Hidden City Philadelphia

24/01/2025

Now that's how you do a winter wedding. South Philly, 1968, courtesy of the Estate of Barbara Rocco.

We're still taking photo submissions for PHILADELPHIA IN COLOR, 1950-1990 at phillyincolor.org. More snaps of vintage ~lewks~ like these, please.

22/01/2025

Winter 1961 at Charles W. Henry School in West Mt. Airy. It's OK, '60s kids -- we weren't able to build a very tall snowman from our most recent 2025 snow, either.

Thank you to the Fluhr family and everyone else who's submitted their family photos for PHILADELPHIA IN COLOR so far. We're collecting images through April, so please keep it up! More details on the book and how to submit your photos at philyincolor.org

20/01/2025

On this day commemorating Martin Luther King Jr., we look back at his visit to Philadelphia in August 1965 during his "Freedom Now" tour. According to the Pennsylvania Historical Mark commemorating the site of the rally in the second photo (40th & Lancaster, in front of 10,000 people), the tour was meant to "[bring King's message] into northern Black neighborhoods, supporting local civil rights efforts and raising funds. His goal was to empower the formation of a coalition to address their common concerns."

That same day, King also spoke at a rally to desegregate Girard College, as seen in the first photo -- although that appearance almost didn't happen.

The Girard College protest was led by Cecil B. Moore, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP. The original plan was to meet in front of the school at dawn on May 1, 1965 and go over the wall, but informants tipped off the police, so the plan changed to picketing that continued for the next 7 months and 17 days, making it the longest U.S. civil rights protest at the time.

At first, Moore had no interest in King's support at Girard College. It “appears,” he said that summer, “as if the white power structure is using [King] to divide Philadelphia Negroes," and some historians agree that local white liberal elites of the time were hoping to use King to challenge Moore’s more radical approach to civil rights in Philadelphia. Another quote from Moore that summer: "The imported Gandhi philosophy of non-violence will not be accepted in Philadelphia where we believe in self-help and self-defense.”

Moore's more militant philosophy was more popular among working-class Black Philadelphians than King's, so King at first decided not to visit Philadelphia so as not to create dissent. But two days before the trip a deal was reached, and Moore and King amicably came together for the rally in West Philly and King's speech at Girard College later that same day.

Photo 1 via WHYY
Photo 2 courtesy Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries

17/01/2025

Just released: a special between-seasons "Winterlude" bonus episode of the Song of Philadelphia podcast in which host Julien Suaudeau brings Philadelphia back with him to Paris. (Note the Eagles sweatshirt in la réflexion.) Unfortunately, the trip had a somber purpose: Julien's parents are aging and his father is ill. "Since I moved to Philly, it’s always been on my mind that this moment would come. I just didn’t realize how soon it would feel."

As he wanders the city grappling with his father's decline, Julien meditates on how the sounds of Paris are familiar to him as his hometown, but also as an echo chamber of Philly. "In my head, there is an infinite hallway of sound portals from one to the other. It felt like a cross between hunting and translating. And also like a pretty cool conversation with the ghosts of great flâneurs, from Baudelaire to Benjamin."

Listen here: https://hiddencityphila.org/104336-2/

16/01/2025

What a gift, when someone truly understands you, and what a loss when they are gone. David Lynch died today at the age of 78. His seminal work as a director aside, we mourn his passing because of several interviews he gave to City Paper (or was it Philly Weekly?) in the 1990s and early 2000s that expressed the inchoate feelings and plenty of other folks had about what gave Philadelphia its particular fascination.

Much later, in 2014, hired Hidden City to create a tour of the neighborhood (the Eraserhood/Callowhill/the Loft District) where Lynch lived in his student days to accompany a retrospective of Lynch's paintings. We teamed up with Lynch aficionado and have offered the tour once or twice a year ever since. (Gotta be at least twice this year 🫤).

PAFA had gotten the idea of contacting us because they had seen our aricle about a Canadian teenager who in the late 1960s photographed in color the trolleys that were his passion (and much else incidentally). This was the city Lynch knew and was responding to, and which he later described as he does in this post's graphic. That article (link in bio) was the germ of the idea which would become our current book project, Philly in Color, 1950 to 19990. And so we keep seeking to evoke the lost world that Lynch knew.



Illustration

16/01/2025

Today on our website: A Song of Survival and Loss

Many historic venues are gone, but Philly’s musical heritage, much of it created by African American artists, is being preserved through its buildings, devotees, and ongoing influence.

Many historic venues are gone, but Philly’s musical heritage, much of it created by African American artists, is being preserved through its buildings, devotees, and ongoing influence

14/01/2025

Today on our website: Northwest Apartments Historic District Added to the Philadelphia Register

Kimberly Haas has this report from the January 2025 meeting of the Philadelphia Historical Commission.

Kimberly Haas has this report from the January 2024 meeting of the Philadelphia Historical Commission

12/01/2025

As many of you have probably heard by now, on Thursday Macy's HQ announced that it will close its store in the Wanamaker Building in March. Unless a similar tenant is found, the store's departure will likely bring a belated end to the era of the Great Department Store in Philadelphia.

