?) Zeggar (short)
– Public art projects (short)
– Art exhibition program at Philadelphia International Airport (medium)
– Fleisher Art Memorial (short)
– William Trost Richards (short)
– Neil Welliver (short)
– Public sculpture – Washington @ Eakins Oval, Clothespin, Indiana’s LOVE (long)
CHILDREN/CHILDHOOD
– Classic children’s stories originating in the area (short)
– Progressive playground movement, early 19th century (short)
– South Playgrounds (short)
– Children’s authors (short)
– Children in 19th century industry (short)
– Children’s culture in the city, examples: parks, museums, Please Touch, Franklin Institute, light show, etc – are we a friendly city for kids? (short)
– How does the city bring/teach the holidays to children (traditions/sites)? (short)
CONSUMER CULTURE
– 19th century public and private markets (medium)
– Reading Terminal Market (short)
– Italian Market (short)
– Department stores (short)
– Cheesesteaks (short)
DEATH
– Shrines (long)
– Philadelphia police funerals (medium)
– Washington Square (short)
– Yellow fever (short)
– Laurel Hill Cemetery (short)
– Jewish cemeteries in Philadelphia (medium)
– Reputation as “Killadelphia” (short)
– Drexel Hill Arlington Cemebery, incl. Museum of Mourning Arts (short)
DECORATIVE ARTS, FASHION, APPEARANCE, MATERIAL CULTURE
– Rose Valley / Arts & Crafts Movement (short)
– Mummers (short)
– Moore College (short)
– Stetson hats (short)
– Frank Furness (short)
DISABILITY STUDIES
– Activism (medium)
– Making public buildings accessible (short)
EDUCATION
– Education models (short)
– Famous educators (short)
– Scott Nearing, U. of P. professor (short)
– Education experiments (short)
– Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women (present Temple Ambler) (short)
– Penn (short)
– Notable Philly colleges/universities (long)
– Central High School for Boys (short)
– Philadelphia High School for Girls (short)
FOOD and DRINK
– Ethnic foods / recipes (long)
– Ethnic restaurants (long)
– Regional foods – Contributions by immigration cultures and cross-cultural interaction (long)
– The Philadelphia cheesesteak – South Philly regional food and identity (medium)
– The cheesesteak wars – industrial branding and market competition (short)
– Pepper pot soup (short)
– Pennsylvania Dutch food (long)
– Pretzels (medium or long)
– Scrapple (short)
– Historic Philly Bars and Restaurants (active or not) (long)
– Old City gentrification and the bar scene (short)
– 18th century taverns (short)
– 18th century food and preparation (medium)
– 19th century cookbooks (medium)
– 19th century black caterers (medium)
– Temperance (medium)
– Water ice (short)
– Sarah Rohrer (short)
– Black cherry Wisniak soda (short)
– Pizza variations in Philadelphia (short)
– Tomato pie (short)
– Food chains that started in Philly (medium)
– Restaurant “Revolution” (linked to travel & tourism)
GEOGRAPHY
– Neighborhoods (short)
– Ethnic neighborhoods (short)
– Gayborhood (short)
– Center City (short)
– 1854 Consolidation (short)
– Waterways (short)
LANGUAGE and DIALECT
– Tracing dialects in the region (short)
– “Wooder ice” (medium)
– “Atty-tude” (medium)
– “Down the shore” (medium)
– “Ac-a-me” (medium)
– “Whiz-wit!” (short)
– The City of US (short)
LATINO/A STUDIES
– Demographic changes within category “Latino” over time” (short)
– Philadelphia hablas Espanol? A Latino’s place in Philadelphia (short)
– Cuban cigar makers (short)
LITERATURE
– Writers on Philadelphia, divided by historical periods (short)
– W.E.B. Griffin police novels (medium)
– Philadelphia landmarks featured in literary works (short)
– Writing colonies (long)
– Edgar Allen Poe (short)
– Pearl S. Buck (short)
– Publishing houses (short)
MISCELLANEOUS
– Rocky – not just films but also role of films in city, statue, etc. (medium) – maybe even worthy of a BIG essay that links to sport culture, etc.
