Insight Philadelphia: Historical Essays Illustrated

Each of the nearly 100 essays in Insight Philadelphia tells a succinct, compelling, and little-known tale of the city’s past. Some stories are quirky, like how early gas stations were designed to resemble classical temples, or the saga of how a museum acquired a 2000-year-old Greek statue, then had it demolished it with a sledgehammer. Other stories turn serious, exploring the tragic deaths of child laborers in the city’s textile mills and a century-old case of racial profiling that led to a stationhouse murder. Historian Kenneth Finkel introduces readers to the many brave souls and colorful characters who left their mark on the city, from the Irish immigrant coal heavers - who initiated the nation’s first general strike, to the teenage Josephine Baker making a flashy debut on the Philadelphia stage.

Illustrated with scores of rare archival images, Insight Philadelphia will give readers a new appreciation for the people and places that make the City of Brotherly Love so unique.