Howard Gillette — whose dedication to the Encyclopedia project shaped our vision of a regional information gateway, based in civic engagement — is featured prominently in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer. The column by Kevin Riordan focuses on Gillette’s research on the postindustrial history of the City of Camden in addition to his work to promote inclusive public history projects such as the President’s House site in Philadelphia. Read the article.
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Read about Bob Skiba in the Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday published a front-page feature story about Bob Skiba, who helped to form our partnership with the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides. Bob is currently president of the Tour Guides and heads the archives at the William Way Community Center in Philadelphia. Read all about it. Congratulations also to the Tour Guides on completion of their recent certification training and examination — as a result, twenty-nine newly certified guides are prepared for the tourist season of 2011.
New Film: The Work and Legacy of W.E.B. DuBois
We’re pleased to call attention to a new documentary produced by area high school and college students under the direction of one of the Encyclopedia project’s advisers, Professor Amy Hillier at the University of Pennsylvania. Legacy of Courage: W.E.B. DuBois and The Philadelphia Negro, was created as part of the Mapping DuBois Project.
Check Us Out on “City’s Best”
AOL’s City’s Best captures the essence of our project in a post this week by Gerry Johnson:
Sure, it’s an encyclopedia, but don’t confuse this with an outdated dinosaur like Britannica, the relic from the ’80s that took up an entire wall in your grandfather’s living room. This project includes an online volume, making it relevant and accessible in today’s digital world and giving readers a voice in the content.
Johnson takes note of the energetic participation in the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable discussions, which are helping to shape the Encyclopedia’s contents. Next up is a discussion of Philadelphia as a “Holy Experiment,” on Thursday, April 14, at Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street. To sign up, visit our Events page — and watch for the essay “Holy Experiment” on Sunday, April 10, in the Currents section of the Philadelphia Inquirer, on this web site, and on Newsworks.org.
Newsworks asks Philadelphians: Are We a City of Brotherly Love?
Our friends at WHYY’s Newsworks produced this video to accompany Chris Satullo’s essay on the City of Brotherly Love:
City of Brotherly Love – Irony or Destiny?
This week we begin a year-long exploration of Philadelphia’s civic identity, and we hope to spark a widespread conversation with a series of thought-provoking essays published in partnership with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and WHYY’s Newsworks.org. Often, these essays will be paired with distinctive works of art from the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Across multiple online platforms, in the Sunday Currents section of the Inquirer, and through public events, we invite you to reflect on the famous phrases that have defined our city — first up, “The City of Brotherly Love.” At Newsworks.org, you’ll find the discussion underway with video interviews.
These activities also help us to build The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. We envision each of the thematic essays as a gateway for expanding layers of content, and we will invite participants in our public event series — The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable — to help us determine topics to represent each theme. To see what’s coming up in the year ahead, check out our events calendar.
Please join us for this unprecedented investigation of the ideas and themes that lie at the heart of our shared history. (If you need more incentive, our first event this Wednesday, March 23, will be followed by a reception co-sponsored by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities.) Our thanks to the Pennsylvania Humanities Council for support of the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable series, and to the many civic partners who have helped us to organize these events.
Who Do We Think We Are?
Familiar phrases such as “City of Brotherly Love” and “Workshop of the World” have described Philadelphia’s history as well as its aspirations for the present and future. Slogans such as these are frequently used, but what role do the ideas they represent play in our history and civic life? These are the questions that we open for discussion with “Phrasing Philadelphia,” our new series of Greater Philadelphia Roundtable programs. Registration is now open for the first four programs. Don’t miss this opportunity to help us continue to build public participation in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project. For more information and to register, simply click on the events calendar. Teachers, this year we offer the opportunity to earn Act 48 credits by attending these programs.
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!
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!
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.