All Episodes

ABC:LHS #038 Alice Connections - Through the Looking Glass
Industrialist Eldridge Reeves Johnson used money from the millions he earned in developing the Victor Talking Machine Company and purchased the original copy of “Alice’s Adventures Underground,” lettered and drawn by the author himself.
Bibliophile Morris Longstreth Parrish purchased as many of Carroll’s works as he could, all in the best possible condition, so that Parrish's name became synonymous with “mint condition.”
Lithographer and artist Arthur Burdett Frost impressed Carroll enough that he supplied illustrations for one of his books of poetry.
And in a tenuous but fun connection, I will tell you of a center city restauranteur Charles Soulas whose specialty was mock turtle soup.
Parrish and Frost are interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Johnson and Soulas at West Laurel Hill. It's going to get crowded in the rabbit hole as we all enter together.

BBB:LHWS #007   Francis Xavier Dercum, MD...
...grew up in Philadelphia and trained as a neurologist.  When President Woodrow Wilson had his massive stroke in 1919, Dercum was called in as consultant.  Years later when Wilson's widow Edith wrote her memoirs, she insisted that it was Dr. Dercum who had encouraged her to run things while he recovered.
Francis's sister Clara Dercum also became a physician and spent much of her career giving charity care to the poor in Philadelphia, while working tirelessly for women's rights.  
Their half-sister Susanna Dercum went in a different direction and became Leopold Stokowski's choice for the voice of Maria Aegyptica when he conducted the American premier of Mahler's 8th Symphony in 1916. 

ABC:LHS #037-4   Francis Penrose...
...was the baby of the group. He had a mental breakdown in his teens and became a lifelong resident of an upper-class psychiatric hospital, but his legacy has been tarnished by wild tales of the RMS Titanic spread over the web by someone who claims to be his niece.

ABC:LHS #037-3   Richard Alexander Fullerton (R.A.F.) Penrose Jr. ... 
...was named after his father, became a geologist and surveyed some of the great precious metal reserves in the American west.  His will left millions of dollars to organizations which owe their existence today to him.

ABC:LHS #037-2   Charles Penrose was the only person with better grades than brother Boies in their Harvard class.  He became a respected surgeon and gynecologist and brought the practice of surgery forward with his methods, along with leaving his name on a commonly used device, the Penrose drain.  But his one-on-one battle with an enraged bear is legendary.  

ABC:LHS #037-1   Boies Penrose...
...was the second smartest man in his class at Harvard and became a representative from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and Speaker of the House before he moved to Washington as US Senator.  That's where he spent the rest of his life.  His graft was jaw-dropping, his appetites were enormous, and he was always the smartest - and the biggest - man in the room. 

ABC:LHS #037   Senator Penrose and His Brothers
Tucked away in Laurel Hill South near the border with Fairmount Park is a family plot that – foot for foot – may have more interesting people than anyplace else in the cemetery.  
Boies Penrose was the second smartest man in his class at Harvard, became a representative from Philadelphia to Harrisburg and speaker of the house before moving to Washington D.C. as State Senator where he spent the rest of his life.
His brother Charles Penrose was the only person with better grades in their Harvard class.  Charles became a respected surgeon and gynecologist and brought the practice of surgery forward with his methods, along with leaving his name on a commonly used device.
Richard "RAF" Penrose, named after his father, became a geologist and surveyed some of the great precious metal reserves in the American west.  His will left millions of dollars to organizations which are in existence today because of him.
The baby of the group Francis Penrose had a mental breakdown in his teens and became a lifelong resident of an upper-class psychiatric hospital, but his legacy has been embellished all over the web by someone claiming to be his niece.
Plus, stories about political corruption in Philadelphia, gluttony, the Johnson County Range Wars, and a bizarre theory about the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic.  
 

BBB:LHWS #006   Hannah Clothier Hull...
...was daughter of a department store magnate who was a suffragette and a leader in the Women’s Peace Movement for more than 50 years.  She was the wife of one of the great Quaker historians and peace activists William Isaac Hull.  They both lived a Life for Peace. 

ABC:LHS #036-3   Ella Eustis Wister Haines...
...was the baby of the group and didn’t hit her stride until she was almost 50 years old. Then she turned into a master of public relations and the voice of the Philadelphia Electric Company for 20 years.  

ABC:LHS #036-2   Frances Anne Wister...
...was a gifted musician who served as the driving force behind the founding of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1900.  She also got involved in historical landmark preservation and is the reason we have Old City, Society Hill, Elfreth’s Alley, and so much of our history to share with others.

ABC:LHS #036-1   Mary Channing Wister...
...was a busy woman; despite five children, she served on the Philadelphia Board of Education and dedicated her time to numerous civic causes.  Some people claim she is the reason we have music in the public schools and a Broad Street line that runs underground.  She died far too young in childbirth.  

ABC:LHS #036   The Remarkable Wister Sisters...
...helped make Philadelphia what it is today. 
The oldest Mary Channing Wister petitioned for music in the public schools, more public parks for all, and placement of the Broad Street line underground.
Frances Anne Wister was a founder of the Philadelphia Orchestra and became the city’s patron saint of preservation; without her there would likely be no Old City or Society Hill.
The youngest sister Ella Wister Haines got a late start on her career but became the public face and voice of Philadelphia Electric Company for 20 years, especially during the Great Depression. 
All three of these women are buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery.  I tell their stories today. 

BBB:LHWS #005   Raymond Pace Alexander...
...was born in Philadelphia to former enslaved people but graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and became the go-to civil rights lawyer in Philadelphia.  In 1959, he became the first black judge to sit on the Court of Common Pleas. 
His wife Sadie Tanner Mossell came from a pioneering middle-class family and was the first Black women to earn an economics degree in the US, but then also became a lawyer. 
Together they spent their lives battling racism in Philadelphia.  

ABC:LHS #035-4   Joe Beam worked in a bookstore and saw nothing by or about people like him - a young, Black, gay male.  He solicited and edited his own book, which he easily filled with stories and poems written by other men just like him.  

ABC:LHS #035-3   Marion Stokes...
...developed an obsession with recording television news stories, because she didn't trust the way the news seemed to shift from day to day.  She left tens of thousands of videotapes when she died.