Download or read book Making Good Neighbors written by Abigail Perkiss and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2014-03-20 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1950s and 1960s, as the white residents, real estate agents, and municipal officials of many American cities fought to keep African Americans out of traditionally white neighborhoods, Philadelphia's West Mount Airy became one of the first neighborhoods in the nation where residents came together around a community-wide mission toward intentional integration. As West Mount Airy experienced transition, homeowners fought economic and legal policies that encouraged white flight and threatened the quality of local schools, seeking to find an alternative to racial separation without knowing what they would create in its place. In Making Good Neighbors, Abigail Perkiss tells the remarkable story of West Mount Airy, drawing on archival research and her oral history interviews with residents to trace their efforts, which began in the years following World War II and continued through the turn of the twenty-first century.The organizing principles of neighborhood groups like the West Mount Airy Neighbors Association (WMAN) were fundamentally liberal and emphasized democracy, equality, and justice; the social, cultural, and economic values of these groups were also decidedly grounded in middle-class ideals and white-collar professionalism. As Perkiss shows, this liberal, middle-class framework would ultimately become contested by more militant black activists and from within WMAN itself, as community leaders worked to adapt and respond to the changing racial landscape of the 1960s and 1970s. The West Mount Airy case stands apart from other experiments in integration because of the intentional, organized, and long-term commitment on the part of WMAN to biracial integration and, in time, multiracial and multiethnic diversity. The efforts of residents in the 1950s and 1960s helped to define the neighborhood as it exists today.
Download or read book Klezmer written by Hankus Netsky and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2015-06-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Klezmer presents a lively and detailed overview of the folk musical tradition as practiced in Philadelphia's twentieth-century Jewish community. Through interviews, archival research, and recordings, Hankus Netsky constructs an ethnographic portrait of Philadelphia’s Jewish musicians, the environment they worked in, and the repertoire they performed at local Jewish lifestyle and communal celebrations. Netsky defines what klezmer music is, how it helped define Jewish immigrant culture in Philadelphia, and how its current revival has changed klezmer’s meaning historically. Klezmer also addresses the place of musicians and celebratory music in Jewish society, the nature of klezmer culture, the tensions between sacred and secular in Jewish music, and the development of Philadelphia's distinctive “Russian Sher” medley, a unique and masterfully crafted composition. Including a significant amount of musical transcriptions, Klezmer chronicles this special musical genre from its heyday in the immigrant era, through the mid-century period of its decline through its revitalization from the 1980s to today.
Download or read book Remembering Kensington Fishtown written by Kenneth W. Milano and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2008-05-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Native Americans called it shackamaxon, the place where the chiefs meet, but Kensington soon became a meeting place of a different kind. Ideologies and demagogues, industry and entrepreneurs all came together in Kensington and Fishtown. Kensington was the epicenter of the American vegetarian movement, and a decade later the area's shipyards gave birth to the U.S. Navy's first submarine. In Kensington & Fishtown, native son Kenneth W. Milano presents a collection of fascinating and diverse articles from his column The Rest is History. Relive the golden age of Kensington and Fishtown as you learn about learn about their fascinating pasts.
Download or read book Northern Liberties written by Harry Kyriakodis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the time of William Penn, the Philadelphia neighborhood of Northern Liberties has had a tradition of hard work and innovation. This former Leni-Lenape territory became one of the industrial River Wards of North Philadelphia after being annexed by the city in 1854. The district's mills and factories were powered not just by the Delaware River and its tributaries but also by immigrants from across Europe and the city's largest community of free African Americans. The Liberties' diverse narrative, however, was marred by political and social problems, such as the anti-Irish Nativist Riots of 1844. Local historian Harry Kyriakodis traces over three hundred years of the district's evolution, from its rise as a premier manufacturing precinct to the destruction of much of the original cityscape in the 1960s and its subsequent rebirth as an eclectic and vibrant urban neighborhood. In this first history of Northern Liberties, Kyriakodis unearths the story of this remarkable riverside community.
Download or read book City of Neighborhoods Philadelphia written by Joseph Minardi and published by . This book was released on 2020-10-28 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers the 20 years that transformed Philadelphia into a city of neighborhoods, from Kingsessing to Wissahickon. At the turn of the 20th century, Philadelphia was the "workshop of the world," with builders toiling tirelessly to fill the staggering demand for housing. This golden age of construction resulted in whole new neighborhoods for the city's burgeoning population, transforming it into a place where immigrants could easily find jobs and a community to call their own. More than 200 vintage photos and postcards whisk readers back to the neighborhoods as they once were, exactly as our grandparents and great-grandparents knew them, before modern influences altered them beyond recognition. Arranged by neighborhood, this Philadelphia family album, a scrapbook for the city, is filled with rare vintage photographs and comprehensive information about the houses, the builders, the neighborhoods, and the people who lived in them.
