History On the Road to Reconstruction with the Pennsylvania Freedmen’s Relief Association Keshler Thibert takes a trip down south where Philadelphians aided in efforts to empower African Americans after the Civil War
Art & Design POOL Explores the History of Segregation in Aquatic Recreation A new exhibition at Fairmount Water Works dives into the civil rights struggle to swim as equals. Kimberly Haas has this review
History Six Degrees of Joan Countryman: a Lifetime of Civil Rights Connections This week marks the anniversary of the Philadelphia Transit Company Strike of 1944. Amy Cohen introduces us to a Philly native who remembers the event and many other watershed moments, milestones, and turning points in the modern civil rights movement
History Father of the Underground Railroad Comes Into Focus With New Biography First major book on William Still examines the life and legacy of the African-American abolitionist. Amy Cohen has this review
History Philadelphia Freedom and the Launch of the 15th Amendment On the eve of the 2020 election Amy Cohen follows Frederick Douglass to the Southern Loyalists Convention of 1866 where he demanded equal voting rights for African American men
History A Performance of Freedom The policing of Black bodies began as soon as there was a Philadelphia. Nathaniel Popkin traces this long history and suggests how today’s protests continue and also defy it
History Exploring the Rizzo Boycott of 1967 Amy Cohen takes a look back at a student protest that erupted in police brutality and the “Black Christmas” boycott to remove Frank Rizzo
History Honoring Universal Suffrage & the Election Day Riots of 1871 As Philly polling stations prepare for Tuesday’s municipal elections, Amy Cohen takes a look at the local election of 1871 that ended in racial violence and political upheaval