Temple University-Fall 2013
History 867: Founding Philadelphia: an Urban Experience
Dr. Helen Altenpohl Heinz
Section 1, Tu, Thurs 8:00-9:20
HAHeinz@Juno.com
Anderson 8
HAHeinz@Temple.edu
Office hours: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Tu, Thurs. @ Anderson Coffee Shop lounge— or as arranged.
Mailbox at Gladfelter Hall 9th floor,
Home: 215-493-4569(before 10PM)
Overview: This course requires you to explore the founding of the City of Philadelphia and the Delaware
Valley region. You will consider the forces that contributed to the growth of this major American urban
metropolis. I presume a general interest in your environment and a curiosity about how it came to be. Known
as a “City of Neighborhoods,” Philadelphia serves as a particularly appropriate paradigm for typical American
urban growth, while the incredible ethnic historic fabric of the region gives it a character uniquely its own.
This is a writing intensive course, part of the college studies program to help you develop your observational
and critical thinking skills and express your written voice.
As a history survey, the course assumes that students have no previous formal academic background in
American history, architecture, or urban planning. It utilizes local history as a lens to explore and to
reflect national and international events, yet see the local impact on people and the environment. Additionally
the course engages students in designing, conducting, and completing research that is historically based and
may be experiential. Some skills acquired should include: “reading” the built environment, working with
primary documents, conducting oral histories and interviews, working with secondary sources written by
historians, antiquarians, website designers, journalists, or urban professionals, and deriving information from
cultural institutions such as museums and historical sites, through visits and/or internet surfing. The course
should be useful to almost everyone interested in learning how to conduct formal cultural or ethnographic
research and then enable them to create a professional written and visual presentation of their viewpoint.
Required Books: Weigley, Russell F. (ed.) Philadelphia: A 300-Year History. New York, NY: W.W.
Norton & Co., 1982.
Additional Sources-Recommended for a cultural type presentation:
Davis, Allen F. & Mark H. Haller. (eds.) The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and
Lower-Class Life. Philadelphia, PA: Univ. of PA. Press, PA. Paperbacks, 1998.
Assignments:
1. Read text and find internet sources that further illuminate topics of the week.
2. Make 3 required trips out of 4 possible trips. Have fun but be safe (small group?). Turn in 2-3 pages of
your personal observations after your trip. These “Tour reports” are due in class on weeks 2, 4, 7, 13.
3. Submit articles from local newspapers/magazines/internet sites of interest to the class, relevant to
Philadelphia, and bring back unique brochures/info from sites visited—this helps participation grade.
4. Participate in discussions of weekly topics adding any info you find from readings, websites, etc.
5. Study for quizzes or do alternative short research topics—difficulty calibrated on class’ involvement.
6. Write a Term Paper (8-10 pages) on a topic specifically related to Philadelphia. Create a powerpoint or
short presentation (5 minutes) for the rest of the class on your work. Paper due last day of class.
7. Mid-term and a Final Exam, which may be waived for excellent work on your part.
Grading: Please read CAREFULLY! PLAN accordingly!
3 different tour reports @ 10 % each = 30 % of grade. You may do more report work to assure full credit.
5+ in-class quizzes, homework or short internet research reports: 20 % of total grade (worst tossed)
Mid-term & Final: 20% of grade (Final Exemption: “A” students with all work completed before last day.)
Term paper/report = 20 % of grade
Attendance and participation in discussions = 10 % of grade
Note: You must pick tours or reports from choices for assigned weeks, and only one from each possible assignment. However if
you are doing an “extra” report to get full credit, you may use a second option from the due week or from a previous week.
Letter grades for the course final grade will be assigned as follows for all work submitted: 93% and higher = A
90– 92% = A87% - 89% = B+
83% - 86% = B
80% - 82% = B- 77% - 79% = C+
73% - 76% = C 70% - 72% = C67% - 69% = D+
63% - 67% = D 60% - 62% = D0% - 59% = F
Letter grades for reports and quizzes are from 1-10, with the higher number worth more credit.
Attendance Policy: In accordance with University policy, students are expected to attend class every day with all relevant
required course materials and work. If you are absent from class, contact me as soon as possible, preferably before the next class
meeting. Students remain responsible for any missed work, for work completed in class, and for work due and must arrange for
that work to be delivered to me on time. Serious illness, family emergencies, or other crises mean that students should contact
the Dean of Students Office as soon as possible, and follow up with a direct explanation to me. Attendance is very important to
your success in this class. You will be allowed a maximum of 3 absences for this class. Beyond the first three absences, your
course grade will be lowered by one letter grade (ex. from B- to C+.) Absence due to illness means that you are not
participating in class. If you are sick, turn in your work by email or a friend. If using email—be sure to get a reply from me or
it may not have gone through. It is your responsibility to keep track of your absences to know when you are in danger of
incurring the absence penalty. If your absences amount to more than 20% of class hours for the semester, a student should
consider withdrawal from the class.
