Duke Riley’s memorial to King Laird atop a CITGO tank on Petty’s Island (2009)

Two essays on PhilaPlace also wade into the little known histories of the Delaware River islands. Brand new this week is Chris Dougherty’s From Wetland to Urban Land: A Social and Environmental History of Philadelphia’s Tidal Islands. Dougherty writes:

Despite their marginal quality for most of the 18th century, these “drowned lands” [of the Delaware River] took on greater significance as Philadelphia developed into a densely populated industrial and maritime center… Residences were strewn indiscriminately among the industries and workers in the yards or subsidiary industries were rarely out of earshot of the pulse and clamor of shipbuilding on the Delaware.

From Hog Island’s shipyards to Smith Island’s saloon, Dougherty examines the marshy islands’ industrial transformations and the people who worked, lived, and played there.  And of course he doesn’t overlook the lore of the origins of our beloved hoagie—arguably Hog Island’s most enduring legacy…

In Soupy Island: Fresh Air and Hot Soup at a Delaware River Playground, Amanda Zellner digs into the historical record of the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia to tell the story of “Soupy Island,” a summer refuge for city kids founded in 1877 on Windmill Island and later relocated to the shores of Red Bank, New Jersey. Zellner writes, “Year after year, the Sanitarium’s steamboats transported thousands of children [to Soupy Island]… The steamboats left from several locations over the years, including ports near Port Richmond and Queen Village.”  In 1889, the Sanitarium Association reported that 103,516 people visited the resort and “board members proudly boasted about a system so efficient that 1,000 people could be served a pint of soup and three crackers in 30 minutes.” Here’s one of Soupy Island’s happy campers in 1939:

Both Dougherty’s and Zellner’s essays also feature a slew of amazing historical photographs like these drawn from the Philadelphia Record Photo Morgue collection.  Here’s a  sampling (click on each image to enlarge):

Construction of the Petty’s Island Bridge, ca. 1935.

Brush cut for survey line, Hog Island, 1917.

Shipway# 1 from river front, Hog Island, 1917.

Coast Guard loads six-ton “superbomb”on to a ship at Hog Island, 1945.

Workers in the snow at Hog Island’s  Wharf Road Sewer and Water treatment, 1917.

“River view of the Sanitarium Park, with the landing on the left.”  From the Annual Report of the Sanitarium Association of Philadelphia, 1894.

Children aboard steamship, “The Elizabeth Monroe Smith,” headed down the Delaware River to the Sanitarium (Soupy Island) in Red Bank, NJ. 1939.

“Waiting for lunch.”  Children at sanitarium playground stand in line outside the kitchen to wait for lunch, 1898.

Boys in swim trunks at Soupy Island Sanitarium, 1939.

Boy  posing with a lifesaver from the steamship Elizabeth Monroe Smith, en route to Soupy Island, 1939.

The Library Company is working to increase public access to and intellectual engagement with this significant body of work. Digitized images of the collection are mounted on Flickr.  An online exhibition entitled Faces and Facades of Philadelphia: Three Decades of Portraits by John Frank Keith provides biographical information about Keith and situate his work in an historical context. The photographs will also be cataloged for inclusion in the Library Company’s digital collections catalog, ImPAC.

Visitors to PhilaPlace will hopefully find John Frank Keith’s photographs inspiring and thought-provoking. Perhaps they will even recognize their relatives or themselves as children and feel compelled to share their stories of South Philadelphia and Kensington!

Five children and older woman standing in front of brick building, ca. 1930. John Frank Keith, photographer. Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Young man standing before a storefront, ca. 1930. John Frank Keith, photographer. Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Woman holding baby, ca. 1922. John Frank Keith, photographer. Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Seven men and a young boy sitting on brownstone steps, ca. 1930. John Frank Keith, photographer. Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Charlene Peacock is Curatorial Assistant for the Library Company of Philadelphia, an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries (and HSP’s next-door neighbor on Locust Street). LCP is free and open to the public.

In the fall of 2007, over seventy-five people came out to share their memories and photographs with PhilaPlace at our neighborhood events in South Philadelphia and at Northern Liberties. In search of more stories, the PhilaPlace team went out into the neighborhoods again in the spring and summer of 2008 with a team of student videographers to interview people about their neighborhoods and the places that matter to them. Others have called us after reading about PhilaPlace and generously offered to share their stories and photos, and we continue to collect from the community in anticipation of the Web launch. Once PhilaPlace.org goes live in early December, visitors will be able to contribute their written memories and stories and post their own photos and video clips directly to the site.

Myron Shegda shared stories of growing up in Northern Liberties

Cora Turpin, longtime resident of Northern Liberties

Harriet Rosenberg and her son, Murray. The Rosenbergs have roots in both South Philly and Northern Liberties

From North Marshall Street to South 9th Street, several generations of residents have shared their memories of living, working, and playing on the streets of two of Philadelphia’s oldest and fastest-changing neighborhoods. Their stories and photographs span the twentieth century, and range from national events such as the Sesquicentennial celebration on Broad Street in 1926, the Depression, and World War II, to the intensely local: New Year’s Day Mummers Parades; Sunday visits to grandparents; shopping on 9th Street; living above the family business; and working at the Navy Yard.

Below is just a sampling of the people we’ve met so far and the stories they’ve shared. Be sure to check back with us in the coming weeks as we share more of these stories on this blog as a preview of what you’ll find on the PhilaPlace Web site when it launches in December.

Charles Veasey shared stunning oversized photos of the old Schmidt’s brewing plant, rescued from the trash heap by Charles’s brother John, who was head of security for the plant.

Joe Figurski of Front and Carpenters streets shared what he called his “memories of Mummery” from a lifetime of a strutting down Broad Street on New Year’s Day.

Adab Ibrahim and Joe Brenman shared their experience of creating the Doorways to Peace community mural at the  Al-Aqsa Islamic Society mosque in Kensington.

Vince Maurelli of Colorado Street in South Philadelphia shared photos of his grandfather Vincenzo, who sold produce from his huckster’s cart in the 9th Street Market at the turn of the century. Vince also shared his memories of  attending the Sesquicentennial celebration on South Broad Street in 1926. Here’s Vince with a photograph of himself as a little boy at the Sesquicentennial:

Thoai Nguyen of 7th & Wolf shared the story of his family, who came to South Philadelphia from Vietnam in 1975 and were the first Southeast Asian family in the neighborhood.

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