History New Book On W.E.B. Du Bois Colors In “White Space” The pioneering research of W.E.B. Du Bois on race, class, and data collection are on display in a strikingly visual new volume, “W.E.B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America.” Joe Brin has this book review
History A Brief History Of Race & Contested Space In West Philly Mariam Williams dives deep into the social evolution of Malcolm X Park to unearth the history of race and economics within a neighborhood space
History Skid Row Deaths Of 1963 Echoes Today’s Opioid Crisis Steve Metraux takes a look at the “Canned Heat Wave” poisoning of 1963 that took the lives of 31 people on Skid Row. The public health scholar says the parallels between this tragic incident and Kensington’s opioid crisis is telling
History The Barroom Brawl That Changed Chinatown In 1973, a battle ensued between a boozehound bar and the residents of Chinatown. The outcome would change the course of the neighborhood forever. Contributor Steve Metraux has the story
History The Making (And Marketing) Of The Modern Gayborhood Contributor Kelson Northeimer takes a look at the history of the Gayborhood and its cultural transformation through lifestyle marketing and gentrification
History Digging Up Vine Street In Search Of Old Skid Row Public health scholar Steve Metraux exhumes the heart of Philadelphia’s Skid Row, buried under the Vine Street Expressway by the hands of urban renewal.
Development Queen Villagers Work Toward Neighborhood Integration By Organizing Around Kids In Queen Village there’s a rare attempt to bridge community divides between affluent residents and tenants of an affordable housing complex through summer programs for neighborhood kids, support for public schools, and representation on the civic association. Is it working? Jake Blumgart checks in on the process of building a more inclusive Queen Village
Preservation Historic Parish Complex In Kingsessing Gets New Life As Charter School The much lauded Independence Charter School will transform the vacant Most Blessed Sacrament campus, reports Ann de Forest. But questions remain about the future of the Neo-Renaissance church, abandoned by the Archdiocese in 2007