Wednesday, June 30 at 6 PM

Panel Discussion and Show-and-Tell

Come early at 5:30 PM for a screening of a new documentary about Bishop Richard Allen

This year marks the 250th birthday of Bishop Richard Allen, a revered figure in African American history and one of the nation’s leading abolitionists. Though enslaved ...]]>

Wednesday, June 30 at 6 PM

Panel Discussion and Show-and-Tell

Come early at 5:30 PM for a screening of a new documentary about Bishop Richard Allen

This year marks the 250th birthday of Bishop Richard Allen, a revered figure in African American history and one of the nation’s leading abolitionists. Though enslaved at birth, he eventually purchased his own freedom, started several businesses, and created one of the first independent black churches in America — Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, now known as “Mother” Bethel AME.  Allen was also the first African American figure to eulogize a president, the first black author (with Absalom Jones) to hold a federal copyright, and the first African American bishop in the United States.

Join the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Library Company of Philadelphia for a celebration of Allen’s life and legacy. Pastors from Mother Bethel AME Church, Historic St. George’s United Methodist Church, and Mother African Zoar United Methodist Church, and a historian from the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas will participate in a panel discussion, along with history professor Richard Newman, author of Freedom’s Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church, and the Black Founding Fathers. The moderator will be University of Pennsylvania professor Anthea Butler, who specializes in African American religious history. Learn about Richard Allen’s many contributions to American religion, society, and culture. At the event, guests can view original documents from HSP and LCP that relate to Richard Allen. Some of these documents have also been posted as an online exhibition.

To register for this free event click here.

The panel discussion will be preceded by a showing of an exciting new documentary about the life of one of America’s unsung founding fathers,  Apostle of Freedom: Bishop Richard Allen. Primarily utilizing Bishop Allen’s own voice found in his autobiography, the story is well supported by a cast of scholarly experts, church officials, and Allen descendants. This short film, produced by History Making Productions and funded by the Lomax Family Foundation and Mother Bethel AME Church, will leave viewers wanting to know more about Bishop Richard Allen and the events surrounding his exceptional life.

Top: View of North Marshall Street, looking north from Poplar Street; Bottom: Pushcarts mural on 900 block of N.  Marshall Street, between Poplar and Girard

What’s in a name??  Today, my old neighborhood is considered a part of Northern Liberties, but when I lived on the 900 block ...]]>

Top: View of North Marshall Street, looking north from Poplar Street; Bottom: Pushcarts mural on 900 block of N.  Marshall Street, between Poplar and Girard

What’s in a name??  Today, my old neighborhood is considered a part of Northern Liberties, but when I lived on the 900 block of North Marshall Street, the boundary of Northern Liberties was from Front and Girard west to 6th Street and south to Spring Garden Street. We never knew what our area was called. North Central Philadelphia was an easy answer.  In doing research at the Library Company of Philadelphia, I found a map that listed a small area from 6th Street to Broad as Penn’s Land.  Did that make it different from Penn’s Woods which is the meaning of Pennsylvania?

The redevelopment of Northern Liberties is amazing. Take a ride down 2nd Street, a veritable throughway to Center City from Cheltenham Avenue at the far northern end of the city, to see the changes. Beginning at Girard Avenue, is the Piazza at Schmidt’s where the old Brewery stood. Condos and glass buildings sit on either side of the street. The place is busy with eateries and neighborhood stores all the way to Spring Garden Street.  New restaurants pop up along Girard Avenue towards 5th Street. Real estate on 6th Street is listed with prices unimaginable two years ago. Has the upturn reached Marshall Street, 7th Street, and further west towards Broad Street? Not yet.

Wouldn’t it be terrific to have Marshall Street finally become the central “off -street-parking” shopping area that it was deemed to be in the 1950s when the Redevelopment Authority designated it as part of the East Poplar slum area?  The neighborhood beginning at Marshall and Poplar and continuing west now looks like a well-kept residential Philadelphia place. Houses have trees and small gardens. Where do those neighbors shop? Should they drive to 2nd and Girard where eventually supermarkets will be part of the Schmidt’s Brewery area? Why not give Marshall Street a chance to also be redeveloped as a thriving city market for the surrounding neighborhoods?  The possibilities are endless. As a walkable street, it can be a place where ethnic and local foods can be sold; a place for street fairs, local organizations, and, yes, places for people to live in the Greater Northern Liberties.

