Culture of Philadelphia
The culture of Philadelphia goes back to 1682 when Philadelphia was established by William Penn, founder of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia emerged quickly as the largest and most influential city in the Thirteen Colonies.
By the 1750s, Philadelphia was the second-largest city in the British Empire after London, and a center of early American culture, political leadership, intellectual thought, and industry and manufacturing. It served as the capital of both colonial-era British America and then, until 1800, as the first capital of the United States.
History
Present-day
Prior to the American Revolution and following it, Philadelphia grew quickly into a major political and economic center of the United States, serving as the nation's capital until 1800. During the Revolutionary War, the First and Second Continental Congress met at what today is Independence Hall at 4th and Chestnut streets.
In 1776, 56 delegates to the Second Continental Congress, determined to secure independence from British colonial rule, charged the Committee of Five, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman, with authoring a declaration to King George III declaring the Thirteen Colonies free and independent states.
Adams, a leading proponent of independence, persuaded the Committee of Five to charge Jefferson with writing the document's original draft, which Jefferson largely wrote in isolation between June 11 and June 28, 1776, from the second floor of a three-story home he was renting at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia. The Declaration of Independence was unanimously adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which both formalized and escalated the Revolutionary War.
The document has become one of the most inconic statements on human rights and human liberties, particularly its second sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Historian Stephen Lucas called the Declaration of Independence "one of the best-known sentences in the English language."[1] Historian Joseph Ellis has written that the document contains "the most potent and consequential words in American history".[2]
Following the Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln famously referenced the Declaration of Independence in the Gettysburg Address, one of the most famous speeches in American history, saying, "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."[3]: 126
In the 19th and 20th century, immigration and migration led to large concentrations of
The city has made contributions in art, music, television, architecture and food. Philadelphia institutions range from the
People
Before the first European settlers arrived in present-day Philadelphia, the region was inhabited by the Lenape, a group of Native American people. The Lenape occasionally fought with the earliest Dutch settlers, but had much better relations with William Penn and the early inhabitants of the English subjects of the colony of Pennsylvania. Still, disease and development pushed the Lenape west.[4]
A member of the
By the mid-18th century, Quakers and the English had become a minority in the colony as other ethnic groups such as the
Lutherans established places of worship in the city as early as the 1720s. In 1748, Henry Muhlenberg led the founding of the Lutheran-affiliated Pennsylvania Ministerium.[6]
In 1734, followers of what would become the
During most of the 19th century, immigrants mainly from Germany, England, and Ireland settled in the city. Some of these immigrants were
During the last decades of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the origin of immigrants shifted from England, Ireland, and Germany to Italy, Southern Europe, Russia, Poland, and Eastern Europe. Italians and Poles helped increase the city's Catholic population, but Jewish immigrants, mainly from Poland, Lithuania, and Russia, were the largest religion to settle in the city during this period. Supplementing the already settled German Jews, the city's Jewish population swelled from 5,000 in 1881 to 100,000 in 1905. Philadelphia's Italian population changed from 300 in 1870 to 77,000 in 1910. Hungarian and Polish immigrants also settled in the city, but in smaller numbers.[10] In the 20th century political power began to shift from primarily white Protestants to Irish and Italian Catholics and Jews, with the city's first Catholic and Jewish mayors elected in 1963 and 1992 respectively.[11]
In the second half of the 19th century, immigration began from
Immigrants from
Immigration from the
African Americans
The first black people in Philadelphia were slaves; with at most 1,500 people living as slaves in the city during the period slavery was legal. Slaves in Philadelphia usually lived in the same house of their owners and worked as servants or in their owners' shops. An
In the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century large numbers of African Americans migrated from the Southern United States to Philadelphia giving the city the largest African American population of a northern U.S. city. In 1896 W. E. B. Du Bois came to Philadelphia and wrote his sociological book The Philadelphia Negro. Du Bois' study of the city's African Americans found many lived in Center City with growing populations in West Philadelphia. Many African Americans lived in neighborhoods near the rich white families they worked for. There was also a small group of upper class African Americans, both educated, wealthy and Philadelphia born, who descended from freedmen earlier in the century. The aristocratic African Americans were generally isolated, not recognized or even known about by the white population and alienated from the rest of the city's African American population.[18]
As Philadelphia grew more industrialized the new factories refused to hire African Americans, with only about one percent of Philadelphia's African American population finding employment with the factories. In 1899, W. E. B. Du Bois said that ninety percent of the African American population in the city was below the poverty line. White-collar office jobs also refused to hire African Americans and many worked as domestic workers. There were African Americans that did manage to own their own businesses, while other became professionals such as doctors and lawyers. In 1884 Christopher J. Perry founded The Philadelphia Tribune, a newspaper for African Americans.[18]
During
Philadelphia aristocracy
By the second half of the 18th century Philadelphia had developed an
In the late 19th century Mark Twain observed, "In Boston, they ask how much does he know. In New York, how much is he worth. In Philadelphia, who were his parents."[20] A person could not enter Philadelphia society by acquisition of wealth, but their offspring, if they grew up well and married into the right family, could create a new lineage if the family stayed respectable.[21]
In the 18th century, the wealth had been built on
The Philadelphia upper class engaged in
Art
Fine art
Prior to the American Revolution the upper class increasingly supported the arts, particularly by commissioning portrait paintings. The demand for portraits made Philadelphia attractive to artists and many came to the city, including William Williams who introduced oil painting to another Philadelphia artist, Benjamin West.
