July/August 2003 Reporter - Society Hill · “Ieoh Ming Pei has given this century some of its...

Architect Ioeh Ming Pei to be Honored

You can’t miss Society Hill Towers. Asmuch a landmark on the Philadelphia

skyline as the statue of William Penn atopCity Hall, these three graceful high rises wereamong the projects cited when their architect,Chinese-born I. M. Pei, was named the 1983Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, theprofession’s highest accolade.

On July 30, residents of the Towers andthe 37 surrounding townhouses will celebratethe 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking forthe Society Hill project with a small receptionfor the 85-year-old Mr. Pei in two of the apart-ments and at a poolside cocktail party. Amongother tributes planned is a commemorativebook detailing the Towers’ history and thearchitect’s life; a scholarship in Mr. Pei’sname at Philadelphia’s Charter High Schoolof Architecture and Design; and, in honor ofMr. Pei’s love of natural materials, a gardenfeaturing an Italian marble bench and asundial created by artist Jill Sablosky.

“Ieoh Ming Pei has given this century some ofits most beautiful interior spaces and exteriorforms,” said the Pritzer jury in awarding theprize. It was not the first major award for thearchitect, known for his reliance on abstractform and use of stone, concrete, glass andsteel. His firm, I. M. Pei & Partners (formed in1958), was named 1968’s Architectural Firm of

the Year by the American Institute of Architectsand went on to build such icons as the John F.Kennedy Library in Boston, Massachusetts, theNational Center for Atmospheric Research inBoulder, Colorado, the East Wing of the Smithso-nian National Gallery in Washington, D.C. andthe Pyramide de Louvre in Paris. The 37 Phila-delphia townhouses in the Society Hill complexearned Mr. Pei a 1964 design award from theU.S. Housing and Home Finance Agency.

Society Hill Towers owes its origin to a fewvisionary Philadelphians, among them EdmundBacon, Charles Peterson, Joseph Clark andRichardson Dilworth, who in the 1940’s and50’s vowed to stop the exodus of affluent citydwellers to the suburbs and save Philadelphia’scommercial and residential buildings, over30,000 of which were vacant at the time.Society Hill, then called Washington SquareEast, with its hundreds of historical but crum-bling houses and its proximity to what wouldbecome Independence National HistoricalPark, was a natural place to begin.

Construction on the Towers began in 1963after the Dock Street produce market, consid-ered one of the worst commercial slums in thecountry, was moved to the Food DistributionCenter in South Philadelphia. Thirty-one acreswere purchased for urban renewal, with fiveof these set aside for a new apartment develop-ment. In 1963 the Aluminum Corporation ofAmerica (Alcoa) took over 90 percent of theproject. Perhaps surprisingly, a London firm,the Second Covent Garden Property Company,held the remaining 10 percent.

The Towers officially debuted to mixed reviewsat a widely attended dedication on October 21,1964. One Inquirer reporter called the slimbuildings “three…waffles poking into theSociety Hill skyline.” Despite Pei’s growingreputation, the amenities offered by Alcoa(underground parking, a planned outdoor pool,well lighted walkways and elegant landscaping),and the city’s earnest efforts to renovate theneighborhood around the complex, the

S O C I E T Y H I L LReporterThe Newsletterof The Society Hill Civic Association

July/August 2003

Society Hill Towers Celebrates 40th Anniversary

www.societyhillcivic.com

“Waffles?” “Uniquelystyled aluminum pictureframes?” However theywere characterized byarchitectural critics inthe past, Society HillTowers and architectI.M. Pei will be honoredon July 30.

M A R K Y O U R C A L E N D A R

Society Hill Civic Association Board of Directors MeetingWednesday, July 16, 2003, 7 p.m.

Old PIne Community Center4th and Lombard Streets

All Society Hill Civic Association members are encouraged to attend.

If you will be driving to the SHCA Board meeting and plan to park in thelot on 5th Street, please DO NOT leave your car in the Fire Lane or in any“No Parking” zone. Vehicles illegally parked will be towed without warning.

W E D .

July

16continued on page 7

P A G E 2 S O C I E T Y H I L L Reporter

S O C I E T Y H I L L

Reporter

In this Issue…

Editors (July/August Issue)Vicki ChatleySandra Rothman

Editorial BoardBernice HamelCarole LeFaivre-Rochester

Business Managerand PhotographerMatthew DeJulio

ContributorsMatthew DeJulioMartha LevineLiza SeltzerKeri WhiteLinda WittDavid Woods

Graphic [email protected]

SubmissionsSee page 11 for details.Deadlines for the next issue:Editorial: August 11, 2003Advertising: August 1, 2003

Signed letters to the Editorare always welcome andmay be published.

Send submissions to:Society Hill Civic AssociationP.O. Box 63503Philadelphia, PA 19147tel: 215-629-1288fax: 215-629-9914

September Reporter Editors:Bernice HamelCarole LeFaivre-Rochester

Visit our website:www.societyhillcivic.com

Oops!

The May/June 2003 Reporter incorrectly stated that BonnieHalda served for three years on the Board of Directors ofthe Society Hill Towers. It should have reported that Bonnieserved on the SHCA Board as a representative of theSociety Hill Towers. Bonnie has never served on theManagement Council of Society Hill Towers.

In the last issue the Reporter also failed to acknowledgeLinda Skale, the long-time co-chair of Society Hill OpenHouse and Garden Tours. A special thanks is extended toLinda for her role in coordinating this successful program.

Caveat Emptor!

From time to time the Reporter will print articles aboutnew commercial products or services available in ourneighborhood. The purpose is to provide basic informationto the reader. It does not signify endorsement of theproduct, service or business by the Reporter or SHCA.The reader should check references and conduct furtherinvestigation before making a purchase.

Page 15SHCA Members GreetSpring at City Tavern

Page 16City Tavern,the Reconstruction of a Historic Building

Page 19South Street, Re-inventingItself Once Again

2Project Street Trees:Keeping Society Hill a“Greene Countrie Towne”

Page 27The Bookshelf: TheScourge of Pestilence

Page 30Noteworthy Neighbors:John Allen + Sheila Paulos

J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003 P A G E 3

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most duringmy nine years in Society Hill is working

with my neighbors on projects that help ourcommunity remain one of the most desirableurban neighborhoods in the country. By takingon the role of president of the Society Hill CivicAssociation (SHCA), I’m hoping to workclosely with as many of you as possible.

I hope you agree that SHCA is an importantforum for neighborhood communication andaction. But it only serves the neighborhoodwell if the individuals who are served by theassociation participate in it. So I’d like to takethis opportunity to invite you, my neighbor, toget involved to whatever degree you are able.

First and foremost, please join SHCA as a dues-paying member. We deliberately keep our dueslow to ensure that financial barriers won’t keepneighbors from joining. For just $40 a year perhousehold, our members benefit in many ways.Our streets are cleaner and better lit, we havea library, new neighbors get SHCA WelcomeBaskets and, of course, we all get the Reporter,our outstanding community newsletter.

These are just some of the most tangiblebenefits, but there are others, too. For example,SHCA works closely with our elected officialson issues such as the future of Penn’s Landingand the transfer of Washington Square to theNational Park Service to ensure respect forour neighborhood’s interests. SHCA is vigilanton zoning and historic preservation issues thathave a direct impact on the character of ourcommunity. In addition, SHCA is pursuing anambitious project to transform the underuti-lized Foglietta Plaza into a state-of-the-artpublic facility. Rest assured that your duesdo make a big difference in the quality of lifewe enjoy in Society Hill.

I’d also love to see more neighbors activelyparticipate in SHCA. Come to our Boardmeetings — they’re open to all membersof the association. It’s a great place to shareyour ideas and concerns. Think about joininga committee, becoming a Block Coordinatoror offering to help out in an ad hoc way. Even

if you don’t have the time or interest to getinvolved in a formal capacity, there are otherthings each of us can do to support the workof the association. You can:

• Call us at 215-629-1288 when you seegraffiti so we can arrange for its removal;

• Take the time to sweep your block on Clean-up Day and pick up trash whereveryou see it; and

• Call us when a new neighbor moves in sowe can offer a Welcome Basket with giftcertificates and products from variousneighborhood businesses.