Policy on Academic Honesty: Academic integrity is a policy about ethical behavior at Temple University regarding one’s
intentions, decisions, and actions while conducting academic work. It includes values such as avoidance of the following:
cheating; plagiarism; copying; the fabrication of information; and facilitating, or denying others access to information. It expects
honesty and rigor in research, course work, writing and publishing. Academic Integrity is taken seriously in this course. Any
student violating the University’s academic integrity policy will be subject to appropriate sanctions. The University’s complete
academic integrity policy is available in the 2013--2014 Academic Catalog and University’s Student Handbook. Academic
resources, including information on citation and documentation for written work, projects, and presentations, are available on
Learning and Advising Center’s website. Students must complete all graded assignments, quizzes, and tests individually. I
reserve the right to refer any cases of suspected plagiarism or cheating to the University Disciplinary Committee. I also reserve
the right to assign a grade of "F" for the given paper, quiz or test. Warning: I do check up. Please cite all sources. This warning
includes lifting bits of websites for journals, presentations and the final paper without giving the creators their due.
Overdue Policy: Note carefully the due dates for tour reports, quizzes, tests and the final paper on this syllabus. If you miss a
quiz, report or exam without a valid excuse, you will receive no credit. It is your responsibility to inform the instructor of an
expected absence BEFORE any scheduled test to arrange alternatives. Late tour reports and/or other assignments will lose one
grade per class day, but anything is better than a zero. Keep your graded papers—mistakes happen and computers crash—
have a record!
Policy on Cell Phones and in class computers: Cell phones must be turned off during class. No texting, or web surfing if
using computers. Notes may be taken on computers, but only printouts of those notes can be used during quizzes, so be sure to
keep your class working folder up to date with your latest notes that include homework info and class discussion points.
Policy on In-Class Assignments/Quizzes: There will be at least 5 quizzes/homeworks per semester, more if reading and
discussions in class seem weak. Quizzes will be given at the beginning of class. Quizzes will consist of IDs or essay questions
that require info from reading or discussions. Students may use handwritten or printed notes while taking quizzes, but nothing
else. Therefore students using computers for note-taking are encouraged to have printouts in a quiz folder ready for such events.
Certain assignments or Quiz corrections to the 85% level are possible.
Disability Policy: There is a formal university policy for disabilities. This is your right and privilege—and you deserve it.
Weekly Topics--History of Philadelphia
Read appropriate chapters of Weigley’s textbook each week, and use any generic American History textbook for
additional historical background info. It is your responsibility to have the talking points ready. Inform yourself!
Week 1—Aug. 27 Maps and geography: Pre-history and archeology, geology and the importance of Geography.
The Dutch, Sweden’s Finnish settlement, aboriginal contact. William Penn, the Quakers in PA & the
Pennsylvania Germans.
Designing Philadelphia—the Plan.
Week 2—Sept. 3 Olde City. “Ben Franklin’s Philadelphia 1723-1790” and how it looked. Philadelphia and the
Wars affecting Philadelphia in the 18th century. 1st. Report Due on Thursday
Inventing Philadelphia—Part 1.
Week 3—Sept. 10 Philadelphia— Revolutions, Capital City, State Capital. Revolutionary War to Yellow Fever.
Possible Quiz
Reinventing Philadelphia—Part 2.
Week 4—Sept. 17 Philadelphia’s Growing Pains: Technology of an urban center: Water Works & canal craze,
bridges, bank wars. & entrepreneurs. New neighborhoods: Powelton, Manayunk,
(Thinking about topics for your final paper?)
2nd. Report Due on Thursday
Week 5—Sept. 24 Philadelphians Move Outward: 1830s: Eastern State Penitentiary, Broad St., Spruce Hill,
horse trolleys, working class neighborhoods, upper class enclaves, industrialization, racial strife, riots.
City Unification.
Quiz?
Reinventing Philadelphia—Part 3.
Week 6—Oct. 1 Philly, Race, and the Civil War, Ft. William Penn, Bowers hospital, “the most northern
southern city,” John Brown, Lincoln and the Union League.
Final Paper Topic Due
Mid-term-- Oct. 8
Week 7—Oct. 10 Philadelphia post Civil War: the Grant Administration and Republican corruption, The
political machine and the building of our “beloved” City Hall.
(Have you seen someone about your thesis yet?)
Week 8—Oct. 15 The Great Centennial at Fairmount Park in 1876. Money, culture and the nation, the
Philadelphia world of “Society” : the Main Line, Europe,the debutantes,” vacations, universities,
“professionalism,” “sports,” the new millionaires and the eccentric Philadelphians!
Signing up for final presentations.