Download or read book The Benjamin Franklin Parkway written by Harry Kyriakodis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-07 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Benjamin Franklin Parkway has sliced through the Logan Square neighborhood of Center City (downtown) Philadelphia since World War I. Named after Philadelphia's favorite son, the mile-long boulevard begins at city hall and heads diagonally towards Logan Circle before reaching the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The postcards and other images in this work show the parkway's development and its role in Philadelphia's civic and cultural life. Despite often serving as a speedway into and out of town, the Ben Franklin Parkway is a triumph in urban planning that has become a treasured part of the City of Brotherly Love.
Download or read book South Philadelphia written by Murray Dubin and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From mayors and mummers to tap dancers and gamblers, South Philly has it all. This quintessential Philadelphia neighborhood boasts a complicated history of ethnic strife alongside community solidarity and, for good measure, some of the best bakeries in town. Among its many famous people South Philadelphia claims Marian Anderson, Frankie Avalon, Mayor Frank Rizzo, Temple Owl's coach John Chaney, Larry Fine of the Three Stooges, and "Loving" soap opera actress Lisa Peluso. For South Philadelphians, whether they stay or leave, the neighborhood is always happy to give you their opinions, and in this book they talk about their favorite subject to Murray Dubin, award winning journalist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, who also called South Philly home. Music and the arts are part of everyday life. Baritone Elliott Tessler says, "I'm not a celebrity, I'm a minor curiosity. If Pavarotti lived here, he would just be a minor curiosity, and probably because he was fat more than because he sang." Jean DiElsi remembers finding work in 1943 as a cashier at a diner that would become a South Philly landmark. "It was the only diner around and it was open 24 hours. If you went to dances, everybody would go to the Melrose Diner afterwards...No, there was no Mel or Rose. it was named after a can of tomatoes. In addition to being Philadelphia's first neighborhood, South Philly is the oldest ethnically and racially mixed big-city neighborhood in the nation. Catherine Williams remembers growing up black on Hoffman Street, "We had everything. We had the Jews, we had Italians, we had the blacks, we even had a Portuguese family. You never knew there was a color thing back then. I was the only black in my class at Southwark, but you never knew. In the third, fourth grade, some of those Italian boys was big, but you would have thought they were brothers to me." These are some of the people and the opinions that make up South Philadelphia and Murray Dubin will take you on a resident's tour of the ultimate city neighborhood. But for every interview, there's also a lot of history. And Dubin provides an historical examination that spans 300 years, from Thomas Jefferson living in South Philadelphia in 1793 to the burning of Palumbo's in 1994. Whether you're a South Philadelphian yourself, or just want to understand the South Philly phenomenon this book is a must. Author note: Murray Dubinwas born in South Philadelphia and is a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Download or read book Historic Architecture in West Philadelphia 1789 1930s written by Joseph Minardi and published by Schiffer Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: West of the Schuylkill River, what was once Blockley and Kingsessing Townships is now West Philadelphia. Here is a comprehensive look at the rich architectural history of neighborhoods in and around University City and biographies of the architects who made it possible. In more than 500 images, see this area of the "City of Brotherly Love" transition from humble beginnings as a collection of sprawling farms and dusty hamlets to a streetcar suburb for upwardly mobile types looking to escape the old city and a haven for esteemed educational institutions. Packed with archival images, maps, and color photos, the book covers Cedar Park to Powelton Village, chronicling the charm and elegance found in West Philadelphia's architecture, much of which is still on public display. Examples include Second Empire, Victorian, Queen Anne, Collegiate Gothic, and Italianate styles. This is a global and historic review ideal for architects, urban planners, historians, and of course residents of Blockley and Kingsessing.
Download or read book Philly War Zone written by Kevin Purcell and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2012 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this true story set in the 1970s, you'll look through the eyes of then 14-year-old Kevin Purcell, who's now a professional advertising writer, as he watches his perfect childhood neighborhood turn into a racial battleground, where two young kids are stabbed to death, including one of Kevin's friends. Read as the author describes what it was like as young kids, black and white, from working-class families suddenly find themselves on the front lines of racial upheaval.