These may seem like small things, ones manyof us — including myself — overlook. But ifwe remind ourselves that we are responsiblefor guaranteeing that Society Hill remains aplace we’re proud to live in, perhaps we can doa better job in the future. So for the sake of ourcommunity, please be active and aware. Andlet people know that the civic association isthere to help make this a better neighborhoodfor everyone.

—Liza Seltzer, SHCA President

P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E

Join Us!

At the May meeting Liza Seltzer, newly elected SHCApresident, on behalf of the association presented aframed antique map of old Philadelphia to MalcolmLazin, who completed his term as president of SHCA.

I T ’ S B A A A A A C K ! ! ! !

T O W N W A T C HComing soon to a Society Hill street near you. Interested? Call Michael Erdos at 215-629-5857.


Wednesday - Saturday6 - 10 pm


Gambling in Philadelphia: Risky Business

SHCA officers testify at a CityCouncil hearing on a bill intended toregulate gambling through zoning

As you may know, several gambling billsare now pending in both houses of the

state legislature. About $700 million in annualrevenue is predicted for Pennsylvania if slotmachines are permitted at racetracks or river-boat casinos are allowed in Philadelphia. Cityzoning ordinances do not address the subjectof gambling establishments. Thus, if gamblingbecomes legalized statewide, casinos couldbe built anywhere in our city’s commercialdistricts — without obtaining prior permissionfrom the Zoning Board or any othercity authority. Therefore, in anattempt to assert local control,Councilman-at-Large James F.Kenney introduced a bill beforethe Rules Committee that wouldgive City Council the power overzoning with respect to any gamblingvenues within Philadelphia.

“It’s not that Council would have control,”Kenney says, “It’s that the people Councilrepresents would have control.” Bill No.030122 would require any developer of apotential gambling establishment to obtainzoning permission from City Council, whichwould ensure that individual taxpayers andcommunities have the opportunity to considerand debate whether gambling will benefit orharm their respective neighborhoods or thecity as a whole. Should zoning be approved byCity Council, the next step would be a series ofcitywide public hearings from communities andcitizens at large — taking into account theneeds and wishes of our city’s citizens.

On May 1, 2003 the Rules Committee heardtestimony from several Center City leadersand activists who support the bill. Liza Seltzer(at the time the nominee for SHCA president)spoke passionately in opposition to thevery notion of gambling in the city, stating,“Gambling is neither harmless recreationnor an easy way to generate revenue. Thegambling industry thrives on addiction, andthe costs to the communities that invite it infar exceed the benefits when social factors areconsidered.” Seltzer personally witnessed theresults of gambling when she lived in Chicagoand visited the Quad Cities — four cities that

come together on the Mississippi River inIowa and Illinois. According to her testimony,riverboat gambling was introduced there in1991 and “within a couple of years its impactwas clear; while casino parking lots were fullon a Saturday afternoon and businesses withina two-block radius were open, beyond thatsmall circle of economic activity there werecountless stores, restaurants, car dealershipsand other businesses boarded up.” She saidshe wouldn’t want Philadelphia to becomeas unappealing a place to live as Atlantic Cityor New Orleans, which depend on gamblingrevenues to improve their schools and othercity services.

Also speaking on behalf of Society Hill,SHCA’s Vice President Bernice Hamel

said that our civic association wouldneed to debate the potential benefit

or harm that gambling establish-ments could bring to our neigh-borhood and other communitiessituated along the Delaware River.

According to Hamel, “Bill No.030122 would surely provide a level

of caution whereby the interests of taxpay-ing citizens would be heard and given consider-ation.” Although Hamel recognizes the contra-dictory needs of city development versussources of city revenue, she said “votersmust become the ultimate decision-makersregarding what could potentially have majorlong-term consequences for us all.”

As this issue goes to press, we’re pleasedto report that City Council Bill No. 030122 hasbecome law. Mayor Street neither supportedthe legislation nor vetoed it. Meanwhile, thesubject of gambling is currently being deter-mined in both houses of the state legislature.We’ll keep you informed, and should astatewide gambling bill supersede any localordinance, we'll fight so that Philadelphia'scitizens can have a say in its own future.

Philadelphia’s City Councilelections take place in Novem-ber. Before the May primarythe Coalition of PhiladelphiaNeighborhood Associations(CPNA) distributed question-naires to candidates to deter-mine their views on issues

facing Philadelphia.Responses, excellent bothin quantity and quality, havebeen posted on the websitewww.Hallwatch.org. Lookunder “Other,” select“Primary 2003” and thenselect “CPNA Questionnaire.”

What Are the Opinions of City Council Candidates?


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The term “land value tax” (LVT) is findingits way into the conversations of Philadel-

phia property owners. For two years CityComptroller Jonathan A. Saidel, with supportfrom some City Council members, has beenpromoting the LVT as an alternative to theonerous property taxes that have caused morethan a few sleepless nights for city-dwellersthis past year. What is the land value tax?And why should we have an interest in it?

Pennsylvania determines the assessed valueof land and the buildings situated thereon sepa-rately. Currently in Philadelphia about 78 per-cent of the real estate tax is attributed to build-ings and 22 percent to the land. Thus, if youhave a row house and invest thousands of dol-lars for a new kitchen, a patio and a screened-inporch, your tax bill will rise substantially. Underthe LVT, a larger portion of the property taxwould be based on the value of the land andthese same improvements to the buildingwould increase taxes by a much lower amount.

Proponents of the LVT point to several bene-fits. It does not penalize owners who maintainand improve their property, including the manyolder historical structures that lie withinSociety Hill. It deters slumlords from holdingon to substandard buildings; they must havesufficient revenue to pay the higher tax onland. It is likely they will either fix up commer-cial units or sell to someone who will developthe property, thus reducing blight. The landvalue tax is an alternative to the much-maligned property tax, which more often thannot penalizes owners for the buildings them-

selves but even worse, levies additional taxeswhen owners make improvements.

A team of researchers at Drexel University,who completed an independent study this year,report that four out of five homeowners wouldsee a savings in a switch from assessing struc-tures on land to assessing taxes on the landitself. Additional advantages are that ownerscannot evade or hide their assets and thecycle of high real estate speculation versusbust times — something we have all seenfrequently in the last few decades — becomesinconsequential.

To learn how the LVT might affect your realestate taxes, visit www.Hallwatch.org. EachPhiladelphia property is found by its streetaddress. Listed among the advantages of theland value tax for Philadelphians:

• It has worked in other cities; for example,Pittsburgh, which is using the LVT and hassome of the least expensive housing in thecountry.

• The tax can be controlled locally without in-terference from state or federal government.

• The tax is progressive; the more land youhave, the more taxes you pay.

• The tax is easy to collect and difficult to avoid.

Discussion of this new taxing proposal is likelyto continue for some time. We promise to keepyou informed of the pros and cons of the landvalue tax — a new, bold proposal to fill thecity’s coffers without penalizing the initiativeand creativity of its citizens.

The Land Value Tax: Boon or Bane?

Towers’ 720 units were not fully occupied forseveral years. But rental prices were reason-able for the area — from $130 a month for astudio up to $245 for a two-bedroom unit.Each apartment’s floor-to-ceiling windowsguaranteed a spectacular view of Philadelphia,which a Daily News article described as beingseen through “5,400 uniquely styled aluminumpicture frames.” When the townhouses wenton the market, another pundit wisecracked,“A town house is what you call a row housewhen it costs $45,000.”

In 1964 Inquirer Real Estate Editor Oscar Tellerwrote that among new buildings in the city, the“brightest gem in the architectural crown isSociety Hill Towers.” By 1979, the buildings hadbecome so popular that the complex switchedfrom rentals to condos with many residentschoosing to make the Towers their permanenthomes. In 1983, the Pritzker jury said Mr. Pei’s“versatility and skill in the use of materialapproached the level of poetry.” In 2003, thefull glory of these seminal buildings can beseen at night when the brightly lighted unitsserve as a beacon for the homeward bound.

