May is Preservation Month, a time to celebrate places that matter to you. Since 2013, I have led walking tours of African American historic sites in Philadelphia. Amid the coronavirus lockdown, the National Trust for Historic Preservation is making a virtue of necessity:
Even though many historic places are physically closed right now, we at the National Trust for Historic Preservation are opening a window to a world of adventure online with Virtual Preservation Month.
Throughout the month of May, the National Trust is bringing you the very best in preservation from coast to coast, offering 31 days of rich digital experiences at historic places to inspire, delight, and entertain you. Whether coming from our National Trust Historic Sites, Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios, or National Treasures, each day will unlock a new experience and help you step out while you stay in. You’ll wander the rooms of iconic houses, roam wide-open spaces, and peek behind the scenes at some of your favorite historic sites—all at your own pace.
The National Trust spearheads the campaign to restore Nina Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, North Carolina. In August 2019, the National Trust and Come Hear North Carolina organized a concert at the three-room house featuring Vanessa Ferguson, a finalist in season 12 of NBC’s The Voice.
To receive daily email or text reminder of the National Trust’s virtual experience, go here.
All That Philly Jazz is a place-based public history project. We are documenting and mapping jazz spots from A to Z, from the Aqua Lounge to Zanzibar Blue.
Sadly, Philadelphia’s jazz history is largely untold; it resides in the memories of those who were there. You can help preserve this rich cultural heritage for current and future generations. Please share stories about the jazz scene back in the day via email at phillyjazzapp[@]gmail.com.
When I launched All That Philly Jazz five years ago, the Painted Bride Art Center was one of the first places added to the database. Jazz on Vine was the longest, continually running jazz series in Philadelphia.
So when I read the Magic Gardens had nominated the Painted Bride for listing on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, I had to weigh in because 230 Vine Street is one of the few extant buildings associated with Philadelphia’s jazz history. I gave public comment at the Committee on Historic Designation, which voted unanimously to add the building to the local register.
Fast forward to September 14, the nomination was before the full Commission. The room was packed with passionate people for and against the nomination. I, again, offered public comment which reads in part:
It is telling that the property owner does not dispute the historical significance of the building. Instead, their objection is based on fear that historic designation will reduce the market value of the property. However, “financial hardship,” such as it is, is not the issue before the Commission today. If the owner wants to claim “financial hardship,” a review process must be followed.
The issue before the Commission is whether the Painted Bride meets one or more criteria for historic designation. The Committee on Historic Designation got it right when they voted unanimously to add 230 Vine Street to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
…
The property owner’s concern about the safety of 230 Vine Street is situational. For historic designation purposes, the owner has taken “interim measures” and put out yellow caution tape. For programming purposes, the Bride puts out the welcome mat.
After three hours of testimony from the Bride, Magic Gardens and the public, the Commission voted on the nomination. The vote was 5-to-5. Chair Robert Thomas voted to add 230 Vine Street to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
It was obvious no one knew what to do in the event of a tie vote. Thomas was overheard saying a tie vote “creates problems.” But rather than take a recess to figure things out, the political hack called for a second vote. The second time around the vote was 5-to-4 to reject the nomination. Thomas told the Magic Gardens’ lawyer that he abstained “to avoid a tie vote.” In so doing, he consigned the Painted Bride to the trash heap of history.
While I am disappointed the Painted Bride will not have historic designation, I am outraged that Thomas changed his vote from “yes” to effectively “no.” Why would the chair of a commission whose mission is to preserve buildings abstain knowing the outcome of the vote is the inevitable demolition of an historic resource wrapped with Isaiah Zagar’s iconic mosaic!?
It’s always shady in Philadelphia. As I walked home, the Temptations’ song with the shattered glass came to mind. It’s just a matter of time before the sound of shattered glass is heard at 230 Vine Street.
“The Jazz Ambassadors” tells the story of when the U.S. State Department asked jazz icons to travel the world as cultural ambassadors during the Cold War. Their mission was at the intersection of race, civil rights and public diplomacy.
The film premieres on May 4, 2018 on PBS. Check your local listings.
Since 2007, community historians across North America and around the world have taken to the streets to lead a Jane’s Walk, “a movement of free, citizen-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs.”
On Saturday, May 5, 2018, I will lead a Jane’s Walk, “North Broad Then & Now.” We will uncover North Broad’s forgotten past as an enclave of nouveau riche industrialists. North Broad was also an entertainment destination for African Americans. That was then.
