Insight Philadelphia

Historical Essays Illustrated

By Kenneth Finkel

Rutgers University Press

Each of the nearly 100 essays in Insight Philadelphia tells a succinct, compelling, and little-known tale of the city’s past. Some stories are quirky, like how early gas stations were designed to resemble classical temples, or the saga of how a museum acquired a 2000-year-old Greek statue, then had it demolished with a sledgehammer. Other stories turn serious, exploring the tragic deaths of child laborers in the city’s textile mills and a century-old case of racial profiling that led to a stationhouse murder. Historian Kenneth Finkel introduces readers to the many brave souls and colorful characters who left their mark on the city, from the Irish immigrant “coal heavers”—who initiated the nation’s first general strike—to the teenage Josephine Baker making a flashy debut on the Philadelphia stage.

Illustrated with scores of rare archival images, Insight Philadelphia will give readers a new appreciation for the people and places that make the City of Brotherly Love so unique.

Kenneth Finkel is Philadelphia’s best historian and a virtuoso story teller. With graceful words and memorable old photographs, his essays transport us to forgotten moments when, we learn with surprise and delight, big things happened. David B. Brownlee, Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

In this wide-ranging and informative tour of Philadelphia past and present, drawn from his popular blog posts, Kenneth Finkel offers witty and often gently irreverent glimpses of the city's colorful people and places. Elizabeth Milroy, Drexel University

From a city long overshadowed by the Liberty Bell, Kenneth Finkel pries tantalizing pieces of a past little known or even remembered that shape Philadelphia today. 'Place matters,' he argues. And then proves it—again and again—with his trademark wit and insight. Rick Nichols, journalist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania

No one knows the iconic as well as the forgotten nooks and crannies of Philadelphia and its history better than Kenneth Finkel. Inspired by evocative archival photographs, these lively, thought-provoking essays connect the past to the present of a great city. Kathleen A. Foster, The Robert L. McNeil, Jr., senior curator of American Art, and director, Center for American Art

To honor Philly's past, we don't need an old-school museum,' by Kenneth Finkel Philadelphia Inquirer

From Blog Post to Book: An Interview with Kenneth Finkel Temple.edu

A 1918 ‘race war’ and its ties to Philadelphia’s present' by Avi Wolfman-Arent WHYY

100 years ago, South Philadelphia saw violent race riots,' by Kenneth Finkel Philadelphia Inquirer

Celebrating our history requires seeing our history, warts and all,' by Kenneth Finkel Philadelphia Inquirer

New Book Gives Insight Into Uncovering Philly History' by Mickey Herr Hidden City Philadelphia

Recommended. Choice

PA Books on PCN ‘Insight Philadelphia: Historical Essays Illustrated’ with Kenneth Finkel PA Books

This book is alive and well; a cornucopia of the arcane and the obvious tightly constructed and tailor-made for the stop-and-go reader....The book is much more than this isolated specimen of sprightly sentence construction. There is a broad spectrum of social and historical issues confronted and succinctly analyzed. Speckled Paw Coffee

Finkel offers a well-written and refreshing work bringing Philadelphia’s past and present to life. His meticulous attention to detail, storytelling, and photographic images situates the reader in an imaginary ambience of traveling the city’s streets and old neighborhoods. Its contribution to historical scholarship lies in uncovering some of the lost stories and rediscoveries of the past contained in hundreds of thousands of historical photographs. Pennsylvania History

White violence and Black protests during the 1918 flu have a lesson for today' by Kristen Rogers KCTV-5 (Kansas City)

White violence and Black protests during the 1918 flu have a lesson for today,' by Kristen Rogers CNN.com

Kenneth Finkel is Philadelphia’s best historian and a virtuoso story teller. With graceful words and memorable old photographs, his essays transport us to forgotten moments when, we learn with surprise and delight, big things happened. David B. Brownlee, Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania

In this wide-ranging and informative tour of Philadelphia past and present, drawn from his popular blog posts, Kenneth Finkel offers witty and often gently irreverent glimpses of the city's colorful people and places. Elizabeth Milroy, Drexel University

From a city long overshadowed by the Liberty Bell, Kenneth Finkel pries tantalizing pieces of a past little known or even remembered that shape Philadelphia today. 'Place matters,' he argues. And then proves it—again and again—with his trademark wit and insight. Rick Nichols, journalist and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania

No one knows the iconic as well as the forgotten nooks and crannies of Philadelphia and its history better than Kenneth Finkel. Inspired by evocative archival photographs, these lively, thought-provoking essays connect the past to the present of a great city. Kathleen A. Foster, The Robert L. McNeil, Jr., senior curator of American Art, and director, Center for American Art

To honor Philly's past, we don't need an old-school museum,' by Kenneth Finkel Philadelphia Inquirer

From Blog Post to Book: An Interview with Kenneth Finkel Temple.edu

A 1918 ‘race war’ and its ties to Philadelphia’s present' by Avi Wolfman-Arent WHYY

100 years ago, South Philadelphia saw violent race riots,' by Kenneth Finkel Philadelphia Inquirer

Celebrating our history requires seeing our history, warts and all,' by Kenneth Finkel Philadelphia Inquirer

New Book Gives Insight Into Uncovering Philly History' by Mickey Herr Hidden City Philadelphia

Recommended. Choice

PA Books on PCN ‘Insight Philadelphia: Historical Essays Illustrated’ with Kenneth Finkel PA Books

This book is alive and well; a cornucopia of the arcane and the obvious tightly constructed and tailor-made for the stop-and-go reader....The book is much more than this isolated specimen of sprightly sentence construction. There is a broad spectrum of social and historical issues confronted and succinctly analyzed. Speckled Paw Coffee

Finkel offers a well-written and refreshing work bringing Philadelphia’s past and present to life. His meticulous attention to detail, storytelling, and photographic images situates the reader in an imaginary ambience of traveling the city’s streets and old neighborhoods. Its contribution to historical scholarship lies in uncovering some of the lost stories and rediscoveries of the past contained in hundreds of thousands of historical photographs. Pennsylvania History

White violence and Black protests during the 1918 flu have a lesson for today' by Kristen Rogers KCTV-5 (Kansas City)

White violence and Black protests during the 1918 flu have a lesson for today,' by Kristen Rogers CNN.com

KENNETH FINKEL is a professor of history at Temple University in Philadelphia, and the author of nine books on Philadelphia. He was a former curator of prints and photographs at the Library Company of Philadelphia, program officer at the William Penn Foundation, and executive director of arts and culture service at WHYY.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1 – DEFINING THE CITY
CHAPTER 2 – THE NEIGHBORHOODS
CHAPTER 3 - ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN
CHAPTER 4 – PRESERVATION & STEWARDSHIP
CHAPTER 5 - IMPROVEMENTS
CHAPTER 6 – INNOVATION & INDUSTRY
CHAPTER 7 – FOOD
CHAPTER 8 - FIRES & DISASTERS
CHAPTER 9 – RIOTS, UPHEAVAL & PROTESTS
CHAPTER 10 - PERFORMANCE & ENTERTAINMENT
CHAPTER 11 - ART, PUBLIC ART & LANDMARKS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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