history in Philadelphia

In July I went to Philadelphia for a whopping ten nights to do dissertation research and attend a history conference. I took the train up on Monday, and after scoping out my Airbnb and eating an early dinner I spent the rest of the evening walking to a bunch of stores looking for a cheap and easy way to make my morning coffee (what kind of rented apartment doesn't have a way to make coffee?!?), eventually settling unhappily for a French press. (I wanted one of those cheap pour-over cones, but couldn't find one.)

Tuesday through Thursday I spent my days at the Pennsylvania Historical Society, which was just under a mile from my apartment. I also spent each of those mornings running along the Schuylkill River, which was close by and had a great paved trail. Thursday evening the conference started, so I attended the plenary session and reception. Friday I attended a couple sessions with a break in between to do more research at the historical society. I attended another reception that night at the Masonic hall, then treated myself to a really good Italian meal. (My pasta came with a little scoop of savory gelato on top!)

Pennsylvania Historical Society

Schuylkill River Trail

Saturday morning I ran nine miles before attending a couple of conference sessions. Then when I was done with that for the day I met up with my friend Celia, who'd come down from New York to hang out with me for the weekend. We ate dinner, then walked to Spruce Street Harbor Park to check out the lights and hammocks and floating island garden. It was a fun place to grab a beer and do some people watching.

It had rained and the hammocks were wet, but that didn't stop us.

Neat moving island thingies at Spruce Street Harbor Park.

Sunday I attended two final conference panels, then spent the rest of the day doing touristy stuff with Celia. After a good lunch we walked to the Barnes Foundation, which I hadn't known about but was a really great art museum. It was also neat because almost every room had New Mexican retablos, which Celia was really good at identifying. From there we walked to the historic district, where we toured Independence Hall and visited the Liberty Bell. Then we took a break at a beer garden, and when it started to pour down rain we booked it for the closest restaurant we could find for dinner.

Obligatory Independence Hall photo.

Monday was full of more history. We visited the new Museum of American Independence, the Christ Church Burial Ground (where Benjamin Franklin and a few other Declaration signers are buried), the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank of the United States (which I loved because it was full of Charles Willson Peale portraits, and I love Charles Willson Peale), Franklin Court, and the Betsy Ross House. After all that we grabbed an early dinner before Celia had to catch her bus back to New York.

A replica of the rising sun armchair (what Washington sat in when he presided over the Constitutional Convention) at the Museum of the American Revolution

Peale portraits! (And so many of the men I read letters to and from every day at work.)

Tuesday and Wednesday I was back in the historical society doing research all day. And finally on Thursday after I checked out of my apartment I had a little bit of time to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art before my train ride home.

Another Peale painting, this time at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

That was my final big research trip (following Boston and New York). I really loved all three of them, living in apartments in the city and walking to work in different repositories all day for my dissertation. Now I just have to come up with intelligent things to say about what I found...