– Retail shopping districts, for example Germantown Ave., Woodland Ave. (medium)
– Dutch and Swedes on the “South River” before William Penn (medium)
– Fels Naptha Soap (short)
– Samuel Fels / Fels Family (short)
– Joseph Fels and the Single Tax Movement (short)
– Philadelphia publishers (long)
– Relationship between Philadelphia and suburbs (long)
– “Philly attitude” (long)
– Finance – Philadelphia as a financial center (long)
– Business improvement districts (short)
– Philadelphia Library Company (medium)
– Libraries (medium)
– Book collectors (medium)
– Booksellers (medium)
MUSIC
– A brief history of Philly’s famous music venues (long)
– Philly-related music genres (long)
– Notable Philly musicians (long)
– Notable music retail stores (short)
– N.J. musicians: Philly or NYC? (Springsteen vs. Bon Jovi’s civic engagements) (short)
– Gamble & Huff (short)
– “The Sound of Philadelphia” (short)
– Hall & Oates (short)
– Frank Johnson (short)
– 19th century military bands (short)
– Eugene Ormandy (short)
– Stokowski (short)
– Jazz tradition (medium)
– Jazz clubs (short)
– Black 20s & 30s jazz
– Songs about Philly (medium)
– Philly’s DJ culture (short)
– Red Records (1980s) (short)
– Live Aid (short)
– Live 8 (short)
– Lucy Roberts (short)
NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES
– Urban Native Americans & “place” (medium)
– Native American religious complexity and exchange (long)
– Places that were important to Native Americans (short)
– Origins of English words in Native American languages (short)
– Native Americans in the construction of important landmarks (short)
POLITICS
– 1854 Annexation (long)
– Republican machine (short)
– Vare Republican machine and immigrant neighborhoods / housing (short)
RELIGION
– Spiritualism in Philadelphia (short)
– Madame Blavatsky (short)
– Muslim history in Philadelphia, over time (long)
– Ethno-religious resurgence (medium) – 19th century German-Swedish Luterhans and Old Swedes Church; 1980s: German and Italian Catholics and white ethnic movement
– Father Divine (short)
SEXUALITY, LGBTQ
– Politics / activism (long)
– Geographic spaces (long)
– Organizations / community (long)
– Race (medium)
– Women (medium)
– Trans (medium)
– AIDS (medium)
– Reminder Day, July 4 (short)
– Barbara Giddings (short)
– GLF (short)
– GAA (short)
– Religion (short)
– Gay Community Center (short)
– LGBT Archives (short)
– Relation to City Hall (short)
– Racism (short)
– Gay Rights Ordinance (short)
– Gayborhood (short)
– Businesses (short)
– Giovanni’s Room (short)
– Seth Pancoast – early theosophist, medical innovator (short)
SPORTS
– Professional sports (long)
– Amateur sports (long)
– Collegiate sports (long)
– Major teams – Phillies, 76ers, Flyers, Eagles (long)
– Other Philly sports teams – Wings (lacrosse); various soccer – Union, Charge, Independence; Rage; others (medium)
– Neighborhood sports teams in working-class neighborhoods (medium)
– Philadelphia Canoe Club (short)
– Boathouse Row (short)
– Harry Kalas (short)
– Boxing (short)
– Philadelphia Stars, Negro league baseball team (medium)
– 1980 World Series (short)
– 1950 World Series (short)
– 2008 World Series (short)
– Joe Frazier (short)
– Women’s sports – Philly region major hotbed for amateur basketball, field hocky, lacrosse (medium)
– Wilt Chamberlain (short)
– Michael Jack Schmidt (short)
– Bobby Clark (short)
– Veterans Stadium (short)
– Connie Mack (short)
– Franklin Field (short)
– Shibe Park (short)
– Philadelphia Freedom (short)
– Sports broadcasters – Gene Hart, Harry Kalas, Richie Ashburn (short)
THEATER, DANCE, PERFORMANCE
– Theaters (long)
– Dancers (long)
– Dance companies (long)
– Dance teachers (long)
– American Bandstand (short)
– Black influence on popular dance (short)
– Innovative theater in Philadelphia area in the late 20th / early 21st century – groups like PIGIRON (medium)
– Theater buildings and theater history (short)
TECHNOLOGY/INTERNET
– Industrialization and Deindustrialization (long)
– Infrastructure (long) including wastewater treatment, plumbing, gas, electricity, which neighborhoods got, etc.
