The American Revolution was messy and improvised. Nothing was inevitable. We’ll take a look at the events, and key documents, leading up to the printing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, to understand why its printing was messy, improvised, and anything but inevitable. Guests Emily Sneff, historian of early America, leading expert on the Declaration of Independence, author of When the Declaration of Independence was News, consulting curator for exhibits at the Museum of the American Revolution and Historic Trappe Jessica Peterson, Director of the Common Press, University of P
You know that beautifully, hand-written Declaration of Independence, with “In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration…” across the top? Well, that’s not this story. Instead, we’re talking about how the Declaration of Independence really reached the masses, and why that was so important in the years leading up to the American Revolution. Guests Joseph Adelman, professor of history at Framingham State University, 2026 visiting senior fellow at Brown University, author of Revolutionary Networks: The Business and Politics of Printing the News 1763-1789 Jessica Peterson, Director of the C
What is the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia? And how have its juicy bits of history been created? In this episode, we’ll find out with the help of two of the founders of this online history project. Many of the guests for this series “Reflecting on the 250th” are linked to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia in some way. They’ve contributed to the Encyclopedia project, or they are colleagues of those contributors. Looking under the hood at the inner workings of the Encyclopedia seemed like a great place to start. Guests: Charlene Mires, professor emerita in history at Rutgers Univers
The Found in Philadelphia podcast is back in 2026! It’s been 250 years since the creation of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. We’re collaborating on a new series with the community that brought you the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Listen in to meet the founders, creators, and sustainers of this online Philly history project, as well as some others who believe it’s important to know our own history. On this anniversary, we’re reflecting on the city’s past to try to understand the present. Learn more about the podcast at foundinphiladelphia.com. The post Episode No. 27 –
Over the past 50 years, the streets of Philadelphia have been a living laboratory for ethnographer Elijah Anderson. He’s been on the ground here since 1975 studying the people and the culture of our city. He’s published his findings in a series of groundbreaking books that have brought the lessons he’s learned in Philly to the rest of the world. Over two episodes, we’ll learn how Professor Anderson became an ethnographer, what drew him to the streets of Philadelphia, and what he learned there. Elijah Anderson is currently the Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies at Y
Over the past 50 years, the streets of Philadelphia have been a living laboratory for ethnographer Elijah Anderson. He’s been on the ground here since 1975 studying the people and the culture of our city. He’s published his findings in a series of groundbreaking books that have brought the lessons he’s learned in Philly to the rest of the world. This is the second half of a two-part series. In this episode, we’ll pick up the story where Professor Anderson tries to understand the rise in violence in Philly streets. Elijah Anderson is currently the Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African
Voting changed after the Civil War in the newly consolidated City of Philadelphia. More men could vote on Election Day than ever before, and the vast majority of them did, though not without deadly violence. Government corruption also expanded. The Pennsylvania Republican party machine blatantly manipulated the vote. Yet, no one did much about it. Our guest for this series is Professor Mark Brewin, Associate Professor of Media Studies, at the University of Tulsa. This mini-series relies heavily on Professor Brewin’s 2008 book Celebrating Democracy: The Mass Mediated Ritual of Election Day. If
Colonial Philadelphia’s government provided a striking contrast to the more egalitarian, consensus-driven leadership of the Native American Lenape. Election Day in colonial Philadelphia placed a spotlight on the social hierarchy with a highly orchestrated, political ritual where wealthy male voters took the stage. But maintaining the high ground wasn’t always easy. Our guest for this series is Professor Mark Brewin, Associate Professor of Media Studies, at the University of Tulsa. This mini-series relies heavily on Professor Brewin’s 2008 book Celebrating Democracy: The Mass Mediated Ritual of
