Plagued! Philadelphia’s Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Plagued! Philadelphia’s Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 On August 5, 1793, Dr. Benjamin Rush was summoned to the waterfront residence of fellow physician Hugh Hodge, whose daughter had recently taken ill. For days Rush had been treating Philadelphians for a serious outbreak of influenza and had assumed that this was yet another case. But when he found the small girl on her deathbed, gasping for breath and vomiting black bile, Rush instinctively knew...
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Growing Bigger and Better Year by Year

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Growing Bigger and Better Year by Year At noon on Saturday, November 24, 1827, fifty-three prominent Philadelphians gathered at the old Franklin Institute, then located on Seventh Street, in response to a newspaper advertisement calling for the formation of an organization devoted to the “highly instructive and interesting science” of horticulture. Since that inaugural meeting – nearly one hundred and seventy-five...
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Following in the Footsteps of Isaac Lea’s Historic Footprints

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on Following in the Footsteps of Isaac Lea’s Historic Footprints Scientists today undertake research in a single scientific field, usually within a narrow sub-discipline. For instance, modern scientists who call themselves geologists are actually specialists in subfields of geology, such as volcanology, the study of volcanoes and volcanic activity, and paleontology, the study of fossils and forms of life existing in prehistoric or geologic times. However, in...
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African Americans and Civil Rights in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on African Americans and Civil Rights in Pennsylvania Summer and swimming go hand in hand – or so thought the Creative Steps Day Care Camp. The camp’s leaders had signed a contract to use the pool at a private swim club, but when the children – 46 African Americans and ten Hispanics ranging from kindergarten through seventh grade – arrived for their summer swim, they were subjected to harsh criticism by some club members....
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