Monthly Archives: December 2011

Silent Night, Weird Night and a Game of Landmark Laser Tag

By Ken Finkel | Published: December 21, 2011
Christmas at City Hall, December 7, 2005. Photograph by Dick Gouldey. As far as Walt Whitman was concerned, light did right by Philadelphia City Hall. Encountering the building’s unfinished “magnificent proportions” one evening, Whitman wrote of “a majestic and lovely show there in the moonlight—flooded all over, façades, myriad silver-white lines and carv’d heads and [...]
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Lawson Sanderson: Early Aviation Pioneer

By Sara Borden | Published: December 13, 2011
The end of the calendar year offers many opportunities to remember and appreciate the American servicemen and -women who protect our country in the armed forces.  There’s Veteran’s Day, followed closely by the anniversary of the founding of the United States Marine Corps, along with Pearl Harbor Day.  Today, when we take these opportunities to [...]
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The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia’s Schools

By Ken Finkel | Published: December 9, 2011
Construction of West Philadelphia High School, 48th and Walnut Streets, April 11, 1912. When school reformers look at Philadelphia’s situation in 2011, they see too many old and inadequate buildings. Half of the Philadelphia School District’s 257 schools were built before World War II. About one in ten is rated “poor” for condition; more than [...]
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Back to Basics at Logan Square

By Ken Finkel | Published: December 1, 2011
Parkway from Bell Telephone Building – 17th and Arch Streets, February 7, 1919. No matter how welcomed and honored they may be, guests just don’t get to call the shots. It’s a basic law of hospitality. About a century ago, when planners exercised “excellent ruthlessness” sacrificing an entire rowhouse neighborhood and leafy park at Logan [...]
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