The Greater Philadelphia Roundtable: Philadelphia’s strong tradition of neighborhood distinctiveness has lasting power and deep roots. In this culmination of the series, we looked at the foundations of community experience. How do neighborhood ties unite and sometimes divide us? Across neighborhood boundaries, how do we form the common bonds of civic life? This panel was moderated by Carolyn Adams of Temple University with panelists including Linn Washington of Temple University, Domenic Vitiello of the University of Pennsylvania, and Thoai Nguyen of SEAMAAC. Program co-sponsors included the Philadelphia History Museum and SEAMAAC.
Attendees had the opportunity to see the museum’s new exhibits:
The Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent recently reopened, in part, as a preview to the museum’s full reopening this summer. A three-year renovation has upgraded the pre-Civil War structure (the original home of the Franklin Institute) adding new galleries and two currently opened exhibitions with more to come this summer.
Start in the orientation gallery where City Stories: An Introduction to Philadelphia welcomes visitors in a multi-layered exhibition featuring almost 30 artifacts that help illustrate Philadelphia’s transition from the “greene country towne” founded by William Penn to the place where the Declaration of Independence was signed to the Workshop of the World and the World Champion Phillies. City Stories features an original media presentation with contemporary Philadelphians sharing their feelings on the city of neighborhoods.
Philadelphia Voices: The Community History Gallery serves as a preview space for the five additional galleries to be unveiled this summer. Celebrated artifacts displayed here, including Joe Frazier’s boxing gloves, George Washington’s pocket watch, and a Passmore Williamson family portrait, provide a further glimpse into the Museum’s extensive collection.