Society Hill Toweres Celebrates 40 Years; Architect Ioeh Ming Pei Honored

continued from page 1

Architect I. M. Pei


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Summer in the City

Keep Your Car and Its Contents Safe

An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer,May 18, 2003, notes that crime has

decreased in the Sixth Police District, whichincludes Society Hill, by 1.3 percent. But thereis a disconcerting statement by a commanderin this district that during the summer monthsofficers are assigned to work elsewhere. Weasked Lieutenant John Walker of the SouthStreet Mini-Station to give our communitysome pointers on surviving the summercrime free. He sent these suggestions onhow to frustrate car thieves.

Your auto is an “open display”!Thieves tend to window shop and car ownersfrequently give them both opportunity andenticement by leaving valuables in full view.Thieves will weigh their chances of gettingcaught. Don’t give them that chance.

How does the thief gain entrance?It takes a few seconds to break a window and ahandy rock or brick makes it easy. Sometimesa kick or elbow will do the trick. Thus car own-ers have to deal not only with the theft but alsothe cost of window repair.

What do thieves want?Thieves don’t necessarily want to take timeto steal a sound system or the contents of theglove compartment. In most cases, valuablesleft in full view are the targets, and at the topof the list are cell phones!

How to prevent car thefts.Since car break-ins can happen anywhere —on the street, in driveways, in open garagesand in parking lots — a few minutes of thoughton your part can prevent them. Park in lightedareas and always lock your valuables in thetrunk, even if only for a few minutes. But, thelieutenant says, it is not a good idea to leavethem there overnight.

A few obvious suggestions: never leave yourchildren in the car unattended; never leavethe car running when parked; never leaveyour keys in the ignition.

Lieutenant Walker notes that the PhiladelphiaPolice Department (PPD) has a stolen autoverification program that permits police to stopa vehicle after 11 p.m. to verify ownership. Thisprogram is conducted through the CommunityRelations Officers in the car owner’s district.Owners who wish to register are issued a yel-low sticker, which is placed on the rear windowof the auto. For information, access the PPDwebsite at www.PPDONLINE.org.

A side note: Lieutenant Walker remindsus that our Mini-Station has a fund that helpssupport the daily operations of the detail byproviding uniforms, bikes and other supplies.The Police District Advisory Council maintainsthis fund. Send tax-deductible donations, madepayable to the “Friends of the South StreetMini-Station,” to 905 South Street, Philadelphia,PA 19107.

P A G E 9

Vandalism Strikes Society Hill

On the morning of June 1, neighbors foundoverturned and cracked planters, destroyed

hanging baskets, new graffiti and one case of apushed in front door in Society Hill. Shatteredglass surrounded several cars. Vandalismappeared to be the cause of the damage.

The police were contacted and the officersassigned to the Sixth Police District offeredsuggestions to prevent these thoughtless actsfrom happening. Report ALL incidents of van-dalism to the police, who will come to yourhome and take down the information. Be sureto get the officer’s name and badge number soyou can follow up to make sure a report hasbeen filed. Also, call the police if you notice asuspicious person wandering around or acting

inappropriately. That person may be harmless,but he could be a potential vandal or burglar.

It is important to notify the police whenever anincident occurs so they are aware of the amountof criminal activity that is taking place in SocietyHill. Nothing should be considered too insignif-icant to report. There is a car designated specif-ically for our neighborhood, so your call won’ttake an officer away from other duties.

Your first call should be to 911 to reportthe crime. Yes, vandalism is a crime. Thencontact neighbor Marilyn Appel, chair ofthe Sixth Police District Advisory Council,at 215-922-2626 or [email protected]. Helpkeep our neighborhood a safe place to live.

Signs, posted on South,Lombard and BainbridgeStreets from Front toBroad informing thepublic of a maximum$300 fine, will enablebetter enforcement ofthe ordinance prohibit-ing loud radios. Thesigns were hung in mid-May as a result of theefforts of CouncilmanFrank DiCicco.


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Pride of Place

A Public Forum on Current Urban Design Topics

Recently a new ad hoc, informal andindependent group conducted its first

“Pride of Place” public forum, held on May 6at Carpenters’ Hall. The mission of thisorganization, called the “Design AdvocacyGroup,” is to provide an informed publicvoice for quality in architecture and physicalplanning of the Philadelphia region. Drawnfrom a spectrum of disciplines and comprisedof motivated individuals who are engaged inmatters of design, development and planning— and who are not afraid to speak out —-the goal is to be proactive as well as reactive;effective as well as thoughtful; critical as wellas constructive .

This group cares about development ofthe waterfront, parking garages and trans-portation issues, and preserving our city’streasures. They have engaged in advocacyon a variety of issues to date, including oneclose to our own hearts: the management ofthe Penn’s Landing design charrette in con-junction with the University of Pennsylvaniaand The Philadelphia Inquirer. Founders of

the Design Advocacy Group represent avirtual “Who’s Who” from our area’s mostprestigious universities and corporations.Whether specializing in history, fine art, orarchitecture and design, their purpose is toconsider recent developments in the city andregion, hear presentations from prominentindividuals, and vote to take advocacypositions.

The group’s May 6 “Pride of Place Forum”at Carpenters’ Hall resulted in a standing-room-only event, surprising even its organiz-ers by the number and variety of people whoshowed up. Clearly many Philadelphians careabout what happens in our city and region.Several Society Hill residents, includingBernice Hamel and Becky Stoloff, reportedthat the session offered a fascinating andengaging series of presentations on variousplanning issues that will shape our city foryears to come. Based on discussions raisedat the event, the group will prepare questionsfor the mayoral candidates at a follow-upforum in September.

Letter to the Editors:

Your readers may be interested to knowthat the 1980-81 SHCA Board of Directors

pictured (SHCA Reporter, May/June 2003,“Remember When,” page 9) was the board thatapproved the proposal of one of its officers toupgrade The Resident Newsletter, a four-pagetyped and copied sheet, to a professionallyprinted newsletter with advertising to under-write its cost. Members of this board also over-came many obstacles to make resident stickerparking a reality, at a time when many streetsof Society Hill looked like a free parking lot forNew Jersey commuters and others.

Thank you for publishing the photo. I expectthat many of those in the photo who still live inSociety Hill enjoyed looking back as much as Idid. Maybe other presidents will have a similarphoto taken that could appear in a futureReporter.

—Nancy Frenze

To Submit Copy to the Reporter

One of the goals of the Reporter is to printnews of interest to Society Hill residents —especially happenings in and around ourcommunity. If your organization would liketo have information about an event it is spon-soring included in this newsletter, copy shouldbe submitted to the SHCA office by e-mail([email protected]), mail (Society Hill CivicAssociation, P.O. Box 63503, Philadelphia, PA19147) or fax (215-629-9914). Material mustbe submitted in writing and include the nameand phone number of a contact person.Promotional items may appear if there isspace; otherwise, upcoming events will belisted in the calendar. Copy may be edited.

The deadline for submission of material isaround the tenth of the month in February,April, June, August, October and December.The exact deadline for the next issue can befound on page 2 of the Reporter. The Reporteris distributed between the third and tenth dayof January, March, May, July, September andNovember.


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Quick Hits

Penn’s Landing

The 11 community groups in proximity toPenn’s Landing have engaged the firm of

Wallace, Roberts and Todd to analyze Penn’sLanding and develop a charrette depicting thetype of development which should take placeat this important location. Wallace, Robertsand Todd is a land-planning firm that special-izes in waterfront sites and was responsiblefor planning the successful Baltimore InnerHarbor. At the May meeting SHCA approvedspending $10,000 for this endeavor from the$100,000 grant received from State Represen-tative Marie Lederer to be used for capitalprojects. Councilman Frank DiCicco, inwhose district Penn’s Landing lies, supportsthe approach the local civic groups are taking.DiCicco will be instrumental in determiningthe type of development and the developereventually selected for Penn’s Landing.