3rd. Report Due on Thursday
Week 9—Oct. 22 Philadelphia and the dawn of the auto-age.” TR, World War I, the great Flu Epidemic, Hog
Island, Penrose, The BF Bridge, Paper should be well underway!
Reinventing Philadelphia—Part 4.
Week 10—Oct. 29 The Great Depression: neighborhoods & Industrial Decline. Pennsbury Manor and similar
WPA projects,
Presentations.
Reinventing Philadelphia in World War II—Part 5.
Week 11—Nov. 5 Korea, Cold War and Suburbia. King of Prussia, Levittown, South Jersey/Delaware County:
research parks, new steel, and the baby “boom.” Downside: Philadelphia’s demise in Center City. Civil
Rights and the ’60s protests. Presentations. Quiz?
Re-building the Philadelphia Area--Part 6.
Week 12—Nov. 12 Philly, Frank Rizzo, slum clearance & issues of the Vine St. expressway, MOVE-a Mayor who
bombed his town.
Presentations. Reinventing Philadelphia: The Good Old Bad Days--Part 7.
Week 13—Nov. 19 Philly & New Horizons. Welcome to Urban Renewal Presentations. 4th. Report Due Thurs.
Week 14—Nov. 26 The '90s! Presentations. Quiz?
Reinventing Philadelpha: Urban Renewal Plans--Part 8.
(Thanksgiving break--No class Thursday)
(Get it together–time running out!)
Week 15—Dec. 3 The Rendell Effect: renaissance!or education & tourism, the pluses and minus-s under
Street/Nutter. Last day: 12/3 Turn in reports/ Last Quiz? (if necessary) Presentations wrap.
The Future for Reinventing the Urban Philadelphia Area: growth and revenue—Part 9?
Final Exam: TBA
4 Possible Trips for Tour Reports—Must do 3!
Choose 3 trips and write a 2 - 3 page report on the trip. Lateness looses points. (Note: Doing 4 trips usually
guarantees a perfect 30 points.) Pretend you are a critic of Urban Planning and Architecture and know a lot about the
importance of the “presentation of cultural values.” Be sure to organize your thoughts and make an argument for your
opinion based on the evidence you see! Be bold when you write about it!
1. Philadelphia, the Revolutionary City Must be completed by end of week 2—first option: Visit an early original
Swedish/Dutch site, Native American archaeological dig, or pre 1770 colonial site. Example: Old Swedes Church,
Franklin Court, Hopewell Furnace, Newlin Mill, Graeme Park, Boone Farmstead, Stenton, Trent House or Trenton
Barracks- (get permission for others). How well does this site showcase early Pennsylvanian’s lives? Do you believe
it? How do these sites survive, or do they? Think about what the site, and the preservation of “historical” things means
to you--before you go. Then visit and interview 3 strangers there. What does this site mean to them? How well do you
think it is displayed, explained, honored and protected. (Has your opinion shifted?) Consider Philadelphia’s overall
tourist presentation as the “Cradle of Liberty.” Did your site contribute to that picture? You might want to make an
argument about whether you think the extra money both public/private spent on this part of the area is “worth” it.
OR: B. If you cannot make a visit—conduct an internet search on early Delaware Valley archaeological digs. Pick an
object that was recovered and explain how it enriches your understanding of the period. Be prepared to put together a
presentation about it and discuss your work in class.
2. A. The Early Village Complete by week 4-- first option: Wander westerly from the Delaware River out to 8th or
9th Street on any streets south of Vine but north of South Street—avoid using the original E-W streets exclusively.
Circle some blocks. Explore side streets, courts and alleys. Observe the changes in “authentic” architecture. See if you
can see in-fills and re-constructions, and the possible changes in “use” of the buildings. “Read” what you can about the
developing city from block to block as you move out from the River. What has happened here, when did it happen,
and is it good for the greater city environment?
OR: B. visit The Growing City Visit an early national period urban improvement such as the Waterworks, the canal
at New Hope, Ft. Miflin, Eastern State Penitentiary or other early county prison, fort, or cemetery: Moyamensing,
Holmesburg, Red Bank, or East or West Laurel Hill Cemeteries. Observe the architecture; describe the current “use”
or condition of the buildings/monuments. Look at the neighborhood, the public transit network to get people to the
location. Has this civic feature helped or harmed the area when built and now? How important is it now? What is
intruding on or intrudes on it? You might want to check the Urban Archives for early Atlas maps of the area. Describe
your reaction to its present condition. Is its existence worth it for the larger city or would public dollars be better spent
elsewhere? Is private funding viable—for how long and for what purpose? Are there better options?
