People’s Emergency Center (PEC) and the Islamic Cultural Preservation and Information Council (ICPIC) this week launched Westphillyhistory.com, a website that includes an interactive map which pinpoints sites of historic significance in the area ranging from the Lenape Indian settlements in the 1600s to Malcolm X and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960’s – up to the present day.

Visitors to the site can take a virtual tour, filter events by categories such as arts and culture or social movements, or walk through history using the timeline.

“West Philadelphia has often attracted national and international attention for its prominent role in our nation’s history. These neighborhoods west of the Schuylkill River have a rich cultural identity unique to the city of Philadelphia, making it a place of significance within a ‘city of firsts’,” reads a statement on the website.  Continue Reading

The Philadelphia Historical Commission’s committee on historic designation will consider several West Philly properties, including two churches, during a Dec. 14 meeting. The owners of one West Philly property, on the 4000 block of Chestnut Street, is asking for its designation to be rescinded.

Designation means that a property would be placed on the Register of Historic Places and the Historical Commission would serve as the regulatory body for the property. Every alteration that requires a building permit would go before the commission.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at 1515 Arch St., Room 18-029.

Here are the properties. Click on the link to see a PDF of the application.  Continue Reading

These properties along the 6200 block of Osage are for sale. They were quickly built following the MOVE bombing in 1985 and quickly fell into disrepair (Photo Google Street View).

The city has invited developers to bid on 36 controversial properties on the 6200 blocks of Osage and Pine hastily rebuilt following the MOVE bombing in 1985.

A fire began after police dropped a small bomb from a helicopter on a home at 6221 Osage Ave. following a long standoff with members of the black liberation group MOVE, who had barricaded themselves inside. Eleven people, including five children, were killed in the fire that followed the bombing. More than 50 neighboring homes were destroyed.

Only about half of the residences are occupied, and now the city is looking for a builder to buy the properties and either renovate them or demolish them and start over.  Continue Reading

The Great Migration: A City Transformed (1916-1930), a series of audio and video works that celebrate the historic journeys of African Americans to the North, are taking place this fall at libraries, rec centers and schools throughout the the city, including in West Philadelphia. The works range from profiles of local figures and institutions to experimental short films. Each screening offers a mix of local history and great film.

The films, produced by multi-media artists Julie Dash, Kevin Jerome Everson, and Tina Morton, look at the stories of Black migrants and the institutions that shaped their journey and settlement.

The screenings are presented by West Philly-based Scribe Video Center and community partners and will also feature works from Scribe’s Precious Places Community History Project, a citywide initiative to document the public spaces and landmarks that define our communities. These include short documentaries about the Belmont Plateau, the John Coltrane House, St. Paul’s Baptist Church, the Christian Street YMCA, and more.  Continue Reading

Did you know that suffrage leader Mary Grew (1813-1896) is buried at the Woodlands cemetery (40th and Woodland)? According to the Woodlands staff, there have already been some visitors to the grave this morning. If you would like to visit the grave and pay respects but don’t know where it is, look for balloons to the east of the Hamilton Mansion (Photo courtesy of The Woodlands).

When community members came last spring to hear the University of the Sciences’ proposal to tear down the Alexander Wilson School and build a 6-floor student dorm complex, they had lots of questions and one big request: Could USciences host an event that would provide Wilson alumni, parents and employees a last chance to share their memories of the school, which has stood at the corner of 46th and Woodland for 100 years.

A mural at the Alexander Wilson School.

A celebration of Wilson’s history is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 2 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the school’s courtyard (see the schedule below).

The event will include the opening of a Wilson school time capsule from 1958 and a recording booth for alumni and teachers to share their memories about the school.

Wilson was shuttered during a controversial round of school closings in 2013 and then sold. The school is scheduled to be demolished within a couple of months.

USciences paid a reported $2 million for the 1.03-acre parcel that borders its campus and includes the three story school building. The purchase, which was approved at a School Reform Commission meeting last fall, followed a long bid process that included interest from West Philly based developers Orens Brothers.

The proposed new dorm complex, which will house about 400 students and replace residence facilities elsewhere on the campus, will be U-shaped with the open end of the U along Woodland. The university hopes to break ground for the building early next year and open it to new students in the fall of 2018.

Here’s the schedule for Sunday’s event:

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Music by the Brook Street Band and DJ Lonnie Love BBQ Lunch

3:00 pm – 3:45 pm PROGRAM REMARKS
Paul Katz, MD, President, University of the Sciences
Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, City of Philadelphia, District 3
PA State Senator Anthony H. Williams, 8th District
Joan Myers Brown, Founder, Executive Artistic Director, PHILADANCO, Former Wilson student
Reverend Martin Wright, 46th Street Baptist Church
Jane Golden, Founder & Executive Director, City of Philadelphia, Mural Arts Program
Dianne Settles, Former Wilson student
Richard Liuzzi, Former Director, Wilson Community School
Dr. Kathleen Cosby-Tabb, Former Wilson student

3:45 PM – 4:00 PM UNVEILING OF SCHOOL TIME CAPSULE

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Music by the Brook Street Band and DJ Lonnie Love Water Ice

ALL DAY Story Collection Booth – Collect video and audio stories and scan in photos.