The following suggestions were submitted on comment cards at the Greater Philadelphia Roundtable session, “Philadelphia-Area Women in the Twentieth Century: What We Know, and What We Need to Know,” at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on April 1, 2010:
- Aspects of women of color – Black, Asian, Latino, etc.
- The Global face of Philadelphia & Tri-County areas; language differences.
- Community-based forums – utilize libraries; churches; resident association; Greeks; Pan-Hellenic Council, Radio stations – WHAT, WDAS, etc., colleges, universities, Women’s Christian Alliance, Urban League, NAACP, hospitals, Women’s League, etc.
- What are the most important things we have learned from studying the history of women in the 20th century in Phila.?
- How do archives teach us about improving our lives or the lives of women?
- Women volunteer associations
- Suffrage in Philadelphia
- Adoption
- Female entrepreneurs
- Women in horticulture / Women’s Land Army
- Fellowship Farm
- Women’s wartime work
- Quaker women and their influence
- Girl Scouts
- The idea of posting profiles – smaller amounts of information – digestible
- Regionalism – Philadelphia’s relationship to PA, NJ, and DE suburbs
- 19th / 20th century reform and voluntary associations
- Public transportation / public services
- Women and gardens
- Preservation
- Education
- E.R.A.
- Women’s Trade Union League
- Women Garment Workers Strike in 1910s
- Gardens like Morris Arboretum and Bartram’s Garden
- Philadelphia’s food history, especially iconic foods. My students often want to write about cheesesteaks, and only find commercial web sites. Someone needs to connect cheesesteaks with the 20th-century working-class culture of sandwich shops. Also, what happened to the food traditions of the Germans who settled early Philadelphia? Apart from the Amaish food traditions, German food is relatively scarce.
- Edna Phillips – harpist, first woman in Philadelphia Orchestra; Elsee Hilger, cellist, Philadelphia Orchestra.
- Philadelphia Normal School
- The idea of embedding women in the story of industry in Philadelphia as workers and initiators, in public policy, in volunteering and spearheading work to enrich others’ lives.
- Women in religious organizations in Philadelphia who made/make a difference in the lives / educations of others.
- Local suffrage fight
- Women in industry – Women in labor movement
- Sexual politics
- Women in academia
- Union League and women’s entry vs. acceptance in that organization
- Immigration – experience of different ethnic groups
- Prostitution & economics, social attitudes, etc.
- Women as leaders and workers in Philadelphia Green and in the Horticultural Society