3. A. Take a “Ride on the Reading” or the PRR--now SEPTA Regional Rails. Complete by week 8. First take a
look at an Atlases for the 1890s, or early 1900s (Urban Archives) or old maps on the internet. Pick an area before
large-scale real estate development but one that is along the rail lines. Examples: you might look at 1890 Chestnut
Hill, Glenside, Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Media, Fox Chase, Bridesburg, Doylestown, or Jenkintown. Travel by
SEPTA, or by car, bike, or roller-blade, following those railroads to the area of your old Atlas Map. What has
survived? How has the area changed? Knowing the current state of Philadelphia politics, what do you project for the
future of the area?
OR: B. Visit The Sub-urban city Look at Geographical Survey maps, online aerial maps and atlases or an 1890s
Atlas map of a suburban county area (Noll, Scott or Hughes Maps) in Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, or
Northern Philadelphia County. Pick an area that had farmland, undeveloped in 1900. (Most of the current NGS maps
show new buildings in pink.) Compare to current maps and see where the highways and mass transit went in. (Areas
of the extended Roosevelt Boulevard, Plymouth Meeting, Valley Forge, Neshaminy Valley, Springfield, King of
Prussia, come to mind.) Visit the area and see what remains, what they destroyed. (Churches usually stay.) What is
your impression of the impact of the automobile on this region and the larger metropolitan area? How well is its mass
transit fitted into the regional area? Does it go where the commuters need to go or not? What is your prediction for the
future of your area given the push for sustainable communities?
Trips--continued
4. A. Cashing in on History Complete by week 13. Visit a historic house museum, a local or national historic park,
suburban history museum, (example: Mercer Museum), Revolutionary War fort, or “local house tour” preferably one
NOT actually in the city of Philadelphia but elsewhere in the Delaware Valley. An alternative to this is the Wagner
Museum near Temple--a museum of a 19th century museum (ask me about it). Wherever you go, consider the site
presentation of local history. How does this site “educate”? What are their techniques? Movie? Display only? Reenactment? Do they do it well—are they packed? Do they appeal to a wide audience? Does the interpretation relate to
the region, state or nation and should it? How historically accurate is the presentation and do you “buy” it? What
would you do differently? Is it sustainable? Think critically about the presentation of “History” to those less interested
than yourself and how this relates to the potential increase of the lucrative tourism industry to the region.
OR: B. If you have an interest or connection with a particular historic site, object, structure, region, neighborhood,
house or other physically definable entity, being left behind to decay by the city, its owner, or local government, talk
to me about this. Perhaps we can design a project that describes it and its condition, stakeholders, owners, funding etc.
including how this neglect/blight situation affects the immediate local community and/or the region? You will make a
pitch on it to your class? What else can you suggest to help the situation?
FINAL TERM PAPER/PROJECT REPORT --Due last day of class
Paper should be 8-10 pages with a Worlks Cited page and use the Chicago Style of footnoting as seen in most history
journals. (Use website at Temple Graduate School.) Pick a topic that interests you, but relates to Philadelphia area
history. Only one person per topic so chose early and wisely. Create a powerpoint or other kind of presentation on
your work. It will be graded by your classmates, and I use those grades to augment (only) your final grade for the
paper. The following are good topics that students have presented in past terms, meant to give you examples, but not
limit your creativity:
Skyscrapers/notable architecture/houses
Famous writers/artists of the region
Horticulture/parks in Philadelphia
Police/Fire Dept. in Philadelphia
“Catholic” or Irish Riots
Baldwin Locomotive Works (or major industry)
Printing/Communications in Philadelphia
Transportation, past or present
Gay/Lesbian activism
Food and its roots in Philadelphia (hard)
Public Housing/Education/other buildings or services
The MOVE or Mumia Controversy
Philadelphia millionaires/personalities in depth
Beer/chemicals (more difficult than it looks)
Textiles/petroleum/decline of industry
Crime/drugs/graffitti
Girard, Rizzo, Grace Kelly, or other national personality
American Bandstand or famous musicians
Black Civil War veterans in Philadelphia—Cheltenham
Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876
Frankford Arsenal and WWII—(other sites)
Weird/odd religious sects/cults of the area
(Sports not encouraged—they generally backfire unless you have an interesting historical approach or a relatively
unknown sport. Think of this as a good opportunity to create a perfect writing sample for future employers or grad
school applications. If you have a special interest or connection with a historical site, object, person, and want to focus
on that discuss it with me early. Genealogical or archival work takes considerable time. Once your overall topic is
approved, you should discuss your paper’s thesis and organization with the TA or somebody at the Learning Center.
It is a wise move to do this early in the semester before they get very busy—and you can re-visit someone you have
already seen, with a more finished product later in your writing process. They are happy to help you with the
grammatical fine-tuning and footnote/endnote and “Works Cited Page” protocols. My hope is that you will be proud
of this product. I accept any paper that pays homage to the parts that are the intellectual work of others, so hopefully
you will have many citations.