– Street lighting (medium)
– Gas (medium)
– Electricity (medium)
– Water (medium)
– The Delaware River Bridge (short)
– I-95, cutting off the waterfront and connecting the region (short)
– Franklin (short)
– First ATM (short)
– ENIAC, 1st supercomputer (located @ Penn)
TELEVISION, RADIO, and FILM
– Notable TV shows set in Philly (long)
– American Bandstand (short)
– Gene Landon Show (short)
– Sally Starr (short)
– Notable films set in Philly, maybe list some as individual entries (long)
– Rocky (short)
– Trading Places (short)
– List films by decade? (short)
– Notable TV and film stars from Philly, maybe list some as individual entries (long)
– Will Smith (short)
– W.C. Fields (short)
– Brief history of Philly’s TV news (long)
– Philly TV networks (short)
– Atwater Kent (short)
– Early radio stations (short)
– Movie houses – Mastbaum (short)
– Philly’s independent film scene (short)
– Film festivals in Philly (short)
– Philly’s college radio stations (short)
TRAVEL and TOURISM
– Tourist production of landmarks (historic) and living history museums (long)
– History of travel guidebooks and how they trace growth of the city (medium)
– SS United States (its mooring in Philadelphia) (short)
– Philadelphia hablas Espanol? A Latino’s place in Philly (short)
– A stranger looking for love in the “City of Brotherly Love” (short)
– GPTMC / Marketing Philadelphia in the late 20th/early 21st century (long)
– Gay tourism (short)
– Casinos (short)
– Museums (medium)
– Philadelphia Historic Ordinance (medium)
– How did Phila’s historic societies secure key donations? Who decided they were important enough to preserve, see, and promote as “must see” (medium)
– Port of Phila (medium)
– Ferries (medium)
– Trolleys (medium)
– Railroads (medium)
– Streetcars (medium)
– Subway (medium)
– Steamboats (medium)
– City icons (short)
– Independence Park (short)
– Fairmount Park (short)
– Laurel Hill cemetery (short)
– Philadelphia Waterworks (medium)
– Philadelphia 1876 Centennial (medium)
– Early tour companies (medium)
– Philadelphia cultural institutions (medium)
– Holiday tourism – light show, Dickens Village, Christmas Village, Longwood Gardens
URBAN CULTURE, WORKING CLASS CULTURE, and ACTIVISM
– Public transportation system – history, types, etc. (medium)
– Worlds fairs and expositions (long)
– Civic engagement over the years (long)
– Demographic shifts and recreation of neighborhoods (long)
– Ethnic neighborhoods (long)
– Immigration and English – “When ordering, please speak English”- Geno’s (short)
– Important thoroughfares, for example Germantown Ave., Spring Garden Ave., Wissahickon Ave, etc (medium)
– Philadelphia Vacant Lots Association, 1897-1928 (medium)
– Dr. Ted Hershberg’s seminal 1970s Philadelphia Social History Project (medium)
– Working class and immigrant civic groups, for example Greater Eastwick Improvement Association, Clearview Improvement Association (medium)
– Community gardening (medium)
– Quaker Lace Company (short)
– Tanneries (short)
– Philanthropy (short)
– Occupy movement, relation to other city/youth activism? (short)
– Urban dialects (short)
– Cultural holidays (short)
– Green movements (short)
WAR and VIOLENCE
– Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and New York Shipbuilding Corporation – birth of the modern Navy (long)
– Building the Iowa class battleships (short)
– Female shipyard workers (medium)
– Female war workers (medium)
– WWII – “Rosie the Riveter (medium)
– French and Indian War (medium)
– Revolution (medium)
– War of 1812 (medium)
– Civil War (medium)
– WWI (medium)
– WWII (medium)
– Vietnam War (medium)
– Philly in the wars of the 18th and 19th centuries (nexus between north and south) (short)
WOMEN’S STUDIES
– Women’s organizations / historic sites (long)
– Activism – women’s suffrage, “girl strikers” etc (long)
– College women’s culture (medium)
– Muslim (et al) women in Philadelphia (medium)
– Woman suffrage activity in the city (medium)
– Female war workers – World War II “Rosie the Riveter” (medium)
– 18th century female professions (short)
– Women and prohibition (short)
– Career/activist women of the New Century Trust (short)
The following topics were submitted on comment cards or suggested in discussion groups at the “Corrupt and Contented” program of the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable series on November 15, 2011, at Philadelphia Media Network headquarters:
– Philadelphia’s political relationship with the state of Pennsylvania and how it affects the political culture of the city.
– Across lines: All wealth is stolen
– Racism: Why America can’t have this discussion.
