For my building history project, I decided
to research my local hardware store, which is located on 5th and Porter streets
in South Philly. The store has recently turned 100 years old and I decided that
it would be nice to create the one and only website (or record of history accessible to the public for that matter) for the store since it has
been around for so long. While doing this project, I have learned a lot about
the building and the family history through interviews and photographs that
were provided by the owner (Irvin Bruskin). After completing several aspects of
the project and reviewing my sources, I learned a lot and gained insight as to
how neighborhoods change and why it is of utmost importance to keep our history
alive today. The links below are to the website that I created, which contains
the complete history of the family owned business as well as the history of the
building. The website include photographs, videos, and a slideshow that can
easily be accessed on each page.
*Do note that the website may seem distorted on some web browsers. I recommend using Google Chrome or Firefox.
City
of Philadelphia, Department of Records. "PhillyHistory.org."
PhillyHistory.org. PhillyHistory, 2001-2010. Web. 2 Nov 2010.
<http://phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Search.aspx>. Photography Collection. November 9, 2010. Andre Reed. Jere Tobias. Personal Interview. November 9, 2010. Wikipedia, . "Anna Howard Shaw." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 15 November 2010. Web. 16 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Howard_Shaw>.
1) Do you vote in every election? (how regularly do you vote?)
2) What was the most memorable campaign ad that you have encountered?
3) Are you always sure of who you are going to vote for when you walk into the booth or are you still deliberating?
4) Did you learn about voting in school? If yes did that impact your willingness to vote today?
5) Do you know why we vote on Tuesday?
The interviewee- Michelle Bowe
answer to question 1- yes. every time
answer to question 2- The most memorable campaign ad that I have
come across wold have to be the portrait with the first black president
and his family. It not only shows him as a politician but also as a
real person and I like to see those kinds of qualities in people I
would want in charge.
answer to question 3- You know what I keep up on all my current
events and watch the news and everything but when it comes down to
going to vote I'm still kind of second guessing myself because the
mission of these politicians is to get your vote and they make all kinds
of promises and very Little do we see the results of those promises so
I think and think because I do not want to contribute to being one of
the people who put the wrong person in charge or in office.
answer to question 4- No. No at all like this going out and asking
questions and stuff. I don't think I started voting until my late 20s
until I had an understanding of political awareness and knowing that
that my voice needed and needs to be heard.
Frank Miles Day Was the big Architect of Philadelphia back in the early 1900's. Mr. Frank Specialized in Academic buildings and several residences throughout the city of Philadelphia. Based on my research its ironic that his Wife Anna Blakiston Day Was an activist for children's rights for education ! And she just happens to have an Elementary/ Middle School Named after her , in a small area of Philadelphia called Mt. Airy . What a great Couple all about the upswing of education.
The audio file attached to this post is my English/American History Quarter 1 Benchmark; the project is titled BuildingHistory. My project was about the history of the Edgar Allan Poe Historical Site, which is located at 7th and Green St. In the podcast I talk about the physical history of the building, the symbolism of the site, and what the actual tour was supposed to entail. The link below will take you to my sources.
Through difficulty with uploading an mp3 onto the site, the iTunes file podcast will be present on a different post under the account of Maxime Damis but with a tag of Sam Sirochman.
Documentary Script: Somerton United Methodist Church
Narrator- In the small town of Somerton there are not many historical buildings, but across the William peen cemetery there is a small white building known as Somerton Methodist Church. Who would have thought something so small could have some good history.
Narrator- the town of Somerton was and still is a small town, but is actually known for its fast growing foreign born population, which mostly consist of Russian and Indian immigrants.
Narrator- the Somerton United Methodist Church is located in what was originally a cemetery, until 1905 when the cemetery was moved. The United Methodist Church was created when Bishop Reuben H. Mueller and Bishop Lloyd C. Wicke of The Methodist Church joined hands at the constituting General Conference in Dallas, Texas. Then in 1958 the Somerton United Methodist Church was built; most likely by a branch of the United Methodist Church. As well as other churches across the country. The whole congregations of the United Methodist Churches felt strongly towards the different wars from having family members fight in them to sharing certain beliefs towards the wars.
Narrator- Since a lot of the United Methodist Churches had these strong views of the war, at a certain time people would actually attack and set fire to a lot of the churches because of their beliefs. During World War 1 the church had built fallout shelter ground, where the people could go in case of bombing attacks from the war. As the years went on, the Methodist churches still held strong feelings towards the wars but manly worked hard to secure peace and order.
Narrator- during the world war one and two there were many men from Somerton who left to the wars, in honor of them a small memorial was built and placed in front of the church which names all the men from Somerton who lost their lives in the wars.
Narrator- Now-a-days the church is sometimes used for a polling place, other then that the church is used for nothing more then a church.
Narrator- that’s all for now folks but remember no matter how big or small, everything has a story.
Biography
1) Somerton United Methodist Church:
- This source was the church itself. From the different signs around the church that gave the info of when it was built, and the world war 1&2 memorial in front of it. I also got some information from my dad, Francisco Roman, who knows some stuff about the church.
2) "History: Our Story." United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Publishing House, n.d. Web. 16 Nov 2010. <http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1720691/k.B5CB/History_Our_Story.htm>.
- This source gave me all the history I needed for the United Methodist Church. The church I did was just a branch of the United Methodist Church. So to find out a little bit about my church I learned more about the main one. It provided a times of when it was created and such, as well as detailed information about different activities and main events.
