Archiving the ‘City of Neighborhoods’

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), working in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia Department of Records and the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, is developing PhilaPlace: A Neighborhood History and Culture Project. PhilaPlace is a multidimensional project that features an interactive Web resource as well as neighborhood programming.

Launching in Summer 2009, the Web site will chronicle the history, cultures, and architecture of two of Philadelphia's oldest immigrant and African American neighborhoods, South Philadelphia and Northern Liberties/Kensington. Drawing on residents’ memories, historical documents, images of historical and contemporary life, and digital models, the project will create one-of-a-kind resources showing how Philadelphia, the “city of neighborhoods,” has changed over three centuries. While most history and culture is researched and delivered by scholars, teachers, and guides, PhilaPlace asks residents to share their stories with the public, making constructing and sharing Philadelphia’s past a collaborative, grass-roots initiative. By bridging disciplines, media, and audiences, PhilaPlace will create a new model, with potential to expand citywide, for connecting the public with rich archival repositories and for using place as an essential touchstone for memory, history, and culture.

In addition to the Heritage Philadelphia Program, PhilaPlace has been made possible by a joint initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Federal-State Partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Samuel S. Fels Fund; Southwest Airlines; and the Walter J. Miller Foundation.

For more information, visit PhilaPlace online.

(Photo courtesy of HSP.)