Download or read book Third and Indiana written by Steve Lopez and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1995-10-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Philadelphia neighborhood known as the Badlands, drug gangs rule absolutely. Each time a life is lost in the carnage of the local drug wars, a boldly drawn chalk outline of a body appears on the street leading up to City hall: a teenaged dealer, a priest, a little girl with a jump rope. Ofelia Santoro rides her bicycle through the dark, decaying streets, looking for her fourteen-year-old-son, Gabriel. She’s afraid of what she might find. Gabriel has fallen in with the most savage of the drug dealers, but now wants to get out—if he can. In this gritty, fast-moving novel, acclaimed Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Steve Lopez brings home the violence that is scarring America’s vast urban wastelands, and the humanity that might save them. “An unfancy prose is streaked by strong, cinematic images . . . Lopez aims to prick consciences, in the tradition of the documentary novelist, and he does so with considerable style.”—The Daily Telegraph “Lopez has done what Balzac, Dickens . . . and Dostoevsky did so masterfully: he has taken a torch to the back of the cave and returned to tell us what he has seen.” –Pete Hamill, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Download or read book Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell written by Robert W. Sands Jr. and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, two of America's most revered symbols of freedom, date back to the British rule of the American colonies. The main structure of Independence Hall was completed in 1732, and the final casting of the Liberty Bell was completed in 1753. Visited by over two million people yearly, these historic icons have been used as backdrops for many political and social demonstrations and speeches. Filled with images from the archives of Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia Department of Records, and collections from around the country, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell illustrates how these two historic relics generate a sense of pride and patriotism set forth by the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
Download or read book Forbidden Neighbors written by Charles Abrams and published by HarperCollins Publishers. This book was released on 1955 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social research study of racial segregation and racial discrimination against minority groups in housing neighbourhood patterns in the USA - covers living conditions and housing needs of immigrants (incl. Migrant workers), race relations and racial conflict in suburban and urban areas (incl. Slums), social implications of urban renewal, racial policy and legal aspects, etc. References.
Download or read book Voices from Marshall Street written by Elaine Krasnow Ellison and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Voices from Marshall Street is the oral history of the people who lived amid the cultural richness of their neighborhood. Those who read their stories will be enriched by the spirit of the residents of Marshall Street.
Download or read book People Building Neighborhoods written by United States. National Commission on Neighborhoods and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Historic Residential Suburbs written by David L. Ames and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Myths of the Rune Stone written by David M. Krueger and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do our myths say about us? Why do we choose to believe stories that have been disproven? David M. Krueger takes an in-depth look at a legend that held tremendous power in one corner of Minnesota, helping to define both a community’s and a state’s identity for decades. In 1898, a Swedish immigrant farmer claimed to have discovered a large rock with writing carved into its surface in a field near Kensington, Minnesota. The writing told a North American origin story, predating Christopher Columbus’s exploration, in which Viking missionaries reached what is now Minnesota in 1362 only to be massacred by Indians. The tale’s credibility was quickly challenged and ultimately undermined by experts, but the myth took hold. Faith in the authenticity of the Kensington Rune Stone was a crucial part of the local Nordic identity. Accepted and proclaimed as truth, the story of the Rune Stone recast Native Americans as villains. The community used the account as the basis for civic celebrations for years, and advocates for the stone continue to promote its validity despite the overwhelming evidence that it was a hoax. Krueger puts this stubborn conviction in context and shows how confidence in the legitimacy of the stone has deep implications for a wide variety of Minnesotans who embraced it, including Scandinavian immigrants, Catholics, small-town boosters, and those who desired to commemorate the white settlers who died in the Dakota War of 1862. Krueger demonstrates how the resilient belief in the Rune Stone is a form of civil religion, with aspects that defy logic but illustrate how communities characterize themselves. He reveals something unique about America’s preoccupation with divine right and its troubled way of coming to terms with the history of the continent’s first residents. By considering who is included, who is left out, and how heroes and villains are created in the stories we tell about the past, Myths of the Rune Stone offers an enlightening perspective on not just Minnesota but the United States as well.
Download or read book Philadelphia Stories written by Fredric Miller and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 1988 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philadelphia Stories is a kind of family album. As in their earlier volume, Still Philadelphia: A Photographic History, 1890-1940, Miller, Vogel, and Davis have collected photographs of ordinary lives and daily events from 1920 to 1960 that have shaped the collective memory of people in the Philadelphia area. Through a series of photo essays, Philadelphia Stories evokes the mood of an era that embraced the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the complacent prosperity of the 1950s. Contemporary photos document physical changes in the metropolitan area: the developing skyline, the streets of rowhouses, the expanding suburbs. Details on homelife, food prices, school activities, local politics, shopping, social mores, and neighborhood customs chronicle experiences that are in many ways distinct to Philadelphians but also indicative of dramatic social, political, and economic shifts in the United States over forty years. Using photojournalism as the dominant style of documentary photography—and consciousness making—the book also features three prototypical family albums. These collections of snapshots taken by local residents to record weddings, holidays, and other family events not only depict how people saw themselves at various times but reveal the kinds of memories they wanted to keep. While major national events create the context for this social history, the book focuses on the daily lives of Philadelphians: as they cope with the Depression, participate in New Deal programs, buy automobiles and television sets, grow Victory Gardens, hold air raid drills, visit the Freedom Train, move to the suburbs, cling to old neighborhoods, and maintain tradition amid flux.Philadelphia Stories celebrates the recent past in the words and images of those who experienced it. It is a family album for all who know and love the city. Author note: Fredric M. Miller is Curator of the Urban Archives Center, Paley Library, Temple University.Morris J. Vogel is Professor of History, Temple University.Allen F. Davis is Professor of History, Temple University.