– Elections rigged
– Government
– Politics
– L&I Inspectors
– Conflict of interest with leaders appointing the ethics board
– 1897 Bullitt Charter
– 1951 Charter
– Voter education and trends
– Term limits
– Public financing
– 1918 flu epidemic
– history of public schools and individual schools/neighborhood
– history of hospitals
– colleges / universities
– voting patterns / rights
– WHYY (based here)
– Fairmount Park
– Historic cemeteries
– MOVE and other groups
– Housing – basic shelter or long-term investment? Will the American dream be deferred for generation X and Y?
– Public housing (PHA) not so public these days! Housing the lower income or gentrification tool?
– Education – reform – where will we end up as a nation? Charter schools. Voucher – better educated? Maybe not.
– Some issues exist around the state, at least at the “common man” level
– Politics is both who and what you know.
– What is the role of the press in recognizing and reporting on corruption?
– Given problems in PHA – what is the future of affordable housing in the future?
– Development of private and public housing.
– Development of private and public education.
– Union and neighborhood involvement has been critical – is unexplored at this juncture.
– “Occupy movement signals a fundamental shift – more powerful and indicative than voting?
– Real choices in voting are slim – does anything significant come about through elections. Elections and compromises have co-opted power of unions/movements.
– Centrality of workers’ struggles vs Occupy movement.
– People don’t organize to overthrow a government, they organize because of oppression, to throw it off.
– High rate of imprisonment in U.S. – repressive government has caused U.S. citizens to be more likely to go to prison than citizens of other countries.
The following suggestions were submitted on comment cards at the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program, “Workshop of the World” at the Tacony Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, October 19, 2011:
— Restoration of the waterfront – especially the SS United States.
— Asian immigration (Chinatown, Hmong, Korean merchants, more).
— Labor history and strikes.
— Music industry / history in Philadelphia.
— Labor’s part in this whole process.
— More labor history, especially individual unions.
— More on working women in Philadelphia
— Geography.
— Financial History.
— Civic infrastructure.
— Organized labor.
— Other types of manufacturing businesses as well as support businesses (i.e., construction) that helped shape industrial Philadelphia
— Arts manufacturing.
The following suggestions were received on comment cards at the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program, “Athens of America,” at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on September 16, 2011:
— The place of public education in Philadelphia and its role in advancing (or not)the arts and culture, technology.
— The place of immigration in the development of Philadelphia.
— Philly as river town.
— Pop music scene.
— Connections with New Jersey.
— Themes of Philadelphia as center of divergent thinking, innovations, reform, etc.
— Philadelphia gives rise to portrait photography: science, industry figure out how to shorten exposure time within days of learning Daguerre’s invention.
— Role of women.
— Role of establishment of Catholic parishes in Philadelphia.
— Connection between usefulness and beauty – how effects the strength, power of the city.
— Neighborhood identity.
— Connections between Athenian and American slavery.
— Public art as an example of democracy and a celebration of individualism (Mural Arts Program).
— Role of industry and its effects on the arts.
— Music and theatre traditions in Athens and the early Republic.
— Philadelphia as a center for reform (prison, abolition, etc.).
— Mummers – working class traditions, mocking wealthy.
— Changing ideas of citizenship in both Philadelphia and Athens.
— New industries in Philadelphia, including education, hospitals, pharmaceuticals — “City of Eds and Meds.”
— Patterns in architectural styles.
— “Athens of America” vs. “Workshop of the World” — ironic phrases.
— Location and geography of Philadelphia, rivers and canals as industrial waterways.
— Athens as birthplace of democracy, Philadelphia as “Cradle of Liberty,” connected philosophies and thinking, inclusion and exclusion of people at the same time.
I believe a high school classmate (Overbrook HS Class of 1934) named Aaron Levin (or Levine) was later involved in city planning in the decade following. Is there any record to that effect?
It will be wonderful when in the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia the story of Father Divine can be told. In the 1930s and 1940s when segregation was rampant in the area it was He who brought it to an end and it was He who fed, clothed and housed the people during the great depression of that time. For information on these events and more, I recommend that all shouild visit the on-line site;
– http://www.fdipmm.libertynet.org
Sincerely, Philip Life
The following suggestions were collected on comment cards during the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program, “Cradle of Liberty,” at the National Constitution Center on June 23, 2011:
— Philadelphia’s history as a point of entry for both immigrants and the enslaved.
