Performative Presentations of Historical People of Note.
| Philly’s Women | Entertainers | Military & Politicians | Educators & Activists |
| Black Alice | Bessie Smith | Women of The 6888 | Ethel Hedgeman Lyles |
| Henrietta Duterte | Tammi Terrell | Lucien Blackwell | |
| Pepper Pot Woman |
Black Alice or Alice of Dunk’s Ferry
1686? – 1802
Alice became known as “Alice of Dunk’s Ferry”, gaining a reputation as a lively and engaging figure who enjoyed sharing her recollections of her early years. Having seen Philadelphia develop from “an early river settlement to the capital of a new nation”, she became a celebrated local historian. Jessie Carney Smith wrote that:
She was respected by her contemporaries as an oral historian and they liked to hear her graphic recollections of people, places, and events. She remembered the ground on which Philadelphia stands when it was a wilderness, when native Americans hunted wild game in the woods while panthers, wolves, and other beasts of the forest prowled about the wigwams and cabins in which they lived.
Thus, Alice became one of America’s earliest oral historians and a vibrant source of information for those who had the chance to speak with her. Although, like most enslaved people, she was unable to read or write, she loved to have the Bible read to her, and was respected for having “a great regard for truth”. Alice was said to have lit the pipe of William Penn(1644–1718), founder of Pennsylvania, and to have made the acquaintance of Thomas Story In his Eccentric biography; or, Memoirs of remarkable female characters, ancient and modern, Isaiah Thomas (founder of the American Antiquarian Society) wrote that:
Being a sensible intelligent woman, and having a good memory, which she retained to the last, she would often make judicious remarks on the population and improvements of the city and country; hence her conversation became peculiarly interesting, especially to the immediate descendants of the first settlers, of whose ancestors she often related acceptable anecdotes. Wikipedia
2022
Re-memory Places
Re-Memory Places & Wayback Spaces document neighborhood histories through images, stories, performances, and archival research.
Re-Memory Places Cultural Marker Sites. (Scroll down)
A directory of the Re-Memory Places Project cultural marker locations and additional information.
Cultural Marker #1 Colored Players Film Corporation
Location: 1135-1137 S. 58th Street.
For more information about this Philadelphia-based film corporation check out this website:
COMING SOON
http://normanstudios.org/nsdrc/project/colored-players-film-corporation/
View the silent movie The Scar of Shame which was filmed primarily in West Philadelphia with a mostly Black cast in 1927.
Cultural Marker #2 Negro Achievement (Appreciation) Week
Location: 6401 Germantown Avenue
Check out these informative articles:
https://historicgermantownpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/When-Harlem-Renaissance.pdf
Cultural Marker #3 Capital Movie Theater
Location: 1237 N. 52nd Street
Currently, this site is a beauty supply store. The Capital was a beloved recreation spot for thousands of local residents in the community and across the city. One of the last neighborhood movie houses, click the link to learn more and share your own memories about the Capital.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/13299
Cultural Marker #4 The Downbeat Swing Room
Location: 23 S. 11th Street
Click the link to read more about this site which is a part of Philadelphia’s cultural heritage.
https://phillyjazz.us/2015/02/02/downbeat-club/
Cultural Marker #5 The Uptown Theater
Location: 2240-2248 N. Broad Street
Check out the links below for updates about The Uptown Theater.
https://philadelphiauptowntheater.org/
https://billypenn.com/2022/02/19/uptown-theater-philadelphia-renovation-north-broad-monifa-young/
Cultural Marker #6 Elmwood Skating Rink
Location: 2406 S. 71st St.
View these articles that feature Elmwood Skating Rink.
https://hiddencityphila.org/2014/09/lets-skate-take-a-spin-in-phillys-bygone-roller-rinks/
https://dead-rinks.weebly.com/sepia-skate-clubelmwood-roller-rink-philadelphia-pa.html
Re-Memory Places Project Kick-Off
Featuring “The Doo-Wop Corner “ Showcase With Ernie B. and The New Blend
Broadcasted on: Uptown Radio Station – WJYN 98.5 FM ONLINE:
http://www.uptownradiophilly.org/
Watch An Excerpt From The Doo-Wop Corner Performance With Ernie B And The New Blend At The Re-Memory Places Kick-Off! May 5th, 2022 At The Uptown Theater In North Philly.
The first six installments of the Re-Memory Places Project were made possible through a Leeway Foundation grant. Re-Memory Places Project is a combination of cultural markers for places, people, and events that once existed and a storytelling board. The Re-Memory Places Project uses visual journalism, and interviews with historians and locals to bring to light histories in danger of being lost to time. There is also a performance component with the addition of the Philly Doo-Wop Corner pop-up serenades-which highlights the cultural phenomenon of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. Additionally, POMON–Philadelphia Online Museum of Neighborhoods will feature each site, and it will be curated by Philadelphia’s first-ever PhilHERstorian-That’s Me, Gigi!
The Re-Memory Places Project Is Possible Thanks To The Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant for 2021
Wayback Spaces
Wayback Spaces are exhibits that are designed to resemble a time in the past. Through object-memory sentimentality and performance, we “re-visit” places and experiences. Memory and objects have been long discussed and even made into a business. https://legacybox.com/blogs/analog/why-do-we-associate-memories-with-objects. Now we explore objects and memories as art and time-travel back to the Philadelphia of the past.
- 1940s- Exhibit Space: School Room, Storyline: Brother and sister, Winston and Sarah graduate from Bartram High School in 1942. One sibling will fight in World War II against Hitler’s army, and the other will find herself on the homefront intergrating the work field.
- 1960s- Exhibit Space: Street Corner, Storyline: It’s a hot summer full of Motown sounds, Doo-Wop groups, civil rights and gang violence. Will Patricia get the audition for the Phillyettes, a new girls’ singing group? Will Micky join the Kool Fools gang?
- 1970s- Exhibit Space: Hospital Room, Storyline: Winter 1974, a mother of a newborn contemplates what life will be like for her child and for the world.
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