In 1805, an art collector, believing Philadelphia the best place for the encouragement of artistic taste, offered the city numerous paintings, sculptures, engravings and other art work. To accept the gift the city formed the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The Academy, the oldest art school and museum in the United States, helped establish many artists. Portraitist Charles Willson Peale and sculptor William Rush helped found the Academy of the Fine Arts and artists such as Thomas Eakins, Henry Ossawa Tanner and some of the members of the Philadelphia Ten studied there.[23]
The city's major art museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art was founded in 1876 to maintain the art exhibits from the Centennial Exposition. The museum holds over 225,000 pieces of artwork including work by Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Marcel Duchamp.[24] Not far from the Museum of Art is the Rodin Museum. The museum, founded in 1929, is the largest collection of Auguste Rodin work outside France.[25] Planned nearby is a new museum intended to hold the collection of the Barnes Foundation.
In 1923,
Philadelphia has more
Philadelphia has more murals than any other U.S. city. In 1984, the Department of Recreation created the Mural Arts Program. The program, an extension of the city's Anti-Graffiti Network, is intended to beautify neighborhoods and also provide an outlet for graffiti artists. The Mural Arts Program, which became independent from the Anti-Graffiti Network in 1996, has funded more than 2,300 murals created by professional, staff and volunteer artists. The program also runs art education programs and tours of the murals.[25]
Music
Music began to be a major part of city life in the middle of the 18th century.
Founded in 1900, the Philadelphia Orchestra, once called Philadelphia's "chief contribution to civilization" by Lawrence Gilman of the New York Herald, rose to prominence with conductors Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy in the middle of the 20th century.[32] The orchestra's home was the Academy of Music until the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts opened in 2001.[25]
The city developed an early jazz scene with many future best selling artists, including
More recently, Philadelphia has been home to a number of acclaimed independent alternative musicians. Dr. Dog, The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile, Nothing (band), Philadelphia Slick, Alex G, and Beach Slang all call Philadelphia their home.
Performing arts
In Philadelphia's early history the city was visited by outside
Pennsylvania's oldest African-American theatre is the
There are an estimated 120 theater organizations in the Philadelphia area.
Film and television
On December 18, 1895 Charles Francis Jenkins showed off his film projector at the Franklin Institute. It was the first demonstration of moving pictures using flexible film in Philadelphia. A week later Woodville Latham's eidoloscope was shown to Philadelphia audiences. German immigrant and optician, Siegmund Lubin, was impressed with the technology and bought Jenkins' camera.
In Philadelphia, he filmed his first film, his horse eating hay. Lubin continued to make films in Philadelphia, now showing them commercially, and built his own cameras and projectors which he marketed. In 1902, he eventually created a production company,
In 1905,
In 1985, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office was created as part of the city government. In 1992, it became a regional economic office.[45]
Since 1992, the GPFO, which promotes the Philadelphia region and helps coordinate film productions, has assisted in the making of over 200 films and television shows. Between 1992 and 2002 film productions have brought in US$500 Million to the city's economy.[25]
In 2007,
Philadelphia annually hosts the Philadelphia Film Festival, Philadelphia QFest, and the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.
Cuisine
Philadelphia is the home of many culinary institutions, both gourmet and local staples. The city's immigrant history has allowed many tastes to mix and develop. The
During the 18th century, city taverns, including the London Coffee House and Tun Tavern, the birthplace of the United States Marine Corps in 1775, were regular meeting places for the political and business leaders. Another tavern frequented by politicians is McGillin's Olde Ale House,[49] which is the oldest continuously operated tavern in the city.[50]
In the late 19th century, two Philadelphia landmarks, the
The early 20th century saw the creation of the first automat in the United States on Chestnut Street and the founding of the Tasty Baking Company. For most of the 20th century fine dining could only be found in private clubs or dinner parties, but with the beginning of the city's revival in the 1970s a restaurant renaissance began.[51] Starting with Le Bec-Fin in 1970, many upscale restaurants have sprung up in the popular neighborhoods. Philadelphia has since added over 150 upscale establishments, famously including the several trendy restaurants of Stephen Starr[52] as well as dozens of sidewalk cafes and trendy bars. Such a renaissance has led to an acclamation of Philadelphia as a world-class "food city".[citation needed]
Philadelphia's large Chinese, Vietnamese, and East African populations have made their marks on Philadelphia's dining scene. Philly Chinatown is home to first-class Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Malaysian foods. South Philadelphia has many Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants, and West Philly is home to multiple East African restaurants, including four Ethiopian restaurants. Philadelphia also has numerous Indian and Middle-Eastern restaurants in Center City and West Philly.