Chestnut Street

The Coalition to Free Chestnut Street —a group formed to seek the reopening of

Chestnut Street to traffic after barriers wereplaced at the entrances to the 500 block as asecurity measure for Independence Hall follow-ing the events of 9/11 — thought its work hadbeen completed when Philadelphia MayorJohn Street opened the block on April 1. Infact, the Coalition changed its name to TheIndependence Mall Business and ResidentsCommission and planned to concentrate onfurther improving the park — such as, hope-fully, removing the “temporary” unsightly bar-riers from the sidewalks. However, in late Maythe Secretary of the U.S. Interior Department,Gale A. Norton, wrote a letter to Mayor Streetonce again advocating the closure of ChestnutStreet in front of Independence Hall. And sothe saga continues!

Foglietta Plaza

There is support for developing FogliettaPlaza, which already is the site of the

Korean War Memorial, as the location of atribute to police and firefighters. Congress-man Robert A. Brady is pursuing fundingfrom Washington to construct a memorial andassociated renovations to this square. It is likelythe name would be changed to “Heroes Plaza.”

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SHCA Members Greet Spring at City Tavern

P A G E 15

On June 2, approximately 250Society Hill Civic Association

members gathered to enjoy beautifulweather and the wonderful hospitalityof City Tavern. The large turn-out was

easily accommodated in the Tavern'sspacious garden. The hors d'oeuvreswere delicious, but the dessert table,with a tempting assortment of mouth-watering treats, was awesome !

pring Fling

�

Incoming Board Member Robin Komita (center) herhusband, Mario Moussa, and SHCA Vice Presidentand Membership Chair Kelly Nelson.

An actress in historical garb greets SHCA VicePresident Martha Levine, her husband, Howard Sedran, and their daughter, Elizabeth.

Norm Wisler, Rosemary Weinberg, and Marcia Wisler. Diana Anhart and Michael Erdos, incoming boardmember and head of Town Watch.

Holly and Greg Flanagan, Javad Parvizi, and FabibaKasemkhani.

Al and Joanne Di Santo, SHCA Past President MelBuckman and Zoning Chair Paul Boni.


City Tavern: The Reconstruction of a Historic Building

Two hundred and thirty years agothis summer, at the corner of 2nd

and what was then Gold (now Moravian)Street, carpenters and joiners, carversand ironmongers, painters and bellhangers (who installed the pulleysand cranks which rang the bells thatsummoned servants) worked fever-ishly on the final touches for whatPhiladelphia investors hoped wouldbe “the most convenient and elegantstructure of its kind in America.”

Then, 30 years ago, a group of archi-tectural historians, museum curatorsand experts on colonial era foodstuffsworked just as feverishly, sleuthing outold maps and engravings, all those car-penters’ and ironmongers’ invoices, aswell as years of fire insurance surveysof interior details so they could repli-cate that very same building in timefor our nation’s 200th birthday.

That building was City Tavern andSociety Hill’s Penelope (Penny)Hartshorne Batcheler, a long-timeAmerican Street resident, was theNational Park Service’s historicalarchitect (now retired) in charge ofgetting City Tavern back up (it hadbeen demolished in 1854 followingdeterioration after an 1834 firedamaged the structure) andauthentically detailed. To be readyfor the Bicentennial in 1976, theproject to refurbish — and in somecases recreate — structures thatplayed a role in the nation’s indepen-dence had started in the mid-1950’sand was going full bore by the early1970’s. It was important to determinewhat City Tavern’s original “archi-traves” or window trims were, howthe stair railing went from one floor tothe next, and if the front of the build-ing sported a sidewalk-wide canvascanopy in summer (it did), because somuch of the drama in the founding ofthe country was played out here.

Penny imagined the new tavernbeing the stage for “modern social andcultural events, echoing those whichtook place then, as well as a living his-tory facility” where a tourist or a long-time modern-day neighbor could step

back in time and toast the FoundingFathers with an ale they might haverecognized.

“The Park Service knew City Tavernhad to be a part of IndependenceNational Historical Park,” she said.An inn as well as a restaurant, it hadbeen patterned after the most fashion-able English clubs in London, and “allthe guys who signed the Declaration ofIndependence ended up at City Tavernafter sessions. It was here that PaulRevere came in 1774 when he rodefrom Massachusetts to Pennsylvaniato announce that the British had block-aded Boston’s port…. Nearly 300 citi-zens crowded into City Tavern to hearreactions of city leaders and out of thatevening came the resolve to form theFirst Continental Congress.”

A few years later, on July 4, 1777, CityTavern hosted a grand dinner for the

first anniversary of the signing of theDeclaration of Independence. A bandcomposed of Hessians who had beencaptured at Trenton by GeneralGeorge Washington provided themusical accompaniment.

Invaluable clues to what the buildingand its original setting had been camefrom diverse sources. An early CharlesWillson Peale portrait of one of thefounders of the Philadelphia DancingAssembly revealed an archway in theprobable entrance hall. A Londonpolitical cartoon from the era showeda period tavern’s glassed-in servingbar, which suggested that City Tavernmight have had a similar one. ThenPenny’s team found a 1796 newspaperad in which City Tavern boasted, “forconveniency (sic) the Bill of Fare is tobe had at the bar” which cinched thecase. A bar “keep” now is a feature ofthe main floor reception suite.


Architect Benjamin Henry LaTrobe’s1798 watercolor of the proposed Bankof Pennsylvania — with City Tavern asits neighbor on the south — and adrawing from the mid-1800’s of the inn,after it had become an auction house,both precisely rendered the exterior.Archeological digs were ruled outbecause several later buildings withdeep basements had been built on thesite, but clues to pottery and cookingimplements were available from othernearby sites.

Penny originally imagined the lowerlevel kitchen as a learning experiencecomplete with authentic cooking forthe thousands who annually tour Phila-delphia. “But right from the start thespace was needed for dining and wenever outfitted it as a colonial era kit-chen.” While “the visitor’s experiencein the structure should be enhancedby an appeal to his sense of smell and

taste,” she noted in her official reportin 1973, there were numerous restau-rants in the immediate area and “it isnot the intention of the National ParkService to place itself in competition.”Instead, her report suggested CityTavern should “serve a historic menuat a reasonable price.” Hence, ThomasJefferson’s sweet potato biscuits andtavern turkey stew with fried oysters(inspired by a dish in Martha Wash-ington’s Booke of Cookery) are bothstaples of the menu currently servedby Walter Staib, chef/proprietor andauthor of City Tavern Cookbook - 200Years of Classic Recipes from America’sFirst Gourmet Restaurant.

Her report also quotes Dr. SamuelJohnson on the subject of taverns tosuggest what City Tavern’s ambiancemight aspire to, a “general freedomfrom anxiety. You know you are wel-come, the more noise you make, the

more trouble you give, the more goodthings you call for, the more welcomer(sic) you are.”

How would its architect rate thismodern day version of the “Cheers”of 1776? Penny and George Batchelertake out-of-town guests there, but shewishes it were a bit quieter. “I nowthink they may well have had a lot ofcarpets; after all, it wasn’t a countrytavern.” The historian in her lamentsthe non-authentic glass doors insidethe entry. “They were losing too muchheat out the front door and, becauseit was rebuilt before the energy crisis,the building isn’t very well insulated.”

One fact turned up in her research thatwas not “architectural data” and there-fore did not make her original report,but still it delights her: “We know thatMartha Washington slept here. Wedon’t know about George.”

Butterhead Lettuce with Raspberry Shrub Vinaigrette

Makes 2 cups vinaigrette; Serves 6

1/2 cup raspberry shrub [available for purchase at City Tavern]2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar1 teaspoon granulated sugar1 teaspoon Dijon mustard1 1/2 cups olive oilSalt and freshly ground white pepper3 heads butterhead (Boston/Bibb) let-

tuce or mixed greens, rinsed & torn

1. In a medium mixing bowl, whisktogether the raspberry shrub, bal-samic vinegar, sugar and mustard.

2.Slowly add the olive oil, whiskingconstantly.

