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Author: Nathaniel Burt
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812216936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 678
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Book Description
The Perennial Philadelphians tells the story of the city's inherited aristocracy—of Wanamakers and Drexels, of Biddles and Cadwaladers. Drawing on history, genealogy, politics, economics, the fine arts, private diaries, and the impressions and anecdotes of myriad living witnesses, Nathaniel Burt paints a fascinating portrait of Old Philadelphians. He traces the succession of a dynasty of doctors or lawyers, explores the country club scene, and takes us to regattas on the Schuylkill, fox hunts in Radnor, and horse shows in Devon. First published in 1963, this classic text has lost none of its timeliness. An adept social commentator, Burt cuts aside the centuries-old protective coloration in which Old Philadelphians have wrapped themselves, and reveals who these people are and how they manage to perpetuate themselves from generation to generation.
Author: Nathaniel Burt
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812216936
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 678
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Perennial Philadelphians tells the story of the city's inherited aristocracy—of Wanamakers and Drexels, of Biddles and Cadwaladers. Drawing on history, genealogy, politics, economics, the fine arts, private diaries, and the impressions and anecdotes of myriad living witnesses, Nathaniel Burt paints a fascinating portrait of Old Philadelphians. He traces the succession of a dynasty of doctors or lawyers, explores the country club scene, and takes us to regattas on the Schuylkill, fox hunts in Radnor, and horse shows in Devon. First published in 1963, this classic text has lost none of its timeliness. An adept social commentator, Burt cuts aside the centuries-old protective coloration in which Old Philadelphians have wrapped themselves, and reveals who these people are and how they manage to perpetuate themselves from generation to generation.
Author:
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412832578
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 606
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Book Description
Based on the biographies of some three hundred people in each city, this book shows how such distinguished Boston families as the Adamses, Cabots, Lowells, and Peabodys have produced many generations of men and women who have made major contributions to the intellectual, educational, and political life of their state and nation. At the same time, comparable Philadelphia families such as the Biddles, Cadwaladers, Ingersolls, and Drexels have contributed far fewer leaders to their state and nation. From the days of Benjamin Franklin and Stephen Girard down to the present, what leadership there has been in Philadelphia has largely been provided by self-made men, often, like Franklin, born outside Pennsylvania. Baltzell traces the differences in class authority and leadership in these two cites to the contrasting values of the Puritan founders of the Bay Colony and the Quaker founders of the City of Brotherly Love. While Puritans placed great value on the "calling" or devotion to one's chosen vocation, Quakers have always placed more emphasis on being a good person than on being a good judge or statesman. Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia presents a provocative view of two contrasting upper classes and also reflects the author's larger concern with the conflicting values of hierarchy and egalitarianism in American history.
Author: John Lukacs
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
ISBN: 1412856167
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311
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Book Description
An unorthodox historian known and respected for his work on the grand conflicts of nations and civilizations, John Lukacs has peopled a smaller canvas in this volume, with seven colorful figures who flourished in Philadelphia before 1950. Their stories are framed by chapters that describe the city in 1900 and in 1950. The Philadelphians selected are a political boss, Boies Penrose; a magazine mogul, Edward Bok; an elegant writer, Agnes Repplier; an impetuous diplomat, William C. Bullitt; a lawyer, George Wharton Pepper; a prophet of decline, Owen Wister; and a great art collector, Albert C. Barnes. The political boss was perhaps the most monumental political figure of his age. The magazine mogul was the most famous embodiment of the American success story during his lifetime. The now almost forgotten writer was the Jane Austen of the essay. The diplomat was the most brilliant of ambassadors. The terrible-tempered collector was a radical proponent of his unusual theory of art. Through these seven portraits, Lukacs paints a picture of Philadelphia that is “like all living things, having the power to change out of recognition and yet remain the same.” This work is a must read for all historians—and Philadelphians.
Author: Thom Nickels
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1467101419
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 128
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Book Description
Philadelphia is a hard mistress when it comes to honoring native talent, and the city has more than its fair share of notable figures. Consider colorful politicians like Frank Rizzo and Richardson Dilworth, international celebrities like Grace Kelly, sports legends like Connie Mack, Philadelphia Museum of Art icons like Anne d'Harnoncourt, or national radio personalities like Terry Gross. Business tycoons such as John Wanamaker and Russell Conwell, founder of Temple University, made many contributions to the city. Pearl Buck, author of The Good Earth, and Christopher Morley, America's G.K. Chesterton, created legacies of their own. Other legends like the nearly forgotten Agnes Repplier, a world-famous essayist and contemporary of Henry James, and poet Daniel Hoffman, the designated US poet laureate in 1973-1974, have helped enrich the city's literary reputation. There are Marian Anderson, Mario Lanza, and Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon, whose fame is equaled by his city planner father, Edmund. Architects like Frank Furness, Louis Kahn, and Vincent Kling helped transform the city into an international destination. And there are many notables looming outside the margins of this book, waiting for their day of discovery.