— History of ATAC (Avenging the Ancestors Coalition)
— Father and Mother Divine, the Peace Mission
— First black pioneers in the building trades, their story what they went through to break color and gender barriers
— Underground railroad that connects City Hall to the Federal Reserve Building
— Education system past and present
— The many separate ethnic neighborhoods and their locations within Philadelphia
— The parks that surround many of our communities
— The churches
— The many historical cemeteries that are in Philadelphia
— Which African American neighborhoods did W.E.B. Dubois travel through speaking to the people while writing his book?
— Prominent African Americans in Philadelphia, I.e. first Supreme Court Justice, and Congressman
— Why did Philadelphians become so negative about this city especially in the early 20th century?
— Tourism in the city from beginnings to the present. Why do people visit? What are their impressions?
— Include more on ideas of the founders.
— Cars vs public transit
— Schools and universities
— Industries
— City planning systems
— Communities and neighborhoods
— Cultural items ( i.e. Rocky, fountains, Kelly Drive, pretzels/water ice, etc.)
— Famous Philadelphians – past, present, up and coming
— Histories of buildings
— Museums
— Justice in America
— Making people aware of the positive influence of Quakers and their 18th-century acceptance of all religions and races making Philadelphia a multicultural melting pot in the 18th century.
— History of segregation within the various communities of Philadelphia
— History of the school district of Philadelphia
— Influence if charter schools
— Swarthmore College and civil rights
— Loyalist colonists during the time of the American Revolution
— Missing part of the Declaration of Independence regarding slavery
— Race Relations Institute and liberty of conscience
— Frederick Douglass
— Philadelphia archaeology. What it can tell us about the city and its people in terms of what has traditionally been left out of the history books.
— Philadelphia built around enslavement, 1st in emancipation
— Deliberative city
— Tourism
— Our museums are a great asset to natives as well as tourists
— Movement as defining characteristic
— Race, class, gender / liberty
— Broaden the categories – black, white, but also American Indian, the immigrant community, and the disabled
— President’s House in Philadelphia
— Oath of Allegiance to England
— Immigration
— Germantown
— Dunlap, the printer of the Declaration of Independence
— Pacifism
— Abolition of slavery
— Underground railroad
— Amtrak
— Pennsylvania Hall til 1838
— Philip Syng
— Free Quakers
— Philadelphia Pike to Lancaster
— Thomas Mifflin
— Tamanend
— Irish monument
— Welcome Park
— City Tavern
— Graf House
— 1793 yellow fever
— The idea that African Americans have only had freedom since 1964
— Early U.S. Capital City
— Lifestyles in Elfreth’s Alley
— First and Second Banks
— Penn Hospital
— Lenni Lenape, Shackamoxin
— Hannah Callowhill Penn
— American Philosophical Society
— Mutter Museum
— Naval activity
— The role of leadership in development and innovation in the context of democracy and citizen participation
— African American participation in all the wars past and present
— African American labor during reconstruction
— Congo Square
— African American churches
— Segregation system at PTC
— Discrimination police, fire, water department
— Colonial Philadelphia
— Women’s history in Philadelphia
— Emigrants from Haiti to Philadelphia
— Escaped enslaved African Americans
— William Penn and his “green idea” that we are just beginning to agree to
— Free states / slave catchers / no law in Philadelphia to stop
— Philadelphia neighborhoods – the revolution location in the 18th century, i.e. Swedes / Queen Village since 1600s. Lombard Street – African American border Washington Square, etc.
— Industrial beginnings along the Schuylkill River
— The role of Southern elites in Philadelphia’s political culture. The students and their families – did they bring enslaved people with them?
— Flora Allen, Richard Allen, Sarah Allen and black church activism
— What did young people do in early Philadelphia? All communities.
— Activists in Philadelphia
— Women and girls – how did they live in Philadelphia?
— The courts — interest in criminal justice issues in Philadelphia
— Define economy in Philadelphia
— Philadelphia Naval Yard (and women and desegregated labor)
— Cultural / class synthesis
— Social transformations post-1930s
— Philadelphia Museum of Art
— Basilica of Peter and Paul and its history
— Classicism
— Culture history
an article on the gay rights demonstrations held annually in the early 1960s in front of Independence Hall. These demonstrations preceded the better known Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969. It’s time for Philadelphia to reclaim its past as the first site of modern-day demonstrations, NOT NY.
