On Sun, 2 Jan 2005, Charles H. Buchholtz wrote: > From: Wilma de Soto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 12:24:51 -0500 > > Still, isn't there something to be said about saving these places where so > many greats played? Also, I feel the "Philadelphia Inferiority Syndrome" > has contributed to the de-valuing and lack of marketing these historical > musical treasures, don't you think? > > Since you asked, I don't think it's possible to market these buildings > as historical treasures. Show of hands, here: how many of you have > ever had visitors from out of town and said, "I want to show you > Convention Hall and the Commercial Museum; so many important events > took place there."
Such as the 1948 national convention of the Progressive Party. The first keynote speech ever by an African-American at a national political convention was delivered by Charles P. Howard at the 1948 Progressive Party convention that ratified the candidacy of Henry Wallace. Howard's riveting speech is outlined in some detail in R. Craig Sautter's book, "Philadelphia Presidential Conventions". Howard, a lawyer, Publisher of the Des Moines Observer, and former Republican leader, in a speech decrying the persistence of Jim Crow America, accused President Truman of being "long on say-so and short on do-so" regarding civil rights: --quoting from Sautter's book-- The crowd of 16,000 chanted back, "Jim Crow must go, Jim Crow must go." Howard then challenged Truman to "Pick up your pen and and write. Write the executive order which will abolish Jim Crow from the United States Army." Truman did just that a few days later, showing how carefully he was trying to undercut Wallace. "We have been blinded with promises for too many years," Howard despaired. His remarks set off spirited cheers that lasted several minutes. --end quote-- There are more excerpts of Howard's speech in the book. > > I have to say that a lot of this discussion sounds to me like people > showing you their wedding album or vacation photos. "Here's the place > where I graduated from High School, and here's the place where I saw > the Rolling Stones." Or here's the place where thousands of Americans came together to denounce Jim Crow, and prodded President Truman into acting. > It's interesting to people with a personal connection, or to historians, > but not a big deal to anyone else. I don't think it's possible to > market successfully. I would differ with you on marketing for the buildings themselves, but that aside, what anyone marketing the city - whether for tourism, attracting businesses, or enticing people to move here - promotes is not focused on any one building nor even just buildings. I get the idea you're not looking at the built city from a holistic perspective and are missing a lot of important subleties. Cheers, Jayfar -- PhilaDeco.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://PhilaDeco.com AIM: PhilaDeco Committee to Save Convention Hall fax bank http://www.hallwatch.org/faxbank/conventionhall/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
