The Greater Philadelphia Area Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists had a great meeting the other week kindly hosted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Part of our regular bi-monthly meetings was also a Collections Tour by Tara O'Brien, Director of Preservation and Conservation Services.

Highlights included: 

• Scrapbook of a bicycle club trip through Europe from the late 1800s
• “Family Tree of Adam and Eve”
•  Money from The Bank of North America, approved by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781
• Recipes written down by William Penn from his mother’s cookbook
• Contract signed by Michelangelo in the early 1500s

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And now for some choice pictures of #meandnickcage during the scavenger hunt. I thought I'd keep with my theme and bring Nick Cage around with me for some improved selfies. 

And guess what? I won! Two Southwest Airlines tickets to anywhere in the continental US and Puerto Rico! Where do you think I should go?

Ready for the answers?

Bonus for SOYP Civic Engagement Fair Attendees
Take a photo of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s table at Impact Hub, 1227 North 4th St from 6:00-8:00 PM.
Old City/Independence Mall
1. The third president of the United States was also the third president of this institution, whose museum features an exhibition about him.
American Philosophical Society Museum 
2. This is the only privately-owned building on Independence Park.
American Philosophical Society Museum 
3. Benjamin Franklin and his contemporaries saw themselves as continuing the traditions of classical Republican governments in Greece and Roman, which is why this statue depicts him wearing a toga.
Benjamin Franklin Statue at Library Hall
4. Ghost Structures mark the spot where this Founding Father lived when he was alive.
Franklin Court
5. “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof”
The Liberty Bell
6. On September 30, 1911, crowds gathered on this spot to hear 18 speakers rally for women’s suffrage.
Independence Square
7. A large room with no pulpit; no icons on the walls.  Row after row of wooden pews all facing the center. Oldest such house of worship in Philadelphia.   Lucretia Mott was a member of this congregation in the 1820s and as one of very few female Quaker ministers, she preached against slavery and later in support of rights for women. She was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery  Society in 1833 when women were excluded from the other all male anti- slavery groups. Find the plaque commemorating her achievements around the corner.
Arch Street Meeting House
8.  Take a “selfie” with the sculpture "Phaedrus," a triangular steel sculpture pierced with a triangular opening, was created specifically for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's building.  This monumental sculpture rises to a height of 19 feet and weighs approximately 12 tons.  The 13 steel plates that comprise the abstract work were assembled and put in place north of the Reserve Bank's main entrance on Sixth Street, where it is on public display. The artist, Beverly Pepper trained in both engineering and metal work and personally supervised the week-long process in November 1977.
Phaedrus
Logan Square
9. Before MP3s or CDs, there were LPs. Use your artisanal card catalogue skills to find an album, and then take a snapshot of yourself listening to it at a listening station!  Don’t be shy about asking a librarian for a hand.
Free Library of Philadelphia Music Department
10. Red and blue, white stars … and a cape! She welcomes you to the Library. Look carefully—she might be on the flip side!
Picture of Wonder Woman at the Free Library for Jill Lepore Book Talk
11. It might be in your wallet or on your keychain. Got it? Show it off. Don’t have one? Let’s see your application! (hint, you’re at a Library).
Library Card! (hint, I already had one)
Chinatown
12. “Gateway” to a culture half a world away, architect Sabrina Soong collaborated with community members to design this brightly painted portal to a vibrant urban neighborhood using tiles from Philadelphia’s sister city, Tianjin.  Engineers and artisans from China did the construction.  It was dedicated in 1984.
Chinatown Gate
Market East
13. Made in 1780, at one time this object hung over the entrance to the convict corridor in Moyamensing Prison in 1835.
Gibbet at the Philadelphia History Museum
Washington Square East and West
14. Blue and gold marks the historic spot where centuries of paper and ink bring Pennsylvania’s past to life.
HSP Historical Marker
15. The keeper of the front desk will buzz you in to find green silk with Irish roots, preserved under glass in a historic building on land once owned by General Patterson.
Irish Immigrants Exhibition at HSP
16. This park was a burial ground for both Patriot and Loyalist alike during the American Revolution.  Find the memorial which states “Freedom is a Light for which many men have died in darkness.”
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Mural Arts Challenge
Washington Square West
17. As the earth orbits and we enter the winter grind
18. These four walls will remind you that soon the birds will again sing,
Queen Village
19. Because “to be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
20. than to be hopelessly in love with spring.
Seasons
And Autumn Revisited

I participated in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's first ever History Hunt this week. I biked around the city in the freezing cold taking pictures of #meandnickcage for HSP's Instagram account. One of the rules was you had to come up with a team name and hashtag it so they could easily find all of your pictures on Instagram. My team name was #meandnickcage because of my undying love for National Treasure and how ridiculous it is. Do you remember that time he decodes the back of a hundred dollar bill with Independence Hall on it? With a water bottle no less?

