Map of Philadelphia area placing West Philadelphia in context

Faculty and Students at the University of Pennsylvania inaugurated this heritage site in the spring of 2008.
This virtual history center will be an ever-revised and expanded resource by and for members of the
West Philadelphia community, and especially for teachers and their students.

Click for the Home page for the West Philadelphia Community History CenterClick for historical summaries of West PhiladelphiaClick for descriptions and histories of West Philadelphia neighborhoodsClick for personal perspectives on West PhiladelphiaClick for special exhibitsClick for maps of West PhiladelphiaClick for statistics on West PhiladelphiaClick for a bibliography of resources for the study of West PhiladelphiaClick for teacher guides for studying West Philadelphia

West Philadelphia Stories:

Photograph of Benjamin Kpangbah, Liberian native and Darby resident who has participated in the collaboration between Penn's Center for Folklore and Ethnography and the Agape African Senior Citizens Center of West Philadelphia. Click to view the book produced by this collaboration

West African Storytelling Traditions

Special Exhibitions:

Matthew Grubel's
Historical Survey
of West Philadelphian Architecture

Other West Philadelphia Web Sites
Collage of West Philadelphia images Aerial view of Move Fire, 1985 May 13. Click for larger view and more details. Dick Clark on American Bandstand, produced in West Philadelphia. Aerial view of Move Fire, 1985 May 13. Click for larger view and more details. 1981 photo of Ed Bradley, prize-winning television journalist. Bradley grew up in West Philadelphia and, after graduating from Cheyney State University, taught at William B. Mann Elementary School in Wynnefield and worked at WDAS radio station. Click for larger view and more information. Brightly painted 20th century row houses in West Philadelphia. Image from the Ruth Branning Molloy Collection. Guion (Guy) Buford, first African-American astronaut, attended Overbrook Senior High School. Aerial view of Move Fire, 1985 May 13. Click for larger view and more details. 1958 ceremony for the closing and demolition of Woodland Avenue for the section running through the Penn campus. Click for larger image and more information. Author Jacqueline Susann (Valley of the Dolls and other books) grew up in West Philadelphia and graduated from West Philadelphia High School. Image from the Ruth Branning Molloy Collection. Postal stamp depicting Paul Robeson - actor, athlete, concert singer, writer, and civil rights activist. In later life, he lived in West Philadelphia. 1903 postcard of University of Pennsylvania College Hall. Click for larger view and more information. Actor Will Smith, who grew up in West Philadelphia and attended Overbrook High School. Row house at 223 South 38th Street in West Philadelphia, 1949. Click for more details and larger view. Detail from an 1836 colored lithograph, by John Caspar Wild, of the view across the Schuylkill River to West Philadelphia, including Blockley Alms House and covered bridge. Click for larger view and more information. Anthropologist Margaret Mead as a young researcher in Samoa. As a child she lived in West Philadelphia when her father was a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Image from the Ruth Branning Molloy Collection. 1946 photograph of bridges across the Schuylkill River with 30th Street Post Office and Train Station on left, Art Museum in distant center. Click for larger view and more information. Rendering by Samuel Sloan of Hamilton Terrace, now west side of 41st Street from Chester to Baltimore Ave. Click for larger view and more information. Basketball player Wilt Chamberlain, an Overbrook High School graduate. Image from the Ruth Branning Molloy Collection. 1858 lithograph of West Philadelphia Manufacturing Company, Starch and Farina Works. Click for larger view and more information. Google 2008 map of West Philadelphia, detail. Click for complete map. Best-selling author Jacqueline Susann. She was born in Philadelphia and graduated from West Philadelphia High School; her most notable book was Valley of the Dolls.

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Web site sponsored by the University Archives of the University of Pennsylvania Copyright 2009