3.Season with salt & pepper to taste.

4.Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes,until chilled.

5.When ready to serve, whisk thedressing. Pour over the lettuce ormixed greens and toss to coat.

From the City Tavern Cookbook © 1999by Walter Staib. Running Press BookPublishers, Philadelphia and London.Signed copies of the book are availableat City Tavern.


Serenity & Luxury

in Society Hill

Gaskill House Bed & Breakfast

Romantic. Charming. Peaceful. Private.

Reservations & gift certificates contact:

Guy Davis, Manager

215-413-0669

www.gaskillhouse.com

• 312 Gaskill Street • Philadelphia, PA 19147 •

Rent a Villa – Rent a Cottage


South Street, Reinventing Itself Once Again

The South Street Headhouse District, underthe leadership of executive director Barry

Cassidy, believes that it’s time to update theimage of South Street, a neighborhood that hasexperienced a myriad of transformations sinceits birth as Cedar Street, the southernmostboundary of William Penn’s “faire country town.”An ambitious streetscape initiative, which willstart this year, promises many exciting changes,including fire engine red lampposts!

Work on the 2nd Street Plaza between Pine andSouth Streets has already begun. Thanks to agenerous grant obtained by State RepresentativeMarie Lederer, water is again flowing in thefountain at 2nd and Lombard Streets. Next, theelevated median strip and individual meters willbe removed and replaced with a state of the artparking meter system at either end of the plaza.Once the square is resurfaced and utilities relo-cated, the resulting large, open space will be usedfor street festivals and family-style entertainment.

Phase I of the Streetscape Program is scheduledto start in several months. South Street, fromFront to 8th, will get all new lighting, sidewalks,curbs and trees. The street itself will be com-pletely re-paved. Bike racks will be installed andparking meters will be double headed to reduceclutter. The project will take 10 months to com-plete, during which time the Streets Departmentis committed to maintaining access to businesses.Phase II, according to Planning Chair Ann Verber,will eventually extend the streetscape renovationsto the remainder of the businesses and proper-ties that are within the district’s boundaries.

South Street is as old as the city of Philadelphia.And while hundreds of tenements, many stillstanding, always housed working class men andwomen drawn to the area by its proximity to theDelaware River docks and to New Market, themakeup of these laborers changed with time.

Home to almost every immigrant group, the lastbig wave of refugees was Eastern European Jewswho started arriving in Philadelphia in 1881 toescape the pogroms of their native countries.They left an indelible mark on the street, firstwith their peddler carts and sweatshops, then asPhiladelphia’s unofficial garment district. Today,historic Fabric Row, offering an unparalleled tex-tile resource, is virtually all that’s left of theclothing trade.

The neighborhood reinvented itself once againin the mid-1960’s as suburban malls changed theretail industry. Shoppers dwindled, property val-ues plummeted and the street went into decline.These problems were exacerbated when the citytoyed with the idea of demolishing South Streetto build a cross-town expressway. Strugglingartists and ethnic restaurateurs seized the eco-nomic moment and set up shop. In doing so theychanged the look and spirit of the street forever.It became Philadelphia’s trendy melting pot, theplace where, as the Orlons sang in 1963, “all thehippest meet.”

Society Hill’s gritty neighbor to the south is onceagain poised for change. And those bright redstreet posts suggest that it’s a change worthwaiting for!

Meet me onSouth Street, (oh yeah) hurry on down! (oh baby)Meet meon SouthStreet, It’s thehippest streetin town!

On Wednesday, June 11 Historic St.Peter’s Church Preservation Corpor-

ation (HSPCPC) held its first open-to-the-public annual meeting in the churchyardat 3rd and Pine Streets. The cemeterybegan interring parishioners in 1760 andnow displays over 230 years of Americanburial iconography, but time has taken itstoll on the gravestones. John Carr, a con-servationist retained by HSPCPC, demon-strated how he and his staff will restorebroken headstones. Rob Cox, manuscriptlibrarian for the American PhilosophicalSociety, talked about the botanical signifi-cance of the Osage orange trees in thesouthwest corner, which arrived either

as seedlings or cuttings from the Lewisand Clark Expedition in 1803-1806.

While the iron gates, brick wall and stonefinials have been restored, much workremains including gravestone restoration,landscaping, brick walkways and lighting.

HSPCPC was founded in 1991 to preservethis unique site — often referred to as anoasis in this old city — or the green lungof this brick neighborhood. If you wouldlike to contribute, send donations toHSPCPC at 313 Pine Street, Philadelphia,PA 19106 or call 215-925-5968 for volun-teer opportunities such as tour guideor gardener.

St. Peter’s Churchyard Restoration Continues

John Carr and Kristin Cardidiscuss gravestone damagewith Roy Bernat of HSPCPC.


Please join us for worshipSundays at 10:30amNursery Care Available

412 Pine Street215.925.8051www.oldpine.org

St. Peter’s Churchan Episcopal Church at 3rd and Pine Streets

215-925-5968www.stpetersphila.org

Please join us for services

All are welcome at God’s tableSunday - 9:00 & 11:00 AM

Christian Education for all ages - 10:00 AMNursery care available


Family Friendly Businesses

We’ve all been there. Walk into a boutiquewith a stroller and see the grimace. Bring

an infant to the salon and hear “maybe it’s timeto wean your baby.” Or my personal favorite,“Ever hear of a sitter?” Lucky for us, there arelots of family friendly businesses in and aroundSociety Hill. The following is a subjectiveassortment of a few of the many local mer-chants who go beyond common courtesy toaccommodate children.

Philadelphia Java Co. • 518 South 4th Street

A haven for both parents and children. Adultscan acquire their lifeblood (aka caffeine) in theform of La Colombe coffees, cappuccinos and avariety of teas. There are plenty of kid friendlysnacks (bagels, muffins, pastry, panini) not tomention hot chocolate topped with whippedcream. The staff is attentive enough to craftmom-approved cocoa (not too hot, not toochocolatey) and to remember which kid musthave whipped cream and which recoils at thestuff. In addition, there are two large bins oftoys in the back seating area and a spacious,clean bathroom for frequent emergency trips.Owners Alia Banna and Jerry Roseman providea hip and friendly cafe for one and all. Longmay they brew!

Salon@5th • 316 South 5th Street

Salon@5th provides hair and nail services toadults while accommodating haphazard schooland childcare schedules. Tina Mai, the mani-curist, opens the shop an hour early to pamperthe moms who have early preschool pickup.Stylists are always willing to adjust their sched-ules to comply with parental duties. OwnerSteven Chernekoff even provided me with asupply of his adorable miniature white shop-ping bags when my daughter refused to eatlunch from any other satchel. (We have sincemoved on to a pink monogrammed lunchbox.)On Halloween, the shop was festively decorat-ed and gave obscene amounts of candy to trick-or-treaters. While Salon@5th does not provideservices to children, there is no dirty lookwhen a stroller enters the premises.

American Pie • 327 South Street

A beautiful, but breakable collection ofmerchandise. Its selection of gifts, jewelry,housewares, and arts and crafts is oh-so-fragile.However, owners Peter and Kirsten Ebert,along with their daughter Kira, have created an

environment that openly (and bravely) accom-modates families. They even hang a sign in thewindow with a list of things they welcome —kids with sippy cups and strollers included!

Abode • 718 South Street

The newest edition to American Pie Crafts,Abode features family friendly furniture. Itencourages families to visit and lounge onthe pieces. According to Kira, “if they are notcomfortable around the furniture in our store,they won’t be comfortable in their home.”Recognizing the importance and magnitude offurniture selection, Abode encourages partici-pation by the entire family. Bring the Game-boys and coloring books and try out the sofasand tables. Now that’s customer awareness!

House of Tea • 720 South 4th Street

Another favorite of ours and an essential stopon my errand circuit. Owner Jessica Litt alwayshas a friendly hello for the little ones and, moreimportantly, a generous bowl of candy for theirgluttonous pleasure. Like American Pie, Houseof Tea stocks a large selection of lovely, fragileitems, but Jessica never restricts the exploringeyes and hands of my curious companions.