Author: Robert R. Bell
Publisher: Susquehanna University Press
ISBN: 9780945636267
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340
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Book Description
One focus of this book is to look at the interrelationship between the old Philadelphia upper class and the legal profession. The upper class refers to a group of old Philadelphia families whose members are descendants of financially successful individuals. Through their families, those men have had the means to enter, train in, and practice law. While over the two centuries covered here the percentage of upper class lawyers decreased, their influence for many years continued to surpass their numbers. In 1944, about 10 percent of all lawyers were listed in the Social Register. In the eight largest law firms in the city they accounted for 37 percent of the partners and 23 percent of the associates. But by 1990, their influence was waning: they represented only about two percent of all lawyers in the city. Moreover, in the eight largest law firms in the city, 12 percent of the partners were in the Social Register, but only one percent of the associates. Indeed, with the twenty-first century approaching, the old upper class was - and is - becoming increasingly irrelevant to Philadelphia law. In each chapter, an examination is made of the emerging American legal system and the training and practice of law in a given historical period. Before the Revolution most American law was British law. After the Revolution there were often bitter struggles over the continued use of British common law. Rapidly the British common law was modified, giving way to American common law - and that was the major focus of law up until the Civil War. Following the Civil War and well into the twentieth century the major thrust of law was related to business and industry, especially corporations. By the 1930s there was an increasing focus on Federal Commissions and statute law. Over the decades the training of lawyers underwent change. Until the twentieth century, most lawyers were trained in law offices, and it was only slowly that law schools became the accepted means of legal training. For most of American history, the lawyer practiced alone and often appeared as an advocate in court where his forensic skills were highly valued. For the various historical eras, this study attempts to show how the Philadelphia lawyer lived, some of his values, how he learned the law, and how he practiced it. Anecdotal material is used to illustrate these points whenever possible. Forty-two Philadelphia lawyers were interviewed who, for the most part, had first entered the bar in the 1920s and 1930s. Six modern-day Philadelphia lawyers were interviewed at length, and their insights are presented in the epilogue. Following each chapter there is a profile of a Philadelphia lawyer contemporary to the period discussed. Most of the profiles are of men who, considered outstanding lawyers in their own time, have come to be regarded as outstanding in the history of Philadelphia law.
Author: Domenic Vitiello
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812242246
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272
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Book Description
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the City It Made recounts the history of America's first stock exchange and the ways it shaped the growth and decline of the city around it. Founded in 1790, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, its member firms, and the companies they financed had profound impacts on the city's place in the world economy. At its start, the exchange and its members helped spur the development of the early United States, its financial sector, and its westward expansion. During the nineteenth century, they invested in making Philadelphia the center of industrial America, raising capital for the railroads and coal mines that connected cities to one another and built a fossil fuel-based economy. After financing the Civil War, they underwrote the growth of the modern metropolis, its transportation infrastructure, utility systems, and real estate development. At the turn of the twentieth century, stagnation of the exchange contributed to Philadelphia's loss of power in the national and world economy. This original interpretation of the roots of deindustrialization holds important lessons for other cities that have declined. The exchange's revival following World War II is a remarkable story, but it also illustrates the limits of economic development in postindustrial cities. Unlike earlier eras, the exchange's fortunes diverged from those of the city around it. Ultimately, it became part of a larger, global institution when it merged with NASDAQ in 2008. Far more than a history of a single institution, The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and the City It Made traces the evolving relationship between the exchange and the city. For people concerned with cities and their development, this study offers a long-term history of the public-private partnerships and private sector-led urban development popular today. More generally, it traces the networks of firms and institutions revealed by the securities market and its participants. Herein lies a critical and understudied part of the history of metropolitan economic development.
Author: Thom Nickels
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1625859511
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
Author Thom Nickels presents the city's most iconic homes and the stories behind them. Philadelphia's grand mansions and architectural treasures reflect its iconic status in American history, for each Greek Revival home and Corinthian column tells a compelling story of the people behind it. Historic Strawberry Mansion in North Philadelphia was home to Judge William Lewis, a Patriot who defended colonists accused of treason and was Aaron Burr's defense lawyer. Socialite, millionaire and world-renowned art collector Henry McIlhenny made his home at Rittenhouse Square and left his art collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Famed architect Addison Mizner's Spanish Colonial Revival house La Ronda brought the stark contrast of South Florida to Philadelphia.
Author: Dennis Clark
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 9780877222279
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270
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Book Description
Reveals a number of significant and interesting insights into Irish immigrant history in America
Author: Peter McCaffery
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271040572
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290
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Book Description
In 1903, Muckraker Lincoln Steffens brought the city of Philadelphia lasting notoriety as "the most corrupt and the most contented" urban center in the nation. Famous for its colorful "feudal barons," from "King James" McManes and his "Gas Ring" to "Iz" Durham and "Sunny Jim" McNichol, Philadelphia offers the historian a classic case of the duel between bosses and reformers for control of the American city. But, strangely enough, Philadelphia's Republican machine has not been subject to critical examination until now. When Bosses Ruled Philadelphia challenges conventional wisdom on the political machine, which has it that party bosses controlled Philadelphia as early as the 1850s and maintained that control, with little change, until the Great Depression. According to Peter McCaffery, however, all bosses were not alike, and political power came only gradually over time. McManes's "Gas Ring" in the 1870s was not as powerful as the well-oiled machine ushered in by Matt Quay in the late 1880s. Through a careful analysis of city records, McCaffery identifies the beneficiaries of the emerging Republican Organization, which sections of the local electorate supported it, and why. He concludes that genuine boss rule did not emerge as the dominant institution in Philadelphia politics until just before the turn of the century. McCaffery considers the function that the machine filled in the life of the city. Did it ultimately serve its supporters and the community as a whole, as Steffens and recent commentators have suggested? No, says McCaffery. The romantic image of the boss as "good guy" of the urban drama is wholly undeserved.
Author: Philip Stevick
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 9780812233773
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 232
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Book Description
Some travelers visited the classic destinations of earlier times, such as the great waterworks complex, and some reacted generally to the tone and temper of the city. Together, these accounts fall into patterns that often convey a mythic reading of the city, as a place of uncommon order and symmetry, for example, or a place of great torpor and dullness, or a city extraordinary for the way in which elements of wilderness interpenetrate the metropolitan core.