3) "Somerton, Philadelphia, PA photos." PhillyHistory. Web. 16 Nov 2010. <http://www.phillyhistory.org/PhotoArchive/Search.aspx>.
- This source provided me with a lot of the pictures I use in my presentation video. And helped me see what the town of Somerton was like years back. This is a really good website for finding old photos of certain areas.
For my presentation on the Saint Agnes Hospital in Philadelphia, I have created a presentation through prezi that tells the story of the building. Attached is my annotated bibliography as well.
Just in case you are unfamiliar with iweb sites, you are able to click on the links at the top to view different pages (in this case, at the top under my name is three links called the person, the place, and my works)
"MOVE: A Cult Unvelied" is a video focusing on the cult MOVE and the problems they had with the police. It tells two sides of a story with bad decisions and actions on both sides. It brings forth questions of trust for the government and a strange understanding for a cult the just had a strong way of expressing beliefs.
The John H. McClatchy Building is located on the Northern Block of 60th Street. It was built during the 1920's by John H. McClatchy. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Johnson, Vivian. Personal Interview. 30 October 2010. Vivian gave me a description of why the building's stained glass window were made the way they are.
Dender, Robert. Photographs. 2010. robdender.com. 29 October 2010. The pictures I used from the cite gave me different views of the building. The pictures also show an inside view of the building.
United States. Department of Architecture. Office of General Architecture. "60th, North Philadelphia , Pennsylvania Article : J289X2". Office of of General Architecture. Office of Gen. Arch., June 1931. Web.
At Science Leadership Academy, the Juniors in Earth and Water Streams had to do a project for both English 3 and American History. The basis of the project was to build a story about a building in your neighborhood and the person that the building is named after. For my project I decided to use Clara Barton Elementary School for the building, I then told the story of Clara Barton and Clara Barton Elementary School.
Penn Alexander (University of PA Partnership School):
By: Brenda Chhin and Donna Survillo
History (C) and English (D)
Chase/Laufenberg
Science Leadership Academy juniors were given an assignment. For the project, we were to create a hypertextual narrative telling the story of a building within our code/neighborhood named after a historical figure. We chose the Penn Alexander School, short for Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School. The day of our interview and visiting the school again was exciting for the both of us. The history of the school and the historical figure amazed the both of us. Hope you enjoy the video and if more information is needed, please read the written part of our project.
Special thanks to Ann Kreidle (program coordinator) for taking her time interviewing with us and the teachers/students of Penn Alexander.
Written:
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was born on January 2, 1898 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her childhood was lived normally as every other young girls, but in 1916, Sadie attended the M Street High School located in Washington D. C. Two short years later, she graduated and was persuaded by her mother to attend the University of Pennsylvania for Education, where they had close ties. Both her father and uncle were the first African Americans to graduate and receive any types of degrees from the University of Penn. In 1921, Sadie had become the first black woman to receive her Doctor of Philosophy in the United States. As she should be, she was quite smug about her graduation. Sadie stated, "I can well remember marching down Broad Street from Mercantile Hall to the Academy of Music where there were photographers from all over the world taking my picture."
Sadie was also apart of the first African American Sorority which was called the Gamma Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. That same year, she became the first president of the Sorority's organization: the Grand Chapter. She served as president there for five years before moving on. After graduation, Sadie had a lot in place for her. She became an actuary with the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1923, Sadie returned to Philadelphia and married Raymond Pace Alexander, a recent Harvard University graduate who received his degree in Law. Not long after they married, Sadie was the first black woman admitted into the PA State Bar. She soon went back to the University of Penn to study and earn her degree in Law, like her husband. Four years later in 1927, she became the first African-American woman to earn an L.L. B. from the University of Penn Law School and she was admitted into the Pennsylvania State Bar to practice law. Shortly after, Sadie joined her husband's law firm. They fought against discrimination and segregation in Philadelphia public places.
She became the first African-American to be the assistant city solicitor of Philadelphia and was chosen to be the secretary of the National Bar Association in 1943. She was not only the first African-American woman to hold a national office in this Association, but she was the first woman in general. Props to Sadie! In 1959, Sadie opened her own law firm and worked there until 1976 when she left to work in the firm of Atkinson, Myers and Archie. Law had become her life as she was active in over 30 local and national organizations. In 1974, Sadie received her fifth degree from the University of Penn: an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. Soon after, in 1978, she was named chair person of the White House Conference of Aging.
She died 11 years later on November 1, 1989.Sadie is remembered and honored at the Penn Alexander school that was named in remembrance of her. She was an exceptional woman.
Bibliography:
"Sadie Alexander: African American lawyer and civil rights activist." In "Essortment" [http://www.essortment.com/all/sadiealexander_rswa.htm]. 11/09/2010.
This website gives an over view of African-American lawyer and civil rights activist Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander. It was an extreme help because it was straight to the point and didn't give information that was irrelevant.
For
my English and History project, we were allowed to work alone or with a partner
from our zip code or neighborhood. In the end we had create a hypertextual
narrative telling the story of a building within our zip code/neighborhood
named after a historical figure. My building was the Germantown White house in
witch had small battle going on in a time it was there. There was a disease
getting passed around during a time period; and so much more is going on as you
will find out as you listen to my project. So I decided to do a pod cast that
talks about some of the important fact that i thought was mainly important and
so I shared them with you all in this pod cast. So I thought that would be a
very creative way to do this project for a change. I hope you all like it and
enjoy.
