I was a student at South Philadelphia High School in the late 1960s. Southern, as the school was called locally, was a rough school back then. Race relations in Philadelphia were at an historical low and there were fights in the school nearly every day between black and white students. […]
Thom Nickels: Theosophists in Philadelphia
In the 1970s I lived for a time in a second floor apartment in a building that also served as the headquarters for the West Chester, Pennsylvania, Theosophical Society. In a deal with the landlord to lower the rent, I cleaned and swept the offices of the Theosophical Society rooms. […]
Thom Nickels: Philly’s cultural revolution
The fallout from Philadelphia’s June 2020 George Floyd riots worked to radicalize the city’s cultural and arts communities. Shortly after the rioting, museums, art galleries, theater companies and historical societies sent out statements in support of Black Lives Matter. These messages of support grew exponentially until the tsunami had every […]
Michael Thomas Leibrandt: Why Cliveden means so much
When I was a young man, few things meant fall for me as a visit to Cliveden with my Dad. The annual re-enactment of the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown in 1777 — which has taken place for over four decades — was a wonder to my youthful eyes. This fall is […]
Paul Davis: It’s Christmas time in the city — my interview with Santa
The weekend of the 13th was a bad time for Philadelphia, as dozens of victims were shot in several criminal shootings across the city. One bad shooting occurred near the Rothman Ice Rink in Dilworth Park on Friday night. The police suspect that both the shooters and victims are students […]
Report finds that School District of Philadelphia did not comply with federal laws following antisemitic harassment complaints
Over the past two school years, the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) received a myriad of antisemitic harassment complaints and failed to demonstrate an appropriate response, according to a report and press release issued last Friday by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR). SDP “received repeated, […]
Report: Pennsylvania worst state for litigation bloat
(The Center Square) – The American Tort Reform Foundation has labeled Pennsylvania as the nation’s worst “Judicial Hellhole” in a new report. “Lawsuit abuse in the City of Brotherly Love has reached a fever pitch with nuclear verdicts,” claims the foundation, suggesting that “eye-popping nine-figure damage awards were issued without […]
Michael Thomas Leibrandt: America is filled with historic football stadiums. None more so than Philly’s Franklin Field.
You might not think that when your football team dates from 1876 that it would be hard to create any new history. If 2024 is any evidence, then you’d be wrong. This season at Cornell, Penn backup quarterback Liam O’Brien would set Penn records with an incredible performance en-route to a 67–49 […]
Thom Nickels: Reforming the reforms in church architecture
While touring a number of Roman Catholic churches in Austria some time ago, I was struck by the haphazard clash of styles: magnificent Romanesque-Gothic high altars, richly appointed with frescoes and images, with an oddly shaped table plunked down in front like something dropped from The Planet of the Apes: […]
Paul Davis: Arrested — suspected thief is alleged to have stolen more than $160,000 worth of items from parked cars.
Some years ago, I discovered that my parked car in South Philadelphia had been broken into and several items had been stolen. My wife’s sunglasses, a couple of CDs and some change had been taken from the front seat. And three items on the back seat floor that my wife […]