EVENT: Third Annual Philadelphia United States Colored Troops Civil War Weekend

The Third Regiment was Co-host for the Grand Review celebration in Harrisburg on November 6th, 2010, drawing participants from 7 states. The regiment has also been placing 34 star flags at the graves of African American Civil War soldiers so people can remember where they are. This year will be especially busy with presentations and parades, because of the 150 year commemoration of the Civil War. The Association for the Study of African American History and Life has labeled the Civil War this years Historical theme.

EVENT: Film Screening on History of Darby Township

Three-time Leeway Foundation Award winning writer/community arts educator Valerie Harris, will screen her film, “A Highway Runs Through It….A Community History of Darby Township” at Scribe Video Center, 4212 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, on Friday, April 8, at 7:00pm.

Events: Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

Vagrants, Truants & Abandoned Privies: Unusual Record Collections of the Philadelphia City Archives. Workshop with Anita Sheahan Coraluzzi. “Sinners, Scandals & Suicides” tour of South Laurel Hill Cemetery. No Good Deed Goes Unrewarded. All Day German Genealogy Conference. Understanding and Interpreting 19th-Century Philadelphia Naturalizations.

Historical Philadelphia Gone Interactive

Interactive Historial Map of Philadelphia

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania has announced creation of an interactive Web site that connects stories to places across time in Philadelphia neighborhoods.

The Web site will focus first on two areas  Old Southwark and the Greater Northern Liberties  that were always home to immigrants and working class. We have chosen these neighborhoods because both are essential to understanding Philadelphia’s history and its industrial legacy as the “workshop of the world.” Situated north and south of the Center City historic district and home to successive immigrant communities almost three centuries, these areas continue as vibrant multiethnic neighborhoods featuring many sites of interest—historic houses of worship, community art and culture centers, gardens and murals, marketplaces, and ethnic businesses. Characterized by block upon block of low-rise row homes where common laborers, artisans, and skilled industrial workers, usually immigrants or migrants, settled, the boundaries of these neighborhoods were defined by work, home, religion, and ethnicity. What constitutes “the neighborhood” – that basic unit of the Philadelphia experience – is subjective, fluid and dynamic, defined as much by contested turf as by common ground.

EVENT: African Hair Styles, Culture & Consciousness

A Nationally touring exhibit of rare & traditional African sculpture demonstrating the significance of African Hair Styles as Symbols of Culture & Consciousness

Pa. house where Washington stayed in 1790s reopens

A house where George Washington stayed to escape a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia in 1793 and to get away from city heat in the summer of 1794 is reopening to the public this weekend. Since closing in February 2008, the Germantown White House (formerly known as the Deshler-Morris House) has undergone substantial renovation and the installation of new exhibits designed to teach visitors about Washington’s household, including four enslaved Africans. The newly updated and refurbished Germantown White House, part of Independence National Historical Park, officially reopens.

Fayette Pinkey of the Philadelphia Girl Group Passes

Fayette Pinkney (January 10, 1948 – June 27, 2009) was an African American singer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was one  of the original members of the female soul group, The Three Degrees.

Flashback: Ol’ School Philly

If you remember “Georgie Woods” you’re going to LOVE THIS!

Tavis Smiley and Nationwide Insurance Announce 2009 On Your Side® Tour Stops

The survey of 1,200 participants reveals 58 percent of African-Americans expect their household finances to improve a year from now, compared to only 30 percent of the general population sharing similar optimism. The survey also reveals the majority of African-American respondents acknowledge they are not taking deliberate actions to better their financial circumstances.