All Episodes

ABC:LHS #084   Women's History Month 2026
Emily Elizabeth Holman was an accomplished architect who preferred using her initials so as not to disclose her gender.
Matilda “Tillie May” Forney followed in the steps of her newspaper publisher father John Forney. She made newspaper work her career at a time when women were barely tolerated in the newsroom.
Florence Cowanova was the ballet teacher all the little girls loved. Among her famed students: Zelda Fitzgerald, Imogene Coca, and Princess Grace.
While Harris Wofford became one of JFK’s “Best and Brightest,” his wife Clare Wofford became a lynchpin in the successful formation of the Peace Corps.

BBB:LHWS #053   Walter Livingston, Jr. ...
...is considered Philadelphia's top Black Post-War architect; his masterwork is the Zion Baptist Church on North Broad Street. 
A Black architect not buried at Laurel Hil is Julian Abele, whose boss Horace Trumbauer (ABC:LHS 005) employed him as his firm's primary designer.

ABC:LHS #083-4   Mpozi Mshale Tolbert...
...was a West Philadelphia native who became a beloved photojournalist and DJ in Indianapolis. Despite his 6'6" frame and waist-length dreadlocks, he was described by all who knew him as a gentle giant. Two murals of Mpozi exist in Indianapolis’s Broad Ripple and Fountain Square neighborhoods to celebrate his life and work.

ABC:LHS #083-3   Julia Komai
...and her husband Reverend John Komai, son of a Krahn chief, fled their homeland of Liberia during the 1989 coup. John became a community leader for Liberian refugees in the U.S. Julia was a political activist who had been jailed in 1979 for her opposition to human rights abuses; she later served as Assistant Director of the African Unity Conference Center.
 

ABC:LHS #083-2   Reverend Leonard Leland Smalls...
...was a Baptist minister who dedicated much of his life to prison ministry and community development. In 1956, he became the first Black minister certified as a prison chaplain in Pennsylvania. His political activism included a 1967 mayoral candidacy focused on consumer fraud issues.

ABC:LHS #083-1   Frances “Mom” Williams...
...was a dedicated neighborhood leader and advocate for seniors and the disabled in Philadelphia. Despite an unsuccessful run for City Council in 1979, her influence extended through her family and her activism, and she left a lasting impact on her city and community.

ABC:LHS #083-0 Black History 2026
Frances “Mom” Williams was a dedicated Philadelphia community leader and activist who ran for City Council in 1979 with a focus on seniors and neighborhood safety. Her son Hardy and grandson Anthony both became State Senators.
 
Rev. Leonard Leland Smalls became the first Black minister certified as a prison chaplain in Pennsylvania. Smalls associated with Martin Luther King Jr. and local activists, though he described himself as not nonviolent. Released as separate podcast on February 3rd. 
 
Liberian native Julia Komai was a political activist who became an outspoken advocate for human rights and had been imprisoned before escaping to the United States. She died in a car crash, along with a former Vice President of her native land. Separate podcast on February 4th. 
 
Mpozi Mshade Tolbert was deeply admired in two cities: in Philadelphia, he captured iconic images of the hip-hop scene, while in Indianapolis he became a beloved photojournalist and DJ, known for his genial spirit, generosity, and influence on the arts community. Separate podcast on February 5th.
 

BBB:LHWS #052   Mary Scarpone Costanza...
...was raised Roman Catholic and claimed she never met a Jew until she went to Temple University. She developed an interest in art that had been produced by victims of the Nazi Holocaust. It turned into her life work.

ABC:LHS #082-5  Samuel Patch Frankenfield...
...apprenticed as a cabinetmaker and then used his skills as a coffin manufacturer to become an undertaker with a thriving practice. Care of the dead had been in the hands of women for centuries before men realized that money could be made in the field. 

ABC:LHS #082-4  Thomas Hewson Bache...
...co-founded CHOP, the first children’s hospital in the United States. But he also served as a Major in the Medical Corps involved in the Gettysburg Campaign when he was taken as a prisoner of war. He also served as curator of the Mütter Museum and oversaw significant acquisitions like the Joseph Hyrtl skull collection.
Script by Russell Dodge, narration by Joe Lex

ABC:LHS #082-1   Daniel Pabst...
...was a prominent 19th-century Philadelphia cabinetmaker known for his exceptional craftsmanship and distinctive designs. His work served affluent and much has been preserved at PMA. His partnership with Frank Furness was a boon to both. 
 

ABC:LHS #082-2 Henry Hagert... 
...was the Philadelphia lawyer who unsuccessfully prosecuted the accused killer of pioneering African American leader Octavius Valentine Catto, who was assassinated in 1871 during violent election-day riots. The whole story is told here. 

ABC:LHS #082-1  Martha Coston...
...significantly advanced maritime communication when she developed pyrotechnic signal flares that could be seen day and night. Her invention vastly improved naval operations and safety at sea.

ABC:LHS #082-0   Happy 2026 200th birthday to...
...Martha Coston, who used her husband's notes and reputation to invent airborne signal flares that saved thousands of lives.
...Henry Hagert, assistant District Attorney when he unsuccessfully prosecuted a man for the murder of Civil Rights Activist Octavius V. Catto.
...Daniel Pabst, the finest cabinetmaker in town; people waited years for him to create their household masterpieces, many of which are today in museums. 
...Dr. Thomas Hewson Bache, co-founder of Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania, curator at the Mütter Museum, and battlefield surgeon at Gettysburg.
...Samuel Frankenfield, German immigrant carpenter who discovered there was money to be made as a coffin builder and successfully switched professions from carpenter to mortician.

BBB:LHWS #051-4   James "Jimmy" Bland...
...is NOT buried at Laurel Hill, but he serves as a logical link between minstrelsy and mummery. Many people called him the "Black Stephen Foster," and songs he wrote like "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" and "Hand me down My Walking Cane" have become standards. One of his more popular tunes, "Oh Dem Golden Slippers" became the theme song for Philadelphia Mummers.