Now after years of neglect and disinvestment, North Broad is experiencing a development boom. We will explore North Philadelphia’s jazz history and issues ripped from the headlines such as gentrification, civil rights and cultural heritage preservation.
The walking tour will begin at the Metropolitan Opera House that was commissioned by Oscar Hammerstein.
Points of interest along the way include:
Oldest continuously operating Green Book site in Pennsylvania;
Majestic Hotel/Beaux Arts Café;
Flamingo Apartments;
Loyal Order of Moose Lodge/Legendary Blue Horizon;
Heritage House/Freedom Theater;
Alfred E. Burk Mansion;
Progress Plaza;
Chesterfield Hotel/Ebony Lounge;
Barber’s Hall;
Artic Records;
Linton’s Restaurant;
Grand Opera House/Nixon Grand Theatre.
The walk will end at Temple University’s Mitten Hall, where John Coltrane last performed in Philadelphia. That night, Coltrane performed “My Favorite Things” which he first recorded in 1961. The show tune is from “The Sound of Music,” a Broadway musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, the grandson of the industrialist who commissioned the Metropolitan Opera House.
We will meet at the Metropolitan Opera House, located at 858 N. Broad Street (at Poplar Street). The free event will be held, rain or shine, on Saturday, May 5, from 10:00am to 11:30am. No reservations are required.
I’m going to Chicago for PastForward 2017. I am a two-time recipient of a diversity scholarship to attend the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual conference. But as I wrote for the Preservation Leadership Forum blog, I am an accidental preservationist:
I love old buildings. I love even more the stories that old buildings hold—they are places where history happened. To borrow a phrase from blues singer Little Milton, “if walls could talk” they would tell stories of faith, determination and triumph. For me, historic preservation is about staking African Americans’ claim to the American story.
I’ll also check out the former home of the blues icon. Sadly, the 125-year-old building is under threat of demolition.
Discussions on reUrbanism, preservation and health, and technology will be live streamed. You can sign up as a virtual attendee for free. You can also follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #PastForward17.
I’m going to Chicago, y’all.
While in the Windy City, I will use the CTA to get around. NEA Jazz Master and Philly naive Jimmy Heath composed “CTA.” Miles Davis said it was named after Heath’s then-girlfriend Connie Theresa Ann.
The GRAMMY Museum will celebrate this “towering figure in the history of music” with a new exhibition, “Chasing Trane: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey Transcended”:
It will trace the saxophonist and composer’s career with rare performance footage and audio recordings from Coltrane’s Japanese tour in 1966, handwritten manuscripts, instruments, and more.
The exhibition will open on November 17, 2017 and run through September 2018. For more information, visit the GRAMMY Museum.
On Saturday, August 12, the Beech Companies will hold its 11th Annual Jazz on the Ave Music Fest in the Cecil B. Moore community in North Philadelphia.
The festival will be held along Cecil B. Moore Avenue between Broad and 17th Street. During Philadelphia’s jazz heyday, this stretch of Cecil B. Moore Avenue (then named Columbia Avenue) was part of the storied “Golden Strip.” From 13th Street to 23rd Street, Columbia Avenue was lined with jazz clubs.
Ken Scott, president and CEO of the Beech Companies, said:
Thousands attend the festival each year. It’s a great community event and an opportunity to celebrate the great musical history of Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Formerly named Columbia Avenue and affectionately called the Golden Strip, the avenue was a famed destination for jazz entertainment during Philadelphia’s golden era of jazz from the 1940s through the early 1960s. We are continuing that tradition with our annual festival. Jazz on the Ave is one of our ways of giving back to the community. We have a powerful line-up.
This year’s lineup includes:
Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Tony Rich
Grammy nominee, singer/songwriter/producer Eric Roberson
Jazz/soul singer Frank McComb
Grammy-nominated neo-soul singer/songwriter Glenn Lewis
Jeff Bradshaw & Friends
The free jazz festival will be held from noon to 8:30pm. For more info, visit Jazz on the Ave.
On Monday, July 24, 2017, the jazz community, spearheaded by state Sen. Vincent Hughes and Sheryl Lee Ralph-Hughes, will celebrate seven pioneers in the world of arts and culture:
Marshall Allen, Sun Ra Arkestra
Joan Myers Brown, PHILADANCO
Abiodun Oyewole, The Last Poets
Odean Pope, Saxophonist
Mickey Roker (posthumously), Drummer
Sumi Tonooka, Pianist
Tony Williams, Saxophonist
The event is free but you must RSVP by contacting Tamica Tanksley via email or by phone at (215) 879-7777.
All That Philly Jazz 