Read complete books and articles on: Philadelphia History

Philadelphia - city (1990 pop. 1,585,577), coextensive with Philadelphia co., SE Pa., on the Delaware River c.100 mi (160 km) upstream at the influx of the Schuylkill River; chartered 1701. It is the fifth largest city in the United States and has been a leading commercial and cultural center since the 18th cent. An important trading and manufacturing hub even before the Revolution, it maintains a diversified industrial base. Petrochemicals, electrical appliances and machinery, scientific instruments, and clothing are among its manufactures. Prominent among the metropolitan area's newer industries is a concentration of growing health-care and biotechnology firms. Its printing and publishing industry is important, and there are major oil refineries. Philadelphia is also a banking center.

Institutions and Landmarks

A nucleus of American culture in colonial times (among its prominent citizens at that time was the scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin), Philadelphia is still the seat of many philosophical, artistic, dramatic, musical, and scientific societies. Among these are the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1805); the Academy of Natural Sciences (1812); the American Philosophical Society (1743); and the Science Museum of the Franklin Institute (1824), which now includes the Benjamin Franklin Memorial (1933), an important unit of which is the Fels Planetarium. In nearby Merion is the Barnes Foundation, with an extraordinary collection of paintings. Musical activities flourish in the city, whose outstanding symphony orchestra plays in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. In Fairmount Park, the largest city park in the United States, are the Philadelphia Museum of Art, zoological gardens, and many historic monuments and shrines.

Many early historic shrines are also in Independence National Historical Park (est. 1956). Among them are Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed; the Liberty Bell; the neighboring Congress Hall, where Congress met from 1790 to 1800 and where Washington gave his farewell address; and Carpenters' Hall, where the First Continental Congress met. The modern National Constitution Center also is here. Near Elfreth's Alley, a narrow street that has retained its colonial air, is the Betsy Ross House, where, according to one story, the first American flag was made.

City Hall, one of the nation's largest, is a conspicuous building with a tower surmounted by a statue of William Penn. Also of interest are the Rodin Museum; the Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church; and Christ Church (begun in 1727), a representative example of Colonial architecture. Edgar Allan Poe's house has also been preserved. The historic 18th-century houses in the Society Hill section are additional tourist attractions, as is the restored Revolutionary War Fort Mifflin.

Philadelphia has over 30 educational institutions, including the Univ. of Pennsylvania, Temple Univ., Drexel Univ., La Salle College, Chestnut Hill College, St. Joseph's College, Curtis Institute of Music, Thomas Jefferson Univ., the Philadelphia College of Art, the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, and the Annenberg Institute for Judaic and Near Eastern Studies. A sports complex in S Philadelpha is home to the National Basketball Association's 76ers, the National Hockey League's Flyers, the National Football League's Eagles, and the National League's Phillies (baseball).

Installations of the U.S. Mint, the Federal Reserve System, and the Internal Revenue Service are in the city. The U.S. Naval Shipyard, once the most prominent of Philadelphia's military installations, was closed in 1995; four years later the city took ownership and began preparing it for commercial development.

History

Early History

The site was first occupied by Native Americans. In the 17th cent. there was a Swedish settlement; the land was soon claimed by the Dutch and then contested by the British. William Penn acquired it through a grant from Charles II of England and in 1682 founded Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love," intended as a refuge for the peaceable Quakers—hence the nickname Quaker City. Its commercial, industrial, and cultural growth was rapid, and by 1774 it was second only to London as the largest English-speaking city. It was the seat of the Continental Congress and served as the American capital from 1777 to 1788, except during the British occupation (Oct., 1777–June, 1778) after the battle of Brandywine. It was the capital of the new republic from 1790 to 1800, as well as the state capital (to 1799). The two Banks of the United States (1791–1811; 1816–36) were there (see Bank of the United States). The bank buildings are examples of Greek revival architecture.

Modern Philadelphia

Despite an ambitious program of urban redevelopment initiated in the 1950s, the city experienced the decay of its economic base and a sharp decline in population through subsequent decades. Longstanding tensions erupted in race riots in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Frank Rizzo, a former police commissioner with a political base among the city's working-class whites, was elected mayor. Wilson Goode became Philadelphia's first black mayor in 1983. His administration was shaken by the controversial firebombing of a city block containing the home of an armed organization of black radicals. The decline of the central city was met in part by the construction of new office buildings downtown and development projects on the Delaware River waterfront, but the metropolitan area, long noted for its wealthy and exclusive suburbs (especially along the fabled Main Line), witnessed dramatic growth. Since 1986, however, when developers were first permitted to build higher than Penn's statue atop the city hall, the center city skyline has undergone dramatic changes. The city government came close to bankruptcy in 1990.

Bibliography

See S. B. Warner, Jr., Private City (1968); R. S. Wurman and J. A. Gallery, Man-Made Philadelphia (1972); P. O. Muller et al., Metropolitan Philadelphia (1976); W. W. Cutler III and H. Gillette, Jr., ed., The Divided Metropolis (1980); T. Hershberg, ed., Philadelphia: Work, Space, Family and Group Experience in the Nineteenth Century (1981); A. A. Summers and T. F. Luce, Economic Development within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area (1986).

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13 of the Best Books and Articles on: Philadelphia History

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Philadelphia: Neighborhoods, Division, and Conflict in a Postindustrial City » Read Now
by Carolyn Adams, David Bartelt , David Elesh , Ira Goldstein, Nancy Kleniewski, William Yancey. 210 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...helped interpret the history of urban renewal in Philadelphia. There was, as always...to focus only on Philadelphias history as an industrial city...substantial degree...
2.