Grassroots culture
Not every Philadelphian eats out or goes to the theater, but most Philadelphians participate in local and community activities and organizations.[citation needed] Block parties and yard sales abound on weekends. Philadelphia has vibrant local markets, such as the biweekly market in Clark Park at 43rd and Baltimore, where local farmers sell produce and artists and antique collectors show their wares. Philadelphia is also home to food cooperatives such as West Philly's Mariposa.
Philadelphia has a long history of graffiti culture.[53] The Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, which gave way to the Mural Arts Project, has reduced the incidence of graffiti, but South Street is full of graffiti, and writers still perform their craft, legally and illegally, on walls throughout the city.[citation needed]
Philadelphia has thriving non-profits in all areas of community service. Books Through Bars, which collects books to distribute at prisons, started in Philadelphia.[citation needed] Philadelphia is home to one of the largest National Network for Abortion Funds (NNAF) and the Women's Medical Fund.[citation needed] Philly Fellows, started in 2005, have been focusing efforts on "building capacity in the non-profit sector." Philadelphia also has important faith-based organizations.[citation needed]
Annual fairs and events
Philadelphia holds many annual festivals and events. One of the most famous is the annual Mummers Parade, held every New Year's Day since 1901.[54] The Saint Patrick's Day Parade, which is popular with the city's large Irish population,[55] is the second oldest parade in the United States.[56]
The Puerto Rican Day Parade has been held in the city for over 50 years.[57]
Since 1993, every summer around the July 4th holiday, the multi-day Welcome America event celebrates Philadelphia as the birthplace of the United States.
Three major annual shows in Philadelphia are the Philadelphia Flower Show in March, the Philadelphia Auto Show in February and antiques-focused The Philadelphia Show in April. Major events include the Greek Picnic, a reunion and celebration of African American college fraternities and sororities. Another event, the Wing Bowl is an eating contest started in 1993. Festivals include the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Unity Day an event celebrating unity between people and families. PrideFest events promote LGBT rights. In September, the 16-day Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe highlights experimental art, performances and exhibits throughout the city.[58]
Philadelphia in popular culture
Philadelphia is featured prominently in film, literature, music, and television.
Films
Films based in Philadelphia, or about the city, include:
- 2006: 10th & Wolf, a true story about the Philadelphia crime family mob war
- 2006: Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, a romantic drama, including scenes at 30th Street Station and on Delancey Street in Philadelphia
- 2000: Unbreakable, the first of the Unbreakable film series
- 1999: The Sixth Sense, a psychological thriller
- 1993: Philadelphia, a legal drama about HIV/AIDS discrimination in a large Philadelphia law firm
- 1976: Rocky, Rocky Balboa, a small-time South Philadelphia club fighter emerges to fight Apollo Creed for the heavyweight championship of the world, in the first of the ongoing Rocky franchise, which includes nine movies as of 2023
- 1940: Kitty Foyle, A New York City saleswoman, played by Ginger Rogers, has flashbacks to her youth in Philadelphia as she faces a difficult personal decision.
- 1940: The Philadelphia Story, a romantic comedy based on Helen Hope Montgomery Scott, called "the unofficial queen of Philadelphia's WASP oligarchy" by Vanity Fair magazine
Literature
Books and novels about Philadelphia include:
- 2001: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
- 1845: The Quaker City, or The Monks of Monk Hall by George Lippard[59]
Music
Songs
Songs about Philadelphia, or referencing Philadelphia, include:
- 2002: "What We Do" by Freeway
- 1993: "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen
- 1991: "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
- 1991: Motownphilly" by Boyz II Men
- 1990: "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song" by Will Smith
- 1988: "Punk Rock Girl" by The Dead Milkmen
- 1983: "The Heart of Rock & Roll" by Huey Lewis
- 1979: "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now by McFadden & Whitehead
- 1977: "Gonna Fly Now" by Bill Conti
- 1976: "Rock'n Me" by Steve Miller Band
- 1975: "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John
- 1974: TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" by Gamble and Huff
- 1964: "Dancing in the Street" by Marvin Gaye
- 1963: "South Street by Dave Appell and Kal Mann
- 1958: "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry
Albums
Albums about Philadelphia, or referencing Philadelphia, include:
- 2003: Philadelphia Freeway by Freeway
- 2000: Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler
- 1994: Freedom of '76, an album by Ween
Television
Television shows about Philadelphia, or based in Philadelphia, include:
- 2005 to present: It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- 2003 to 2010: Cold Case
- 2006 to 2007: The Class
- 2002 to 2004: Hack
- 1993 to 2000: Boy Meets World
- 1987 to 1991: Thirtysomething
See also
- Buildings and architecture of Philadelphia
- List of people from Philadelphia
- List of tourist attractions in Philadelphia
- Media in Philadelphia
- Religion in Philadelphia
References
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