Elaine Krasnow Ellison was born on Marshall Street and lived there until her marriage.  She is the co-author, with Elaine Jaffe, of Voices From Marshall Street: Jewish Life in a Philadelphia Neighborhood 1920-1960. She is a community advisor and a member of the PhilaPlace advisory committee. You can read her account of growing up on Marshall Street, “Life in a Bazaar,” at philaplace.org.

Max Krasnow selling yard goods outside his shop at 977 North Marshall Street. Courtesy Elaine Ellison.

Neighborhood boys standing in front of the Cambridge Dress Shop, 988 N. Marshall Street. Courtesy Elaine Ellison.

A. L. Klein clothing store, 922 North Marshall Street, 1975. Photo by Irv Orenstein.

Man in front of shoe store, North Marsall Street, 1975.  Photo by Irv Orenstein.

Boy on North Marshall Street, 1975. Photo by Irv Orenstein.

For more  Marshall Street photographs and to add your own story, visit PhilaPlace.org

We need your help! Come and share your opinion and you will receive:

Free 1-year subscription Pennsylvania Legacies, HSP’s illustrated history magazine Free passes to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Free coffee-table history book

PhilaPlace.org is now adding enhanced historical maps that reveal in-depth patterns of change over time for specific blocks ...]]>

We need your help! Come and share your opinion and you will receive:

Free 1-year subscription Pennsylvania Legacies, HSP’s illustrated history magazine
Free passes to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Free coffee-table history book

PhilaPlace.org is now adding enhanced historical maps that reveal in-depth patterns of change over time for specific blocks in South Philadelphia and Northern Liberties neighborhoods. Help us evaluate the usability of these new features!

INTERESTED?

When:        Monday, March 15, 7:00–8:30pm

Where:       Van Pelt Dietrich Library, University of Pennsylvania

How: If you would like to volunteer to share your opinion about PhilaPlace.org, you are at least 18 years old, and you can give about an hour of your time, please contact us at philaplace@hsp.org

Admission is FREE and open to the public. To RSVP online click here or call 215-732-6200 ext. 214.

Everyone has a story to tell. Learn how to share yours at PhilaPlace.org, an interactive Web site that connects stories to ...]]> Introduction to PhilaPlace
Wednesday, January 27 at 6 p.m.
At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia

Admission is FREE and open to the public. To RSVP online click here or call 215-732-6200 ext. 214.

Everyone has a story to tell. Learn how to share yours at PhilaPlace.org, an interactive Web site that connects stories to places across time in Philadelphia neighborhoods. At this workshop, PhilaPlace project director Joan Saverino and PhilaPlace project coordinator Melissa Mandell will discuss PhilaPlace and show visitors how to log their own memories, use the interactive map, access audio and video clips, create tours, and view historical records.

Check out the new stories posted to PhilaPlace.org! Watch a video history of the Bel Arbor Community Garden in South Philadelphia. Read tales of legendary games of halfball and re-creating World War II scenes in chalk on the streets of North Philadelphia in the 1950s.

And don’t forget to check out recent blog posts about an early 20th-century Philadelphia urban photographer, an Italian immigrant playwright in South Philadelphia, and memories of Mummers.

PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 1, 2009) – The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has announced that PhilaPlace – an interactive Web site that connects stories to places across time in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods – will officially launch on December 9, 2009.  The site, located at www.PhilaPlace.org, weaves stories shared by ordinary people of all backgrounds with historical ...]]>

PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 1, 2009) – The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has announced that PhilaPlace – an interactive Web site that connects stories to places across time in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods – will officially launch on December 9, 2009.  The site, located at www.PhilaPlace.org, weaves stories shared by ordinary people of all backgrounds with historical records to present an interpretive picture that captures the rich history, cultures, and architecture of our neighborhoods – past and present.

Read Full Press Release (PDF)

Read Full Press Release (PDF)