On the morning of Monday, May 14, 1838, a small group of black women from South Philadelphia, home at that time to many of the city’s African Americans, made their way north, past Market Street’s smelly fish stalls and dye shops, to Pennsylvania Hall. The Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women would soon start in the
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Drive from New York to Washington, D.C., and it might be hard to imagine that there was once anything there other than cities and suburbs. Today a vast landscape of brick and asphalt, concrete and lawn stretches up along the I-95 corridor, broken only occasionally by marsh, farmland or forest. You might wonder what grew
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Who do you picture when you think of a cyclist in Philadelphia? For many, it’s a young white man, and if you aren’t a fan of cyclists, you might attach the pejorative “hipster” as a descriptor. But the cycling population is actually very diverse, especially if you look beyond biking advocates, who are often white. “In
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A powerful little being. That’s how Hannah Caldwell Henderson describes a tiny toddler who stood up during a silent Quaker meeting to say, “Be brave!”Henderson is the chief advancement officer at Germantown Friends School, a private Quaker school that practices unstructured silent worship. Much like meditation, silent worship is a personal, contemplative activity. Unlike the traditional Eastern
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Quiet.It’s a word you don’t often associate with high schools, where hallways and classrooms are usually bustling with the excited conversations of teens. But Bodine High School in Northern Liberties is quiet. Very quiet. In the foreground is a class of 25 seniors who sit still, focusing on their breath. Eyes closed. Legs uncrossed. Hands resting
MoreThe toys that poison and data mine your childrenby Alexandra Wagner JonesAdam Garber pushes a stroller into a pediatric care center on his way to an afternoon press conference on toy safety. The little passenger, his four-month-old son Elon, is a reminder of why the work he does is so important.As a consumer watchdog for
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There are few tasks I will dodge more willingly than cleaning out an empty peanut butter jar. It’s tedious and yucky, and I don’t want to do it. Yet when it’s time (or maybe a day or two later) I grab a butter knife and sponge, and scrub the bottom and the sides of the
MoreThe Free Library adds nature strolls and challenging play terrains to cultivate young learnersby Bernard BrownApproximately 16 parents and children gather on a June morning for a stroll to the shore. That might conjure images of a summer day at the beach, but in this case, the closest thing to the crashing of waves is
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Philadelphia’s understaffed Recycling Department was unprepared for a shifting global market. As a result, Philadelphia now burns 50 percent of its recyclables.by Samantha WittchenWhen America Recycles Day was celebrated on November 15, the Philadelphia Streets Department held a pop-up event, complete with recycling quizzes, games and prizes, in the basement of the Municipal Services Building.
MoreIt was right around this time of year, a little over ten years ago, when I bought what I consider to be my best Christmas present. Earlier in the year, I had fallen in love with the woman who is now my wife, and I was feeling...expansive. When my future mother-in-law mentioned that she had
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