These were the 20 different clues, plus the bonus clue. Stay tuned til next week and see what the answers are! And if I won!


Bonus for SOYP Civic Engagement Fair Attendees
Take a photo of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s table at Impact Hub, 1227 North 4th St from 6:00-8:00 PM.
Old City/Independence Mall
1. The third president of the United States was also the third president of this institution, whose museum features an exhibition about him.
2. This is the only privately-owned building on Independence Park.
3. Benjamin Franklin and his contemporaries saw themselves as continuing the traditions of classical Republican governments in Greece and Roman, which is why this statue depicts him wearing a toga.
4. Ghost Structures mark the spot where this Founding Father lived when he was alive.
5. “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof”
6. On September 30, 1911, crowds gathered on this spot to hear 18 speakers rally for women’s suffrage.
7. A large room with no pulpit; no icons on the walls.  Row after row of wooden pews all facing the center. Oldest such house of worship in Philadelphia.   Lucretia Mott was a member of this congregation in the 1820s and as one of very few female Quaker ministers, she preached against slavery and later in support of rights for women. She was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery  Society in 1833 when women were excluded from the other all male anti- slavery groups. Find the plaque commemorating her achievements around the corner.
8.  Take a “selfie” with the sculpture "Phaedrus," a triangular steel sculpture pierced with a triangular opening, was created specifically for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's building.  This monumental sculpture rises to a height of 19 feet and weighs approximately 12 tons.  The 13 steel plates that comprise the abstract work were assembled and put in place north of the Reserve Bank's main entrance on Sixth Street, where it is on public display. The artist, Beverly Pepper trained in both engineering and metal work and personally supervised the week-long process in November 1977.
Logan Square
9. Before MP3s or CDs, there were LPs. Use your artisanal card catalogue skills to find an album, and then take a snapshot of yourself listening to it at a listening station!  Don’t be shy about asking a librarian for a hand.
10. Red and blue, white stars … and a cape! She welcomes you to the Library. Look carefully—she might be on the flip side!
11. It might be in your wallet or on your keychain. Got it? Show it off. Don’t have one? Let’s see your application! (hint, you’re at a Library).
Chinatown
12. “Gateway” to a culture half a world away, architect Sabrina Soong collaborated with community members to design this brightly painted portal to a vibrant urban neighborhood using tiles from Philadelphia’s sister city, Tianjin.  Engineers and artisans from China did the construction.  It was dedicated in 1984.
Market East
13. Made in 1780, at one time this object hung over the entrance to the convict corridor in Moyamensing Prison in 1835.
Washington Square East and West
14. Blue and gold marks the historic spot where centuries of paper and ink bring Pennsylvania’s past to life.
15. The keeper of the front desk will buzz you in to find green silk with Irish roots, preserved under glass in a historic building on land once owned by General Patterson.
16. This park was a burial ground for both Patriot and Loyalist alike during the American Revolution.  Find the memorial which states “Freedom is a Light for which many men have died in darkness.”
Mural Arts Challenge
Washington Square West
17. As the earth orbits and we enter the winter grind
18. These four walls will remind you that soon the birds will again sing,
Queen Village
19. Because “to be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind
20. than to be hopelessly in love with spring.

I visited the Historical Society of Pennsylvania today to meet with some members of the Greater Philadelphia Area Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. They were so helpful answering questions and just meeting people with my similar interests is always exciting. 

While I was there I saw they had a ton of ephemera from James Logan, William Penn's secretary. He was everything from a school teacher to a fur trader to a governor and back again. 

It was out on display because Historic Germantown had a conference recently at his historic house, Stenton, in conjunction with HSP. 


Here are some of the documents on display: 

On a bike ride back to center city recently from Chestnut Hill I saw this cool tiny plaque on a bridge over the Monoshone Creek. It's right where Forbidden Drive connects with the Wissahickon Bike Trail. I attempted to do some digging, as one does, and I couldn't find any info about it! This amazing website called Bridge Hunter has every other bridge known to mankind, but not my little dinky County Bridge 1830. Alas. Below is its location and the last photo of the set is also on the ride home - Strawberry Mansion Bridge - but that one is hard to miss.  

On a walk up to Boathouse Row the other day, I spied this interesting park. The Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial was designed by Paul Phillipe Cret. He also designed the Rodin Museum, Ben Franklin Bridge, the original plans for the Ben Franklin Parkway and the redesign of Rittenhouse Square.

Construction started in 1929 and finished after Cret’s death in 1945 by his firm Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson. All three terraces were completed by 1961. They were funded through the bequest of philanthropist Ellen Phillips Samuel. “Samuel’s wish was to create a series of sculptures representing the history of American from the earliest settlers to the modern era.”

Do you think Cret and Samuel achieved that goal?