TLA • 517 South 4th Street

A great, friendly locale. Day Manager KennieBowen makes the effort to say hello to my kids,remembers them by name, and takes the timeto rap with a neighbor’s son about super-heroes. TLA’s staff never fusses when mydaughter sits on the counter and draws pic-tures on their notepaper while we negotiatewhich films to rent. And they are understand-ing and matter of fact about the inevitable latefee. We still have to pay it, of course, but theyare not judgmental tyrants about it!

K i d s ’ B e a t a column by Keri White

Kid ’ s Quote

“Zocalo? No way!I want to go toCafe Spice! ”

Kelsey, age 4

Society Hill Kid


Block Coordinators in Action

Block Coordinators are ready to help outwhen needed. They assist SHCA in com-

municating with you, as well as giving you acontact person on your own block to addressyour concerns. This spring Block Coordinatorsprovided a neighborhood-wide massdistribution of fliers for two major events —the Society Hill Open House and Garden Toursand Clean-up Day. Each Block Coordinatordelivered fliers to his or her respective block.Some also posted “Move your car” signs onpoles and trees to allow proper street cleaning.Open House posters were displayed in manyBlock Coordinators’ windows. The civic associ-ation thanks you. We couldn’t have done itwithout your assistance.

Many Coordinators also initiate projects ontheir blocks. Several obtained contributionsfrom neighbors to purchase plants and placethem in hanging the baskets. Neighbors taketurns watering the colorful flowers. Organizers

who participated in this endeavor include thefollowing Block Coordinators: Laura Templefor the 200 block of South American Street;Sandra Williams, 200 South Philip; Hans andCherry Bombeck, 500 Spruce; Elizabeth Armour,200 Delancey, and Kevin Yoder (with neighborJanet Cook), 200 South 3rd. Kelly Nelson, withBlackwell Place neighbors, did an amazing jobremoving dead plants and revitalizing commu-nal garden space. Adrianna von Pein, with finan-cial support from neighbors, tends to LawrenceWalkway and St. Peter’s Way by planting con-tainers, placing hanging baskets and keepingthe area clean. She also enticed Super Fresh’sManager, Joe Black, to provide complimentarymulch, which she placed around tree pitsoutside the store on 5th Street.

Roseann Loesch, although not a BlockCoordinator, organized the pruning of treeson the 400 block of Spruce, allowing morelight to penetrate the street.

Co-chairs Linda Skale and Martha Levinereport that this year’s Society Hill Open

House Tour attracted a record-breaking 350visitors on Sunday, May 4. It was a lovelyspring day, perfect for enjoying the eight beau-tiful private homes on the tour, as well as St.Peter’s Church, Society Hill Synagogue and thePowell House. With two-thirds of the net pro-ceeds benefiting SHCA, it was a great day.

Inclement weather on Sunday, June 1decreased garden tour participation fromlast year’s 265 visitors; but the 160 brave soulswho did tour the 19 gardens, many of whichare located in private courtyards or behindthe walls of enclosed patios, marveled at theirbeauty. Linda and Martha appreciate theassistance of the many neighbors whovolunteered for these events.

House and Garden Tours Successful

Keeping Society Hill a “Greene Countrie Towne”

The SHCA has received a grant from theGreen Tree Perpetual Assurance Company

to match, dollar for dollar (up to a maximum of$2,500 per year), the civic association’s subsidyfor planting street trees.

You may have noticed the Green Tree medallionon some of the historical houses in our neigh-borhood. The company was founded over 200years ago as an offshoot of the PhiladelphiaContributionship, which refused to grant fireinsurance for houses that had trees in front.Green Tree, aware that new fire pumps madethis restriction antiquated, began to providefire insurance for homes with trees on theproperty. Thus, the tree symbol became itsmark. Green Tree, which currently has itscorporate headquarters at One Liberty Place,

wants to relocate in the Society Hill area andre-establish its identity. We enthusiasticallywelcome its participation in our Project StreetTrees program.

SHCA will reimburse homeowners $150for planting a street tree. With the matchingfunds from Green Tree, the subsidy rises to$300. Trees not only improve the look of ourneighborhood, but also provide welcomingshade from the heat of the summer sun.We hope many residents will take advantageof this opportunity to add greenery to ourstreetscape.

If you would like to have a new tree in frontof your house, please contact the SHCA officeat 215-629-1288.

SHCA:Cleaner & Greener


A little trust gave these homebuyersexactly what they wanted...a new home in just 16 days!

Roland and Susan Garramone were relocatingfrom Los Angeles to Philadelphia so thatRoland could take a new and better positionwithin his company. From the beginning, theyknew they wanted a different kind of homebuying experience—better than the difficultreal estate situations they had encountered inthe past. They wanted to pick the right agent— one who would be honest with them, puttheir interests first, and be a professional.

When we first met, I explained to them thebenefits of signing a contract to work with aBuyers’ Agent—making a 100% commitmentto one agent who will make a 100% commitmentto find them a new home. The Garramoneswere skeptical, but since they were referredto me by a satisfied client, they agreed. Next,I got them pre-approved for a mortgage. Beingpre-approved not only helped them to focus on

a price range, it strengthened their offer byletting the seller know they were serious andcould afford the home.

As the Garramones Exclusive Buyers’ Agent, Idevoted my full energy and attention to findingthem a home that would meet their needs. Igave them frequent phone and e-mail updates,and in just 16 days we found a condo which wasEXACTLY what they wanted. They put in anoffer with their pre-approval that was accepted.

Buyers looking for a new home sometimesfeel it is better to have 4 or 5 agents workingfor them, but fail to realize that not one ofthose agents is giving them 100%.

IF YOU FIND AN AGENT YOU TRUSTAND COMMIT TO THEM 100%, yourhome purchase will be much smoother,and you will get what you want and need.

Don’t lock yourself in with an agent whois not giving you 100%. Call me today for abuyer interview and examine a free copy ofmy “Buyer Agency Contract.”

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

100% Commitment Leads to 100% Satisfaction

Rosemary Fluehr, GRIAssociate BrokerRosemary Fluehr,[email protected]


Membership Application/Renewalo Renewal o New

o $40 Family

o $100 business

o $60 businesses with under 5 employees $

Additional contribution for o Anti-Graffiti/

o Tree Tending o Lighting o Litter Control $

Check if you wish to receive

o Guide for Property Owners o Historic Windowpane Plaque

Total enclosed $

I/We would be interested in working with one of SHCA’s committees.

My/Our interests include:

Name

Address Apt. #

City, State, Zip

Home Phone

Work Phone

E-mail

Mail to Society Hill Civic Assoc., P.O. Box 63503, Philadelphia, PA 19147

S O C I E T Y H I L L C I V I C A S S O C I AT I O N

If you cannot afford membership dues, please donate what you can.

M E M B E R S H I P

We Can Do It!Sure We Can!!

Let’s join Membership Cheerleader KellyNelson as she rallies the troops to try a little

harder. “Ninety-five more is what it takes; nine-ty-five more is a piece of cake!” We’re so closeto our record-breaking goal of 1,000 membersthat we can taste it! And why, you ask, is mem-bership so important? It’s because 60 percentof our revenue comes from SHCA dues. Weuse this money to fund weekly sidewalk clean-ing, remove graffiti, subsidize tree planting andsupport our volunteer committees. Look forour newest service in the crevices and cranniesnearest you, as the association is adding avacuum to enhance sidewalk cleaning.

We welcome four new business members:The Green Tree Perpetual Assurance Company(which we also thank for its major contributionto Project Street Trees), Alma Bove Interiors,Great Beginnings Child Development Centerand St. James Associates. We also thank all theneighbors who joined the association this year.To the at least 95 others out there who teeteron the verge: don’t delay. Fill in the member-ship form found on this page and mail it, withyour check, today.

Tips for the Fussy Homeowner

The Society Hill Preferred List of Contract-ors has served us well by providing an

extensive list of contractors of all types recom-mended by neighbors. Typical comments byusers are “It’s like gold” or “It’s our bible.”

