BY TOMMY ZANE “Leslie, Lena. Lena, Leslie.” Dropped by the Prince Music Theatre to catch a sold-out performance of Stormy Weather: Imagining Lena Horne, starring the incomparable Miss Leslie Uggams and a strong supporting cast. The era of Sharleen Cooper Cohen’s Stormy Weather was an ugly period in American race relations, i.e. separate water fountains for blacks, etc. Lena Horne is the first black woman to sign a major contract with a Hollywood studio (MGM) and dared to forge a career as a Leading Lady in Hollywood at a time when black performers were resigned to play mammies and maids, […]
Philly Civil War Museum Moving — Very Slowly
You may never have heard of the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia, but not because it hasn’t been around for a while. It was founded in 1888, by members of a veterans group called the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and it’s the oldest Civil War museum in the nation. It has resided since 1922 in a brick row house on Pine Street. For most of that time it was simply the Civil War Library and Museum; in 2003 it added “Underground Railroad” to its name. Philadelphia, with a large free black […]
LIVE FROM THE MILTON MAN MARCH
When you’re laughing, the whole world laughs with you.
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY “Today I saw…” is a series of nonfiction shorts based on my experiences as a caseworker serving formerly homeless families now living in North and West Philadelphia. I decided not long after starting the job that I was seeing so many fascinating and disturbing things in the city’s poorest neighborhoods that I needed to start cataloging them. I hope this bi-weekly column serves as a record of a side of the city that many Philadelphians don’t come in contact with on a daily basis. I want to capture moments not frequently covered by the local media, which […]
THE EARLY WORD: Fate Up Against Your Will
Got an event that needs some luv? Well, you better have a badass flyer or ain’t nobody goin’ no how. Seriously. And send it to FEED@PHAWKER.COM. Like, early and shit. We’ll let you know if it sux or not. Because, really, you should know.
GUNCRAZY: Three More Dead Since You Went To Bed
Philadelphia police are investigating a double homicide that happened overnight in the city’s Mantua section. The victims, a man and a woman both appearing to be in their 50s, were found in a car near 32nd Street and Mantua Avenue shortly after 1 a.m. Both were shot once in the head, police said. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Names were not released this morning. The deaths raise the city’s 2007 homicide total to 65. INQUIRER: Dead & Deader ALSO: Philadelphia police were investigating yesterday morning’s murder of a man in the 4900 block of Master Street in the […]
GAMBLOR: The Empire Strikes Back!
BY JEFF SHIELDS INQUIRER STAFF WRITER — The fight over development of two casinos on the Philadelphia waterfront turned nasty yesterday, as SugarHouse Casino claimed “widespread and pervasive fraud” in the petition drive to ban slots parlors from Delaware Avenue.The allegations are contained in a complaint that casino lawyers said will be filed today in court. A copy was provided in advance to The Inquirer. SugarHouse lawyers, led by two attorneys who are investors in the project, Richard Sprague and William Lamb, accuse activists of forging signatures and circulating petitions with two different versions of a proposed ballot question. John […]
THE EL Celebrates 100 Years Of Being Mostly On Time
The Market Street subway-elevated line turns 100 years old on Sunday, and riders get the birthday gift: free trips for the afternoon. The birth of the Market Street Line, which allowed passengers to travel easily from 69th Street to the Delaware River, linked Center City to burgeoning new development in West Philadelphia. And it helped spawn more growth west of the Schuylkill, as 69th Street Terminal sprouted in the midst of cow pastures. Philadelphia’s oldest high-speed line — which has since grown into the Market-Frankford Subway-Elevated — emerged at the dawn of intra-urban rail travel, coming just a decade after […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SWEATLOAF: Plastic Little/Sweatheart, ICA, Last Night FROM: Eva Liao TO: Me RE: “sex = babies = poverty” says Sweatheart 11:24 pm (23 minutes ago) yo boss. pictures are up! the show was dry as a desert. had there been booze involved a show at the ICA would have been off the hook (i know… i say that about everything). but after a while the crowd filtered out, along with their attention spans. Either way, P. Little was more boring than meh… but SWEAT HEART is where its it’s at! They’re the shirtless, striped tights, wig wearing, prom dress group shown […]
SLO-MO: Cuidado
WARNING: F-bombs. Also, this is fucking excellent! Muy bien!
Write A Clever Caption, Win JANEANE GAROFALO Tix!
[Photo Courtesy of PhillyHistory.org] The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 22,000 images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is so goddamned SLOW, well, now you know. Phawker […]
THE EARLY WORD: Sam I Am
WHO: Kindergarten through Grade 4 students from Thomas M. Peirce School WHAT: Will enjoy a reading of Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham by National Constitution Center staff, as part of Read Across Philadelphia Day, which is in line with the nationwide event, Read Across America Day, celebrates the birthday and legacy of Theodore Guisel, better know as Dr. Seuss. March 2, 2007 will mark the author’s 103rd birthday. WHEN: Thursday, March 1, 9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. WHERE: Thomas M. Peirce School 2300 W. Cambria Street Philadelphia, PA 19132
HIZZONER ’07: F.O.P. Declares Mr. Brady BEST IN SHOW, Likes His Moxie And His Air Of Inevitability
By Robert Moran INQUIRER STAFF WRITER With violent crime the overriding issue in Philadelphia’s mayoral race, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) tonight secured the coveted endorsement of the city’s police union. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which represents thousands of city officers, will announce the endorsement tomorrow at a news conference. The FOP board of directors listened to presentations by Brady, former City Councilman Michael Nutter, State Rep. Dwight Evans, and businessman Tom Knox, who spoke last night. Brady spoke Feb. 13 and emphasized that he would listen to the concerns of ordinary officers working in the […]