courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia
- On this week 175 years ago, the deliberately provocative wedding of prominent abolitionists Angelina Grimké and Theodore Dwight Weld at 1330 Spruce Street—whose guest list Ken Finkel calls “a Who’s Who of American Abolitionism, Feminism and Social Progressivism”—incited Philadelphians towards the burning of abolitionist Pennsylvania Hall at 6th& Race. The race riot showcased the latent sectional divide of the lower Northern city and provided it with one of its more understudied great historical events. While “similar outrages,” said Reverend William Henry Furness soon after, “have been perpetrated … in other parts of our country… now the evil has come close to us—to our very doors. The whole city has been illuminated by the glare of the incendiary’s torch.”
- Tonight at 6:30, ABC’s “World News with Diane Sawyer” will profile the beleaguered yet defiant Strawberry Mansion High School—“one of the most dangerous high schools in the country,” it says. Sawyer will interview Linda Wayman, the school’s fourth principal in four years. “As a former assistant superintendent of public high schools in Philadelphia, she knew the task would be daunting, but her love of the students drew her to Strawberry Mansion.” For the ABC News press release, click HERE.
- NewsWorks’ Peter Crimmins talked to Penn professor David Brownlee prior to his lecture yesterday at the Wagner Free Institute of Science in North Philly concerning “Philadelphia, the Museum City,” and just how the city—the birthplace of American Democracy and Charles Willson Peale’s Philadelphia Museum—furthered the educational ethos of the Early Republic.
- The Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation has installed Chinatown’s first parklet—a transient park in miniature within a street parking spot—at 10th & Cherry last week, says Eyes on the Street.
About the author
Stephen Currall recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.