The founding fathers wanted to pretend that the government of the newly formed United States stood above faction. But organizing and get out the vote tactics in the streets of Philadelphia proved this wasn’t true. By 1830, political parties had become a driving force behind Election Day. Voting was now a partisan contest limited to only white men. In Philly, the day had a wild, festival feeling that could, and often did, turn violent. Our guest for this series is Professor Mark Brewin, Associate Professor of Media Studies, at the University of Tulsa. This mini-series relies heavily on Professo
Casting a ballot on Election Day transformed into a completely different experience in the early twentieth century. Generally, voting in Philadelphia moved indoors, grew safer, more inclusive, and, maybe, a little boring. Or has it? Our guest for this series is Professor Mark Brewin, Associate Professor of Media Studies, at the University of Tulsa. This mini-series relies heavily on Professor Brewin’s 2008 book Celebrating Democracy: The Mass Mediated Ritual of Election Day. If you want to learn more and see images of Election Day in Philadelphia throughout history, follow this link to read th
These are the women’s movement histories that you haven’t heard. After the Civil War, women from all walks of life worked to make Philadelphia a better place. Some tried to clean up the streets. Some walked the streets in protest. And some continued, quietly, to improve their everyday lives through community and collective action. If you learned something new in the episode, don’t forget to leave a review and tell a friend about the podcast! Find out what I couldn’t fit into this episode at the companion blog for Episode 20 at FoundinPhiladelphia.com. You’ll also find historical images and fin
When you walk around the city at night, do you enjoy the glimpses you get of other people’s well-lit homes? If you do (and who doesn’t?), then this episode is for you. We’re going to peer into the homes of the different people living in Philadelphia during the Gilded Age. We’ll look at how they lived, what they ate, and explore what happened when they all met in the street. If you enjoy the episode, don’t forget to leave a review and tell a friend about the podcast! Check out some historical images and find a full list of resources for this episode in the companion blog for Episode 19 at Found
Despite cycles of economic depression, Philadelphia transformed during the Gilded Age. Entire neighborhoods sprang up to house a growing population. Major infrastructure projects changed how people experienced the street. For some, it was a time of marvels. For others, it brought new perils to the street. To see historical images and find a full list of resources for this episode, check out the companion blog for Episode 18 at FoundinPhiladelphia.com. Purchase books that inspired the podcast while supporting your local bookstore (and this podcast!) at bookshop.org/shop/foundinphilly. If you en
Philadelphia, like the rest of the nation, was poorly prepared for war. When the Civil War broke out, the cobbled-together city became a key part of the North’s thrown-together war machine. The war flowed through Philly streets, where city residents fought to make the best of a bad situation. To see historical images and find a full list of resources for this episode, check out the companion blog for Episode 16 at FoundinPhiladelphia.com. Purchase books that inspired the podcast while supporting your local bookstore (and this podcast!) at bookshop.org/shop/foundinphilly. If you enjoyed the epi
A 144-year old hotel register from Springfield, Ohio, sends us on the trail of the fly-by-night Philadelphia Blue Stockings. The pursuit will take us through the rough-and-tumble world of late 19th century baseball as we uncover the precarious place of women in sport. WARNING: This episode deals with sexual abuse of minors and may not be suitable for everyone. Support your local bookstore and the podcast by buying books that inspired this episode at https://bookshop.org/shop/foundinphilly. The post NEW Mini Episode No. 17 – Philadelphia Blue Stockings: Women and Baseball in the 19th Century fi
We’re rebroadcasting this earlier episode about the Black community’s fight to integrate Philly’s streetcars in the years following the Civil War 1865-1871. This story fits into the timeline of the series on the history of Philly’s streets. It details the legislative and physical battles fought to win access to public transportation in Philadelphia. Stay tuned as we continue to work on new episodes in this series on the history of Philly’s streets. The post REBROADCAST Episode No. 4 – The Fight for Philly’s Streetcars first appeared on Found in Philadelphia.