Painting contractor Charlie Gallagher, ofGallagher & Sons Master Painters, who has40 years of experience, offers a few suggestionson how to achieve satisfactory exterior housepainting. The best time to paint the exterior ofyour home is between April and November,because air temperature should be over 50degrees. Hire a contractor with good refer-ences and one who usually works in this area,as working on old wood requires special skill.Use the best quality paint you can afford.Cheaper paints may change color or fade.

Thorough preparation is paramount. The woodsurfaces should be hand washed with TSP(trisodium phosphate) to remove dirt, mildew,exhaust from cars/buses, acid rain and saltthat collect on the surface. Sanding and repair

are essential to get rid of rough spots. Whenwood is exposed, it must be primed beforepaint is applied. Cracked paint around window-panes must be removed. Use caulk to seal win-dows to keep water out. Prepatory work is timeconsuming; if a painter gives you a very lowestimate, you may be getting a quick, but notthorough job that will need repainting in twoyears. A good job will last five or more years.

Every year following exterior painting, havethe painter return to wash the painted surfacesagain with TSP to loosen accumulated dirt, etc.Just as you wash your car periodically, youshould wash the painted surfaces of yourhome to prevent oxidation and peeling paint.

Brass hardware, such as knockers, knobsand mail slots, should be removed and cleaned,polished and lacquered to revive their finishes.

For more information, call Charlie Gallagherat 610-532-6904. To receive a contractor listcontact Martha Levine at 215-629-0727 [email protected]. Sorry, we cannot fax or e-mail the list to you. This is a service availableto all SHCA members or prospective members.

Planning to Repaint Your House?

With the threat of West Nile Virus, SARSand bio-terrorism lurking in our contem-

porary world, it is easy to imagine the scenarioof a deadly disease appearing without warningin our nation’s capital. The best doctors dis-agree about the origin and treatment of theillness. As the death toll mounts, a growingnumber of residents flee for their lives.

This is exactly what happened during Philadel-phia’s yellow fever epidemic of 1793. During aperiod of four months, nearly 10 percent of thecity’s population of approximately 55,000 per-ished, making it one of the deadliest epidemicsin U.S. history. The impact of this disaster wascompounded by Philadelphia’s status at thetime as the capital of the United States.

In late summer, as the number of deathsbegan to climb, 20,000 citizens, includingGeorge Washington, Thomas Jefferson andother members of the federal government,fled to the countryside.

In an effort to prove themselves morallysuperior to those who reviled them, Phila-delphia’s black community dedicated itself totending the sick and dying as nurses and alsoserving as cart drivers and gravediggers.Despite the popular belief that blacks couldnot contract the disease, 240 died of the fever.

After the epidemic, a street-by-street, alley- by-alley count of fever deaths was compiled.Today we can find that list in the 1795 FederalCensus at the National Archives, 9th andChestnut Streets.

Fever 1793Laurie Halse AndersonAladdin Library; Reprint edition (March, 2002)Ages 9-12

In Fever 1793, author Laurie Anderson takes aPhiladelphia teenager through this devastatingepidemic. Mattie’s story turns into one of sur-vival and growth as she overcomes the terriblescourge herself, then must search for othersurvivors, battle both terrified neighbors andlooters, and attempt to restore her family andfortunes while her former cook, a freed slave,works with the African Free Society to visit andassist the sick. Anderson makes Mattie’s storybelievable — and in the process builds apicture of Philadelphia in the days when itwas the nation’s largest city and capital.

Bring Out Your Dead:The Great Plague of Yellow Fever in Philadelphia in 1793(Studies in Health, Illness and Care-giving)John H. Powell, et alPaperback, The University of Pennsylvania, 1993

During the hot, mosquito-infested summerof 1793, the dreaded yellow fever spread likewildfire, killing people overnight. Like spectersfrom the Middle Ages, gravediggers drew cartsthrough the streets crying, “Bring out yourdead!” Historian John Harvey Powell presentsa penetrating study of human nature revealingitself in his psychological portrait of a city interror. Bring Out Your Dead is his absorbingaccount, from the original sources, of aninfamous tragedy that left its mark on allit touched.

Both books are available at the IndependenceBranch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, 13 South 7th Street.

T H E B O O K S H E L F

The Scourge of Pestilence

J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003 P A G E 27

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Introducing “The Bookshelf”

Living in an historic neighborhood bringsout the armchair historian in most of us.With this in mind, the Reporter introducesa new column, “The Book Shelf,” whichfeatures publications, for adults and chil-dren, that are certain to feed our need toexplore Philadelphia’s past.


In Society Hill Real EstateOne Name. One call.

Izzy SigmanOutstanding service and results.

Every time.

My recent sales My New Listings604 Addison St 234 Lombard St211 Delancey St 251 Pine St126 Delancey St 112 Pine St109-111 Pine St 224 Delancey St

507 Pine St 218 Pine St214 Pine St

Call Izzy Sigman

226 South Street215-922-4200 x 228215-306-2864 Pager


S U M M E R A C T I V I T I E S

Fun for Kids at Atwater Kent

The Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphiawill again be sponsoring Phil-A-Kid

Summer History Camp for children ages8-13. Now in its 20th year, this program isdesigned to explore Philadelphia’s historyduring the Colonial, Victorian and 20thCentury time periods. During the weekof August 4-8, campers will learn aboutcommunication, transportation and multi-culturalism in the early 20th century withvisits to the Ben Franklin Bridge, theIndependence Seaport Museum, theNational Liberty Museum and the PaulRobeson House. During August 11-15 thefocus will be on the 19th century with visitsto City Hall, Eastern State Penitentiary, thePennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts andthe Mutter Museum.

Registration is underway and will continueuntil available space is filled. There is a fee.For more information contact Caren Croninat 215-685-4832 or [email protected].

New Exhibit at Atwater KentMuseum

“The Living Landmark: Philadelphia’sIndependence Hall,” an exhibit of images andobjects tracing the evolution of this uniquebuilding as a symbol of American Liberty, isthe Atwater Kent Museum’s current feature.“The Living Landmark” explores how each erain our country’s history interpreted Indepen-dence Hall and used it as an icon of Americanfreedom. Independence Hall has been the siteof the Pennsylvania State House, Federal Courtrooms and City Council Chambers, as well as afocal point for demonstrations for causes asdiverse as the abolition of slavery, women’ssuffrage and gay rights.

The exhibition runs through December 29.The Atwater Kent Museum, located at 15 South7th Street, is open every day except Tuesday,from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information,call 215-685-4830.

Arts and Crafts Fair AlsoFeatures Workshops

The summer “Crafts & Fine Arts Fair”sponsored by The Creative Collective has

returned to the historic Head House Shamblesmarket place at 2nd and Pine Streets for its35th year. Every weekend through Septemberartists and crafts persons will exhibit jewelry,ceramics, clothing and other wares. In addition,every Sunday between 1 and 3 p.m. there willbe workshops for children ages 3 to 10. Formore information, please call 215-790-0782.

Liz Eaby at the helm of another season forthe Creative Collective Crafts & Fine ArtsFair at historic Head House Square.

A T H A N K - Y O U T O O U R N E I G H B O R S


“Mathematics, rightly viewed,possesses not only truth, but supremebeauty – a beauty cold and austere,like that of sculpture.”

—Bertrand Russell

Like his idol Bertrand Russell, John AllenPaulos is both a mathematician and a

philosopher; and like Lewis Carroll, who notonly created Alice in Wonderland but also theless fanciful Euclid and His Modern Rivals, hecombines mathematics with whimsy. He is theauthor of such popular works as Innumeracy,I Think Therefore I Laugh, Mathematics andHumor and his just-published seventh book,A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market.

A professor at Temple University, Paulosdescribes mathematics as “elegant, ethereal,and playful” but too often presented and taughtwith a narrow focus. And in his A MathematicianReads the Newspaper, he takes the press to taskfor playing fast and loose with numbers. He hascommunicated his fascination with — andexpertise in — risk and probability in the NewYork Times and the Wall Street Journal and onthe Larry King and David Letterman shows.He also served for two years on the editorialboard of the Philadelphia Daily News trying,as he puts it, “to straddle the disparate realmsof Pythagoras and Pulitzer.”