For Philadelphians, Wanamaker’s was more than just a department store; it was a civic landmark with the world’s largest pipe organ, a monorail that snaked through the eighth-floor toy department, and noontime appearances by celebrities and political figures. Visitors dined at the Crystal Tea Room or met “at the eagle” in the grand court. Films like Blow Out, Mannequin, and 12 Monkeys used it as a backdrop.

Fortunately, the organ cannot be torn out by a new tenant (at least without hiring expensive lawyers). The Grand Court, the Organ and the Eagle are among the very few interiors protected by virtue of being included on the Philadelphia Historic Register. We sincerely hope that public access to the Grand Court and the Eagle will continue, and that the tradition of the Noontime organ concert, virtually unbroken for more than a century, will continue to fill this magnificent space with its resonant sound for years to come.

We've written several in-depth articles about Wanamaker's over the years, which you can read here: https://hiddencityphila.org/search/wanamaker

Photos 1-3 courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Photos 4-7 by Bradley Maule for Hidden City

10/01/2025

Loving the '70s colors in this photo -- another strong candidate for PHILADELPHIA IN COLOR. Does anyone remember the ol' KYW Sports Express? And if you do, can you explain what those butterfly-looking thingies all over the train were all about?

This photo was likely taken at the end of the line at Fern Rock station, in the rail yard. Explore more Broad Street Line history this weekend with our ALL ABOARD! Broad-Ridge Subway tour! Link in comments.

09/01/2025

Today on our website --> Restoration Role Model: Ohio House

A Buckeye beauty in Fairmount Park receives a refined rehabilitation.

A Buckeye beauty in Fairmount Park receives a refined rehabilitation

08/01/2025

To be honest, we thought yesterday's snow day was a little underwhelming, so here's a flashback to a REAL Philly snowstorm.

We think this photo is a strong candidate for our photography book PHILADELPHIA IN COLOR, 1950-1990: the snow piles, the pops of color, the Roger Sterling-looking guy on the sidewalk...*chef's kiss* Can anyone help us nail down the year and location where this was taken? We're thinking early-to-mid 1960s, somewhere in Chestnut Hill or Mt. Airy?

For more info about the project or to submit your own photos, check out phillyincolor.org

07/01/2025

Today on our website --> Unlisted Philadelphia: USS Olympia

Alan Jaffe and Bryan Mckinney spotlight unique and significant buildings not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in the architectural illustration series, Unlisted Philadelphia. In this installment, a mighty warship on the waterfront awaits historic protections.

Alan Jaffe and Bryan Mckinney spotlight unique and significant buildings not listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in the architectural illustration series, Unlisted Philadelphia. In this installment, a mighty warship on the waterfront awaiting historic protections

02/01/2025

Today on our website: Watershed Restoration Efforts Aim to Manage Stormwater

David Bell explains why mimicking historic landscapes is crucial to limiting floods and water pollution.

David Bell explains why mimicking historic landscapes is crucial to limiting floods and water pollution

02/01/2025

Happy New Year, Philadelphia! Here's a parade of photos from Mummers parades past.

Which of these should make the cut for PHILADELPHIA IN COLOR, 1950-1990? Learn more about the project and submit your own photos at phillyincolor.org

31/12/2024

SINKHOLES ENCORE! Due to popular demand, we just ordered a second print run of our 2025 Philadelphia Sinkholes calendar -- but the only way to get it is to make a tax-deductible donation to our annual fund drive.

You have 'til midnight TONIGHT!
https://hiddencityphila.allyrafundraising.com/campaigns/13271-fund-drive-2024

31/12/2024

"Better late than never." True for sending a birthday message on a postcard from the Wissahickon, and true for making a tax-deductible donation in the final days of our annual fund drive!

Make a $45+ donation and get one of our ever-popular vintage Philly postcard mystery six-packs. This is just a small sampling of our collection -- we have HUNDREDS of these antique souvenirs (all pre-1940s).

You have until MIDNIGHT tomorrow night to donate. Don't miss out!
https://hiddencityphila.allyrafundraising.com/campaigns/13271-fund-drive-2024

30/12/2024

Today on our website: The Mummers’ Signature Tune and the Composer Who Wrote It

Kimberly Haas introduces us to James Bland, the prolific African American musician that penned Philadelphia's New Year's Day anthem, “Oh Dem Golden Slippers.”

Kimberly Haas introduces us to James Bland, the prolific African American musician that penned Philadelphia's New Year's Day anthem, “Oh Dem Golden Slippers”

29/12/2024

The theme of our 2025 calendar is SINKHOLES. Sinkholes: One of the many things Philly just does BETTER than other cities. (Making them. Not necessarily fixing.) According to , from 2015-August 2019, the Streets Department received more than 17,000 reports of sinkholes throughout the city.

Thank you to artist for dreaming this up! Get yours with a donation to our annual fund drive, ending December 31st! Link in bio.