Dear Editors,
I am working on a book project about Irish, Jewish and African American protests against mass culture in the early twentieth century. Mayor Weaver bans The Clansman (the Thomas Dixon play that was the basis of Birth of a Nation) in Philadelphia in 1906. A prominent judge, Mayer Sulzberger, upheld the mayor’s ban in court. He was active in Jewish civic life and had a significant legal career, including other decisions favorable to African Americans. I was wondering if an entry on Sulzberger would be a good idea.
Good luck with the project.
Alison Kibler
David Goodis, a giant among noir fiction writers, would be a great addition.
The following topics were suggested at the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable program “The Green Country Town,” on May 10, 2011, at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society:
– Traditions of civic engagement in Philly
– History of race relations
– Philly as bike city/mecca
– Neighborhoods of Philadelphia – past, present, and future. Way to capture the personal stories by neighborhood.
– Local music scene
– The Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia cherry tree planting project and annual Cherry Blossom Festival
– Urban agriculture movement
– Maps and history of parks throughout the city
– Burying of streams in the city
– History of each park and its significance. Marker ID’s to note the history. We have 63 parks, so where are all of them?
– Complete list and location for every park with pictures and highlights
– Vacant land reclamation and adaptive reuse
– Music! Dance!
– History and evaluation of Philadelphia parks
– A complete historical account of the development of the Delaware River waterfront and islands from 1600s to 2011. When were islands connected to mainland? Where were docks? Water Street? Steps?
Track patterns of land use – from how it was used as described by the first generation(s) of Europeans, to progress of conversion from ‘wild land’ to ‘developed land’ (e.g. mixed Eastern hardwoods and scrub brush & grass — to food production (vegetables, animals, fruit orchard, etc.) to buildings.
And show with mapping GIS etc. what happened to the original natural water courses — including use for ‘shipping’ of agricultural produce to marketplaces, to harbor, et al – – if in fact any streams and brooks were used in such a fashion.
Show again with mapping and with cross-section topographic info how the stormwaters flowed, how drinking water was extracted from streams, or from wells dug in town… use of cross-sections is mostly only used to show in later settlement when the rivers were no longer clean so the Fairmount reservoir(s) and the Water Works was used to pump water up to them (creating a ‘pressure head’ to distribute potable water by gravity to properties and buildings in the older city.
Show by time how long it took the water resources to go from natural pure condition, to inadequate quantities due to density of humans, to prevalence of illnesses, to construction of the WW and to the subsequent distribution of clean water and subsequent decline in disease (presumably), and to rate of presumably increased development and height of buildings once the WW + distribution piping were in place.
Show the progression of land- and of water-sewage: similar to above…
This would not be an entry to FEATURE the remarkable engineering done by European settlers as they became Americans. I feel like that is well documented, well known, and established. It would be to examine the rich natural resource which we now think of only as faucets & drains, as rain puddles and sewer backups, etc.
The following topics were nominated at the “Holy Experiment” program of the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable on April 14, 2011:
— Trail of Hope inspired by William Penn’s Treat of Friendship
— Tension between religious foundation and secularism – especially as it is part of our history and the Constitution.
— The tolerance that has been developed in Philadelphia over the years.
— West Indians and Philadelphia.
I’d love to learn more about British-born Thomas Wignell, comic-actor, theater troupe manager, and co-proprietor of the Chestnut Street Theater (6th and Chestnut) which he and musician Alexander Reinagle (who gave music lessons to Martha Washington’s grandchildren while she and George were residing as “First Couple” in Philadelphia, the U.S. Capital at the time) opened in 1793 and seated 2000 people.
I’ve seen Wignell referred to as America’s first stand-up comedian because he’d often welcome patrons before a show with what might be called a “monolog.” It was said that Wignell was George Washington’s favorite performer, and that Mr. President would often be heard roaring with laughter (I can’t envision Washington roaring with laughter, but who knows) at one of Wignell’s stage bits. The Washingtons were avid theater-goers.
When not attending performances at the Chestnut St. Theater, President Washington used to hang out with Bill Ricketts, a renowned equestrian, at Rickett’s Circus across the street on the southwest corner of 6th and Chestnut.
As a side note, when George Washington died, naturally, many public tributes were given. Among them was a monody produced by Wignell at the Chestnut St. Theater. One of the cast members was 13-year old Eliza Arnold, future mother of Edgar Allan Poe. Eliza a charming child actor played the Chestnut St. Theater many times.
I believe the Chestnut St. Theater burned to the ground in the 1820’s.