Portal:Philadelphia

Portal:Philadelphia

Portal:Philadelphia


The Philadelphia Portal

The Philadelphia skyline from the South Street Bridge, January 2020

Philadelphia, commonly referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the second-most populous city in the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to United States history, especially the American Revolution, and served as the nation's capital until 1800. It maintains contemporary influence in business and industry, culture, sports, and music. Philadelphia is the nation's sixth-most populous city, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census and is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley (or Philadelphia metropolitan area), the nation's seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions consisting of 6.245 million residents in the metropolitan statistical area and 7.366 million residents in its combined statistical area.

Philadelphia is a national cultural center, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other city in the nation. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest and the world's 45th-largest urban park. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in economic impact to the city and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties. (Full article...)

Liberty Bell with Independence Hall beyond window across Chestnut St.
Liberty Bell with Independence Hall beyond window across Chestnut St.

The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence. Formerly placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independence Hall), the bell today is located in the Liberty Bell Center in Independence National Historical Park. The bell was commissioned in 1752 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly from the London firm of Lester and Pack (known subsequently as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry), and was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof," a Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus (25:10). The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations. Many bells—most likely including the Liberty Bell—were rung on July 8, 1776 in Philadelphia to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, four days after its signing. In the 1830s, the bell was adopted as a symbol by abolitionist societies, who were the first to call it the Liberty Bell. The bell acquired its distinctive large crack in the early 19th century. A widespread story claims it cracked while ringing after the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. Beginning in 1885, the City of Philadelphia sent it to various expositions and patriotic gatherings. The bell attracted huge crowds wherever it went, additional cracking occurred and pieces were chipped away by souvenir hunters. The last journey occurred in 1915, after which all requests were refused. The city allowed the National Park Service to take custody of the bell after World War II, with the city retaining ownership. In 1976, the bell was moved from its longtime home in Independence Hall to a glass pavilion across the street on Independence Mall, and then to the larger Liberty Bell Center in 2003. The bell has a circumference of 12 ft (3.7 m), a diameter of 3.82 ft (1.16 m), and a mass of 2,080 lb (940 kg).

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The Quadrangle Dormitory at the University of Pennsylvania, 2003

University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university located in the University City section of Philadelphia. Penn is one of 14 founding members of the Association of American Universities and one of nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin, Penn's founder, advocated an educational program that focused as much on practical education for commerce and public service as on the classics and theology. Penn is the home of many educational innovations: the first school of medicine in North America (Perelman School of Medicine, 1765), the first collegiate business school (Wharton School, 1881) and the first student union building and organization (Houston Hall, 1896).

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Clifford Scott Green
Clifford Scott Green

Clifford Scott Green was a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Green was the eighteenth African American Article III judge appointed in the United States, and the second African American judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. During his 36 years on the federal bench Judge Green presided over a number of notable cases, including Bolden v. Pennsylvania State Police, and was regarded as one of the most popular judges in the district. Green was the first recipient of the NAACP's William H. Hastie award in 1985 and was awarded the Spirit of Excellence award by the American Bar Association in 2002. The Philadelphia chapter of the Judicial Council of the National Bar Association is named in Judge Green's honor. He was a lifetime trustee of Temple University, and a former member of the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia State Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

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"Socially, Philadelphia was still a fairly provincial city, its business community governed by the mores of the Main Line. Politically, it was a cauldron of ethnic rivalries, dominated by competing Irish and Italian constituencies."

Andrea Mitchell

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This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Portal:Philadelphia, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.