All Episodes

ABC:LHS #020–3   SGT Richard Binder...
...was a German immigrant who joined the Marine Corps during the Civil War in order to become a citizen.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Fort Fisher.  He returned to Philadelphia and opened several hair salons. 

ABC:LHS #020-2   GEN Jacob Zeilin...
...was a lifelong Marine who rose to be the Corps' first general officer.  He is also credited with creating their symbol - the iconic globe, eagle, and anchor.

ABC:LHS #020-1   MAJ Levi Twiggs...
...spent his life as a Marine. He died at the Battle of Chapultepec during the War with Mexico.  His monument is one of the most striking in the cemetery.

ABC:LHS #020 Send the Marines!
The United States Marine Corps was born in Philadelphia on November 10, 1775 and the city is the burial site for many famed members of the Corps. 
Major Levi Twiggs was born in Georgia in a military family; he joined the Marines when he was 19 and made the Marine Barracks at Philadelphia Naval Yards his home for many years before heading off to fight in the Mexican-American War. 
Brigadier General Jacob Zeilin was born in Philadelphia and spent 45 years as a Marine Corps officer, culminating in being their first General-level officer. 
Sergeant Richard Binder was a German immigrant who joined the Marines at the beginning of the Civil War and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery at the Battle of Fort Fisher; he returned to Philadelphia after the war and opened a series of very successful barber shops and hair parlors.  

ABC:LHS #019-2   Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker...
...was an unparalleled athlete in the early 20th century.  He is the only person enshrined in both the International Hockey Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.  His influence on author F. Scott Fitzgerald was enormous.  

ABC:LHS #019-1   Monsignor Cyril Sigourney Webster Fay...
...was an Episcopalian-turned-Catholic priest who befriended such historical figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Adams, Sean Leslie, Pope Benedict XV, and especially F. Scott Fitzgerald when he was a schoolboy; he ended up as a character in one of Fitzgerald's classics.  

ABC:LHS #019   Two F. Scott Fitzgerald Influencers 
You might think that F. Scott Fitzgerald, a Midwesterner who made his name in New York City, would have no Philadelphia connections.  You would be wrong. 
Sigourney Webster Fay was born in Philadelphia to an old-line Episcopalian family, but left that religion to become a Catholic priest; he was the most important influence in the life of the schoolboy F. Scott Fitzgerald and the inspiration for one of his most widely-loved characters in This Side of Paradise.
While Fitzgerald matriculated at Princeton, he was three years behind the Golden Boy Hobart Amory Hare “Hobey” Baker, who not only showed up as a minor character in This Side of Paradise, but gave one of his family names to the character Fitzgerald identified as himself, Amory Blaine.  I interview Baker buff Paul Sookiasian for this segment.

ABC:LHS #018-4   Henry Charles Lea...
...came from a family of publishers, but he took up history and was very good at it.  His multi-volume set on the Spanish Inquisition is still considered the best thing ever written about that period.

 ABC:LHS #018-3   Alexander Stirling Calder took up sculpting, just like his father and mother. His most memorable contribution to the city is probably the magnificent Swann Fountain at Logan Circle.

ABC:LHS #018-2   William Warner...
...made excellent money in the coal business. He used some of it to hire Alexander Milne Calder away from City Hall long enough to create what is certainly the most photographed monument at Laure Hill East.

ABC:LHS #018-1   Alexander Milne Calder...
...was a Scottish immigrant who received the plum commission of sculpting every statue in and on City Hall - more than 200 works of art, including William Penn who oversees the city from his pinnacle.

ABC:LHS #018 Calder Connections
Alexander Milne Calder was a Scottish-born sculptor who came to Philadelphia and was given the commission for statuary for the City Hall.  He managed to squeeze in a monument for the Warner Family at Laurel Hill Cemetery that is probably the most photographed grave site on the property.
His son Alexander Stirling Calder is best remembered for Swann Fountain on Logan Circle, but he was also commissioned to do the statue for the grave of famed historian Henry Charles Lea, also at Laurel Hill. 
The Calders are interred at Laurel Hill West under a large Celtic cross.

ABC:LHS #017-4   Oscar Allis...
...invented the tools that he needed. The one with staying power is the commonly used toothed clamp that bears his name. A common pediatric newborn test also contains his name. 

ABC:LHS #017-3   Malcolm Macfarlan...
...was a Scottish immigrant who became intrigued with homeopathy while serving as a battlefield surgeon in the American Civil War. He discovered that his methods provided better outcomes. He is considered the Father of Homeopathic Surgery in the United States.

ABC:LHS #017-2   Constantine Hering...
...studied under Samuel Hahnemann, the Father of Homeopathic medicine.  He brought his knowledge to the United States and became an esteemed leader in this new type of medicine.