Paulos’ wife Sheila is not only a major fan,pointing out that Innumeracy graced the NewYork Times bestseller list for 18 weeks, soldhalf a million copies and was translated into13 languages, but she is also an accomplishedwriter. The author of nine romance novels,including Champagne and Red Roses, whichshe describes as “a surprise bestseller,” sherecently completed a mainstream novel. Inaddition, Sheila teaches writing at theUniversity of the Arts and a course onintellectual heritage at Temple.

The pair, who met at the University ofWisconsin, lived in the Philadelphia suburbsbefore moving to Society Hill seven years agowhen their two children went off to college.With their cat Puffin, they inhabit a charmingcirca 1810 house on the 600 block of Pine Street.They describe the area as vibrant and ideal forwalking to theatres, bookstores and historicsites. When not at home, John and Sheila areeither at their summer home in Acadia NationalPark in Maine or traveling in Europe.

It’s no simple matter to calculate the odds — theprobability — that husband and wife would bothmeet at one university, teach at another and beprolific, popular authors. But that’s the mathe-matical truth — and indeed the beauty of it.

N O T E W O R T H Y N E I G H B O R SA C O L U M N B Y D A V I D W O O D S

John Allen Paulos + Sheila Paulos

The Society HillCivic Association Clean-Up DayCommittee thanksall neighborhoodresidents whovolunteered theirtime and talents tohelp make Clean-upDay successful.

Special mentiongoes to the Doe Fundof Philadelphia andits volunteer group,“Ready, Willing andAble,” for assistingus with this project.

J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003J U L Y / A U G U S T 2003 P A G E 31

Under the headline, “A New Societyfor Ensuring Houses from Loss by Fire,”readers of the Philadelphia paper TheIndependent Gazetteer; or the Chronicleof Freedom for Saturday, August of were informed of the following:

A great number of the citizens ofPhiladelphia, who are proprietors ofhouses in the city, and its suburbs…havefound it convenient and agreeable tothem, to have trees planted in the streetsbefore their houses, which…is expresslypermitted by a law of the state; …whosignified their willingness, that a newaddition should be made to the premi-um of their insurance, for the supposedrisque, attending trees in cases of fire,as is now done with respect to bake-houses, coopers, apothecaries, and oil-men’s shops; stores containing pitch, tar,brimstone, &c.; …wherefore a numberof persons, desirous of having theirhouses ensured from loss by fire, andfeeling themselves precluded from theadvantages of the present institution,have judged it necessary to form anotherSociety for the purpose aforesaid, andhave entered into an agreement, that assoon as so many persons as have propertyin houses, to the value of one hundredthousand pounds collectively, shall havesigned the said agreement, a meetingof the subscribers should be called, toform a place for the management ofthe intended Society.

With this grand one-sentence paragraph,the intention to found a second fireinsurance company in the city wasannounced to the Philadelphia public.

The idea of a group of citizens bandingtogether for their mutual protectionshould one of their number suffer afinancial loss due to fire originated inLondon in with the formation ofa society known as the Amicable Contri-butionship for the Insurance of Housesagainst Fire. Each property insured bythe Amicable Contributionship wasmarked by a lead emblem of two claspedhands, signifying the mutual nature ofthe insuring company. This fire mark

certified that the property must be protect-ed by the company’s private fire brigade.

Benjamin Franklin, whose manycivic interests included fire protection,joined with other prominent citizens ofPhiladelphia in to form a volunteerfire-fighting association called the UnionFire Company. This company provedto be so successful that it stimulated theformation of many other such compa-nies. Effective as many of them were inputting out fires, however, fire and itsattendant financial losses were inescap-able threats in a city built largely ofbrick and wood.

In March of Franklin and otherlike-minded residents of Philadelphiajoined together to form the city’s firstfire insurance company, The PhiladelphiaContributionship, and took as its firemark the image of four hands crossedand clasped in a pattern resembling afireman’s chair. In Philadelphia a firemark was more a matter of advertisementthan a demand for fire-fighting assistance.Here, when a fire broke out, everyonewho could was expected to pitch in andjoin the bucket brigades. Not until theturn of the century would there finallybe sufficient water pressure in the Cityto support the use of hoses. Each of theneighbors who rushed to help wouldbring a pair of leather buckets bearinghis own initials and join bucket brigadesof as many as a thousand people.

In The Contributionshipdetermined that street trees were animpediment to the work of these bucketbrigades and, declaring that it would nolonger insure a property that had treesnearby, demanded that its membersremove them. The PennsylvaniaAssembly followed in the Contribution-ship footsteps in April of the followingyear and ordered that all street trees beremoved. Colonial Philadelphians, beingrightly proud of what remained to themof Penn’s woods to shade their residentialstreets, must have expressed their displea-sure with considerable force, for the lawwas repealed by that same September.

The Contributionship, however, didnot rescind its by-law banning trees, andin July of , sixty-one, or nearly half,of its policyholders announced their in-tention in the city’s newspapers to forma new company unless the ban on treeswere lifted within two months’ time.

The Contributionship held firm and,in the end, eighteen dissident tree-loversof Philadelphia broke away from thecity’s first fire insurance company toform its second on September , .They elected thirteen of their number— some being absent at the time —as trustees and named George Emlenthe treasurer of their new society.

The first meeting of the new societywas held on October , , at whichtime the members drew up the articlesunder which the new society would begoverned. At a second meeting five dayslater, they met at the City Coffee House,and the members then present approvedthe articles, or Deed of Settlement, andthe name of the new society: The MutualAssurance Company for Insuring Housesfrom Loss by Fire. Soon after, the trust-ees decided upon a well-pruned tree asan appropriate emblem to signify thenew company. The trustees determinedthat it should be printed on the Deedof Settlement, “and that a Tree, formedin Lead, shall be the Badge or Mark tobe fixed upon all Houses insured by thisSociety.” The fire mark quickly caughton and from that day to this, thecompany has been known familiarly asThe Green Tree. Many of The GreenTree’s fire marks can still be seen onproperties today.

The Green Tree Perpetual Assurance Company

Advertisement --- · -- www.thegreentree.com

To be continued…


www.societyhillcivic.com

2 0 0 3 - 0 4 S H C A O F F I C E R S A N D D I R E C T O R S

S O C I E T Y H I L L

Reporter

Officers

PresidentLiza Seltzer 215-625-2100 [email protected]

Vice PresidentsPaul Boni 215-989-0034 [email protected] Halda 215 625-0793 [email protected] Hamel 215 925-4363 [email protected] Levine 215 629-0727 [email protected] Nelson 215 925-6799 [email protected]

TreasurerFrank Hoban 215 592-3245 [email protected]

Recording SecretaryLuisa Boverini 215-746-2762 [email protected]

AdministratorMatthew DeJulio 215-629-1288 [email protected]

Quadrant Directors

Northeast Colleen Farrell 215 241-9377 [email protected] Dennis 215-829-1505 [email protected] Keri White 215-592-9633 [email protected]

Northwest Morris Chomitz 215 629-0245 [email protected] Gritz 215 629-7064 [email protected] Karlin 215-923-3889 [email protected]

Southwest Gene Gualtieri 215-923-5439 [email protected] Komita 215-928-1535 [email protected] Signorello 215-413-3380 [email protected]

Southeast Tania Rorke 215-925-4544 [email protected] Chatley 215-925-2519 [email protected] Erdos 215-629-5897 [email protected]

Condominium Representatives

Hopkinson HouseGeorge Koch 215-922-6019 [email protected]

Independence PlaceSissie Lipton 215 925-2112 [email protected]

Society Hill Towers Hugh McCaffrey 215-629-7474 [email protected] Halpern 215 925-3431 [email protected]

Penns Landing CondoBruce LeBuhn 267-671-9681 [email protected]

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