The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth » Read Now
by Sam Bass Warner Jr. 262 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...p. Includes index. 1. Philadelphia Pa. -- History. I. Title. F158.3.W18...and private efforts, so Philadelphias history must be organized according...earlier. A new period...
3.

The Turbulent Era: Riot & Disorder in Jacksonian America » Read Now
by Michael Feldberg. 134 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Riots-- United States--History--19th century. 2. Philadelphia--Riots, 1844. 3. Violence...familiar with the history of Jacksonian Philadelphia. My use of the term...been...
4.

Christ Church, Philadelphia: The Nation's Church in a Changing City » Read Now
by Deborah Mathias Gough. 426 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...0-8122-3272-0 1. Christ Church Philadelphia, Pa . -- History. 2. Philadelphia Pa. -- Christ history. I. Title. BX5980.P5C65 1995...1698 , 52. Ellis E Oberholtzer...
5.

The Transformation of Criminal Justice, Philadelphia, 1800-1880 » Read Now
by Allen Steinberg. 326 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Administration of-- Penn sylvania--Philadelphia--History--19th century. 2. Private prosecutors--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--History--19th century. I. Title...benefits of...
6.

William Dorsey's Philadelphia and Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black City in America » Read Now
by Roger Lane. 490 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Lane here illuminates the African-American experience through a close look at a single city, once the metropolitan headquarters of black America, now typical of many. He recognizes that urban history offers more clues, both to modern accomplishments and to modern problems, than the dead past of...
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Lane here illuminates the African-American experience through a close look at a single city, once the metropolitan headquarters of black America, now typical of many. He recognizes that urban history offers more clues, both to modern accomplishments and to modern problems, than the dead past of rural slavery. The book's historical section is based on hundreds of newly discovered scrapbooks kept by William Henry Dorsey, Philadelphia's first black historian. These provide an intimate and comprehensive view of the critical period between the Civil War and about 1900, when African-Americans, formally free and increasingly urban, made the biggest educational and occupational gains in history. Dorsey's tens of thousands of newspaper clippings and other sources, detail records of high culture and low, success and scandal, personal and public life. In the final chapters Lane outlines the urban situation today, the strong parallels between past and present that suggest the power of continuity and the equally strong differences that point to the possibility of change.
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7.

Black American Street Life: South Philadelphia, 1969-1971 » Read Now
by Dan Rose. 279 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...compromise with history I have not...urban, black Philadelphia. The first...Americas violent history. Three years earlier Philadelphia had witnessed...accidents of history...
8.

The Maritime Commerce of Colonial Philadelphia » Read Now
by Arthur L. Jensen. 312 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...COMMERCE OF COLONIAL PHILADELPHIA by Arthur...THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF...close study of the Philadelphia mercantile community...at best. Yet if history is...
9.

Bring out Your Dead: The Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793 » Read Now
by J. H. Powell. 308 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...fever -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia -- History -- 18th century. I. Title...are the little people of Philadelphia, men history usually forgets -- the...Yellow fever was...
10.

Cities in American History » Read Now
by Kenneth T. Jackson, Stanley K. Schultz. 514 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...to American development even in the colonial period, when Philadelphia and Boston ranked among the half-dozen leading cities of...its early stages, than in any comparable...
11.

Extremist Groups and Conflict Resolution: The Move Crisis in Philadelphia » Read Now
by Paul Wahrhaftig, Hizkias Assefa. 160 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Part I: Powelton Village, 1978 Introduction Historical Background The Evolution of the Conflict The Parties and the Issues Third-Party Intervention: Early Period Third-Party Intervention: Later Period Part II: Osage, 1985 The Road to Osage Begins in Powelton Crisis Intervention
12.

Reshaping Ethnic and Racial Relations in Philadelphia: Immigrants in a Divided City » Read Now
by Judith Goode, Jo Anne Schneider. 282 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

What happens when people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds come together to live and work in the same neighborhood? Unlike other examinations of this question that focus on one group, this book looks at the interaction of both old and new immigrant populations in three Philadelphia...
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What happens when people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds come together to live and work in the same neighborhood? Unlike other examinations of this question that focus on one group, this book looks at the interaction of both old and new immigrant populations in three Philadelphia neighborhoods.In this ethnographic study, which is a result of the Ford Foundation-funded Changing Relations: Newcomers and Established Residents in Philadelphia Project, the authors consider five primary groups-whites, African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, and Eastern Europeans-in Olney, Kensington, and Port Richmond. Focusing on the interaction of racial, ethnic, and immigrant communities in schools, organized community celebrations and social events, the workplace, shopping areas, and neighborhood politics, the authors show that the contradictions of individual beliefs, actions, and strategies of power are not easily resolved.By examining the local, citywide, and national economy and government, previous human relations efforts, changing immigration patterns, community-level power structures, real estate turnover, and gentrification, the authors evaluate current strategies to create harmony in communities with an ever-changing mix of established residents and newly arrived immigrants. Through their findings, Judith Goode and Jo Anne Schneider develop better alternatives that will encourage understanding and cooperation among different racial and ethnic groups sharing their lives and neighborhoods. Author note: Judith Goode is Professor of Anthropology and Affiliated Professor of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University. She has co-authored several books on topics related to urban anthropology, including The Anthropology of the City.Jo Anne Schneider, Program Director at the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, has published numerous articles on ethnicity, race relations, and immigration. She served as 1989-1990 American Anthropological Association Congressional Fellow.
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13.

The Closing and Reuse of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard » Read Now
by Marquis John F., Ron Hess, Malcolm Mackinnon, Jefferson P., Schank. 114 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The report describes the distinctly European business philosophy of the eventual tenant, Norwegian shipbuilding giant Kvaerner, and the conditions of its deal with the city and concludes that the Philadelphia example should be considered by other U.S. military shipyards that might be faced with closure in the future.