In a remarkably short period of time, the newly consolidated city of Philadelphia was covered in rails. These rails ushered in a transit revolution: the horse-drawn streetcar. From 1858 to 1861, the streetcar transformed Philly streets. It filled a major gap in the city’s existing, patchwork transportation system. But the streetcar also disrupted city life because demolition, greed, and racism ran along those rails too. To see historical images and find a full list of resources for this episode, check out the companion blog for Episode 15 at FoundinPhiladelphia.com. Purchase books that inspire
What kind of city did Philadelphia want to be? There were lots of different opinions in the 1840s and 1850s, but everyone agreed: it did not want to be like this. Our modern city was born out of the ashes of racist violence and anti-immigrant riots. During unstable times, the streets themselves became a weapon used by mobs to break, bludgeon, and burn. The efforts to restore order in the streets moved Philly towards the modern city we know today. To see historical images and find a full list of resources for this episode, check out the companion blog for Episode 14 at FoundinPhiladelphia.com.
This episode is all about change and disruption. Early factories were changing the way Philadelphia worked, and it wasn’t pretty. Dismal conditions brought workers together in the streets to demand reforms, which were derailed by an economic collapse. In the background, steam technology was about to transform Philly’s streets. A frenzy of railroad construction in the city brought chaos, as railways unsettled the traditions of street life in an expanding, explosive Philadelphia. Explore historical maps and images, and see a full list of my sources, in the companion blog for this episode at Foun
Life overflowed onto the streets of Philadelphia in the Early Republic. The streets were intensely social spaces, but could also be extremely dangerous. As the city grew, it began to take an interest in its past. Street life ebbed and flowed around a boozy calendar of events, where the powerful displayed the proper order of things, and the working class turned that proper order on its head. Find out more and see a full bibliography in the companion blog for this episode at FoundinPhiladelphia.com. Join the podcast and Beyond the Bell Tours for our joint “Badass Women’s History Tour” on July 21
The United States of America was street tested in Philly. From the chaos of the American Revolution, to its role as the national capital of the early Republic, Philadelphia was a messy, testing ground for seeing how the ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were lived by people on the street. The city was a place of divided loyalties and social divisions that played out in public. Streets were the stage for political theater, where mainstream and dissenting voices vied for control during war and its aftermath. And all of this turmoil took place against a backdrop of recurring pu
Philadelphia in the 1700s is a tale of two cities. The city is innovative and forward thinking about improving public spaces. But the city is also a place of deeply entrenched inequality. And you can see it in the streets. From small colonial town, to the largest city in British North America, Philadelphia’s wealth and prosperity is built with the bound labor of enslaved Africans and desperately poor, white indentured servants. The city grows by criss-crossing Penn’s large city blocks with alleyways and courts, where smaller and smaller houses shelter the working class, while the wealthy live
Streets are our most basic, and fundamental, public spaces. Cities can’t work without them. But we tend to take them for granted. The everyday-ness of the street gives us a false sense that the streets were always there, pretty much doing the same thing. But our streets have a history too. In this episode, we’ll get in to why streets, and their history, matter. And then we’ll discuss some of the early history revealed by Philly’s streets. Find out more at the companion blog for this episode at FoundinPhiladelphia.com. You can also get outside, with real people, who are interested in the histor
At long last… the Found in Philadelphia podcast is back with a new series about the history of Philly’s streets. It’s been… a pandemic. But it feels good to be back. While you’re waiting, check out some Philly history in the news: The amazing Sha’von Smith and the Grounded Theatre Company continue to produce original works that are inspired by history. See what they’re up to next at www.groundedtheatrecompany.org, and bring the theatre production to your school courtesy of the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion. Residents choose to rename their street after Caroline Le Count! Read all about it at www.re
Women are organizing to fund raise for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, a moment when our city and our nation will be at the center of an international stage. The United States will be celebrating 100 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The country has just survived a bloody Civil War and is in the middle of Reconstruction. But questions remain about whose country this is anyway, who has the right to lead, and whose role it is to serve. Black American women in Philadelphia have some very clear ideas about that, but they don’t always agree on how best to a
