UPCOMING EVENTS:
Tuesday, June 24 at 6:30 p.m. -- Sesquicentennial History Talk -- "With Liberty and Justice for...a Few" at Radnor Memorial Library, 114 W. Wayne Ave., Wayne, PA 19087.
This summer, I'll be delivering a series of three lectures at the new Radnor Memorial Library on various aspects of local history. The first talk will be drawn from my book, Sesqui! Greed, Graft, and the Forgotten World's Fair of 1926.
"With Liberty and Justice for...a Few" describes the varying experiences of Philadelphia's African Americans, Catholics, and Jews at the 1926 world's fair dedicated to celebrating life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For upwardly mobile Catholics, the Sesqui was a true celebration, with Archbishop Dougherty -- the city's first Cardinal -- celebrating a mammoth Mass in the new Municipal Stadium. Jews like Albert M. Greenfield and Jules Mastbaum ensured the fair's financial survival, yet rising anti-Semitism forced Jews into maintaining a low profile at the Sesqui. While civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph was a keynote speaker on Opening Day, African Americans were subject to an unending campaign of racism, discrimination, and harassment throughout the fair. The Ku Klux Klan even planned to hold its 1926 Klonvokation at the Sesqui until public uproar forced the city government to ban their presence!
Admission to the talk is free. For more information, click here.
Tuesday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. -- VIRTUAL HOT SPOTS AND STORIED PLOTS tour of SOUTH LAUREL HILL -- ZOOM presentation for Laurel Hill Cemetery East.
This introductory presentation to Laurel Hill's most overlooked sector provides an informative virtual overview of its long history, which includes many of the marble masterpieces, stunning views, and legendary stories that give the cemetery its WOW factor. Founded in 1848, South Laurel Hill was a separate cemetery with its own office, entrance, and superintendent until 1861, when the acquisition of the Pepper Estate as Central Laurel Hill united the two halves into the cemetery we know today.
This virtual tour will introduce viewers to the inhabitants of South Laurel Hill, including U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Commandant Jacob Zeilen; shark victim Charles Epting Vansant, the inspiration for Jaws; notorious Civil War generals Henry Morris Naglee and John Pemberton (the latter the only Confederate Civil War general at Laurel Hill); Philadelphia Mayors Richard Vaux, William S. Stokley, and John Reyburn; ballerina Mary Ann Lee; and ill-fated mafioso Peter Bisciotti. I'll also explain the history behind "The Twins," one of the most memorable and mysterious monuments at Laurel Hill Cemetery.
There is a Pay-What-You-Wish Donation of any size to the Friends of Laurel Hill which can be made when you register. A Zoom link will be sent to you via email upon registration. This presentation will be recorded and available for viewing by registered participants for a limited time. For more information and to register, click here.
Saturday, July 19, at 10 a.m. -- A GHOSTLY GALLERY: ARTISTS & THEIR PATRONS -- walking tour at Laurel Hill Cemetery East.
19th-century Philadelphia was a hotbed of artistic activity, filled with artists and illustrators trained at renowned local schools like the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). Young men and women struggled to make their marks as landscape painters, portraitists, sculptors, and illustrators. Meanwhile, the new millionaires of the Workshop of the World built private art galleries and amassed magnificent collections, many of which would later be donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, and other major repositories. "A Ghostly Gallery” brings artists like Thomas Sully and Warren Otis Angle back to life, along with wealthy patrons like P.A.B. Widener and Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Tickets are $17 general admission, $15 seniors and students with ID, and $12 for Friends of Laurel Hill. For more information and to register, click here.
Tuesday, July 22 at 6:30 p.m. -- ROGUES' GALLERY: WHEN RICH PEOPLE SPEND GOOD MONEY ON BAD ART at Radnor Memorial Library, 114 W. Wayne Ave., Wayne, PA 19087.
For those climbing the social ladder, assembling a world-class art collection has always been a golden ticket to the top ranks of society. But in their haste to reach the top, many arrivistes have fallen victim to fraudsters. The Roman poet Horace wrote that “He who knows a thousand works of art knows a thousand frauds.”
Come see how wealthy Philadelphians like P.A.B. Widener, John G. Johnson, and even the canny Dr. Albert Barnes paid vast amounts to unscrupulous dealers for "great art" that turned out to be "mutton dressed as lamb." As recent scandals involving Knoedler & Co. and other dealers and auction houses prove, the art world remains a frenzied vanity fair, where wealthy status-seekers fling away their fortunes in exchange for masterpieces which turn out to be mere dross.
Admission to the talk is free. For more information, click here.
For information on talks, fees, references, etc., please contact Tom via the Contact page on this site or email him at mailto:thkeels@gmail.com.