To celebrate Black History Month here in Philadelphia, we at November Project Philadelphia would like to invite you to participate in a scavenger hunt to find and connect with historical places commemorating and acknowledging the impact of African Americans in our cities history. Each week we will feature individuals and/or locations for you to visit, and spotlight their significance to the Philadelphia community. In addition we will also provide you with a list of other individuals and/or locations for you to reference, research and visit on your own. We would love to see where you go on your journey, so when you visit a location commemorating black history either tag us @NovemberProjectPhilly in your post with the #BlackHistoryPhilly so we can reshare, OR post your picture(s) to our Social Page along with something you learned! We hope you enjoy your journey and are so glad you are here with us. First Up! Octavius V Catto, whose statue can be found at the south end of City Hall.
Catto was a civil rights activist, educator and intellectual who attended The Institute of Colored youth and Cheyney University which is a HBCU located in Delaware County. As a fierce advocate for civil rights, Catto confronted laws that prohibited African Americans from using railways, segregated education within Philadelphia schools, and limited the right of African Americans to participate in voting. Election Day in 1871, just one year after the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restored voting rights for African Americans in Pennsylvania, led to the bloodshed of many including Catto. Fighting between angry white Democrats and African Americans, who aligned with the Republican Party, expanded into a riot in the predominantly African American neighborhood along eastern Lombard and South Streets. The tumultuous and racially polarized nature of this Election Day in Philadelphia set the stage for the murder and martyrdom of Octavius V. Catto on October 10, 1871. Police did little to intervene, and Catto was later slandered with false depictions of the events leading up to his murder. He was viewed as one of the most influential African American leaders in Philadelphia during the 19th century joining the likes of Fredrick Douglas and other Black Leaders to form a Recruitment Committee to Sign up Black Men to fight for union and emancipation. This information and the picture below can be found at The Encylopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Check out the link for more!
Next Up! Harriet Tubman whose monument can be found at the north end of City Hall.
Harriet Tubman was an American abolitionist and political activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia in 1849 but went back on 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including family and friends, using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. When the Civil War began, Tubman worked for the union army, first as a cook and nurse, and then as an armed scout and spy. On June 2, 1863, Harriet Tubman, under the command of Union Colonel James Montgomery, became the first woman to lead a major military operation in the United States when she and 150 African American Union soldiers rescued more than 700 slaves in the Combahee Ferry Raid during the Civil War. The 9-foot Harriet Tubman journey to freedom monument will be featured at the north end of City Hall through the end of March to celebrate the abolitionist’s 200th birthday, as well as Black History and Women’s History Months. Check out this YouTube Video by the Newburgh Free Library about the journey to freedom monument and some of what it represents to people and the community.
Dont forget to tag us @NovemberProjectPhilly in your posts with the #BlackHistoryPhilly! Below are some other locations for you to check out! Happy Scavenging!!!
| Institute for Colored Youth | 915 Bainbridge Street |
| The Dixie Hummingbirds | 2435 College Ave |
| Billie Holiday Historical Market | 1409 Lombard Street |
| Crystal Bird Fauset Historical Market | 5403 VIne Street |
| The Liberation of Jane Johnson | Penns Landing at the Seaport Muesem |
| Marian Anderson- Historical Marker | 1910 Fitzwater Street |
| The Move Bombing | Osage Ave & Cobbs Creek |
| Ora Washington | 6128 Germantown Ave |
| Philadelphia Pyramid Club historical marker | 1517 Girard Ave |
| Phildephia Tribune | 520-26 South 16th Street |
| St Peter Claver Catholic Church | 12th and Lombard Street |
| Union Local 274 | 912 S. Broad St. |
