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Elephants on the Avenue: Race, Class and Community in Historic Germantown

Historic Germantown
Historic Germantown’s Second Saturday Festival. Photo by Jill Saul.
Historic Germantown’s Second Saturday Festival. Photo by Jill Saul.
Yolanda Wisher leads a story circle and paper fan-making workshop at Historic Germantown. Photo by Jill Saul.
Yolanda Wisher leads a story circle and paper fan-making workshop at Historic Germantown. Photo by Jill Saul.
Historic Germantown’s story circle and paper fan-making workshop with Yolanda Wisher. Photo by Jill Saul.
Historic Germantown’s story circle and paper fan-making workshop with Yolanda Wisher. Photo by Jill Saul.
“Cracked Bowl” workshop with Barbara Bullock. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Cracked Bowl” workshop with Barbara Bullock. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
Historic Germantown’s Second Saturday Festival. Photo by Jill Saul.
Historic Germantown’s Second Saturday Festival. Photo by Jill Saul.
“Behind Closed Doors” workshop with Ife Nii Owoo. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Behind Closed Doors” workshop with Ife Nii Owoo. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Deconstructing History/Reconstructing Memory” workshop with Ife Nii Owoo. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Deconstructing History/Reconstructing Memory” workshop with Ife Nii Owoo. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Deconstructing History/Reconstructing Memory” workshop with Ife Nii Owoo. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Deconstructing History/Reconstructing Memory” workshop with Ife Nii Owoo. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Pruning the Elephant” workshop with Benjamin Volta. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.
“Pruning the Elephant” workshop with Benjamin Volta. Photo by Jill Saul, courtesy of Historic Germantown.

Using the arts as a catalyst for community dialogue and engagement around race and class in Philadelphia's diverse Germantown neighborhood, Historic Germantown presented Elephants on the Avenue: Race, Class and Community in Historic Germantown. This multi-part project joined community members with artists such as Barbara Bullock and Benjamin Volta, poets Sonia Sanchez and Yolanda Wisher, and historians from across the US to create public art installations, educational programs, and community events. The project creatively explored such themes as indifference and respect, racism and tolerance, slavery and abolition, and exclusion and inclusion through a series of interpretive community workshops and conversations led by participating artists, which culminated in a multidisciplinary exhibition and documentary. To complement the project, Historic Germantown organized a community festival, free bus tours to its historic sites, and a series of community meals to encourage continued reflection and conversation around the project.


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Historic Germantown’s Second Saturday Festival. Photo by Jill Saul.
Interview

Inside Historic Germantown: Q&A with Trapeta B. Mayson

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Recipient
Historic Germantown

Historic Germantown

Historic Germantown is a partnership of 19 historic houses, destinations, and museums in Northwest Philadelphia that have joined together to protect, preserve, and share some of Philadelphia’s prized historical assets. Historic Germantown is where one of Philadelphia’s Revolutionary War Battles was fought, where the first-ever American protest against slavery was written, and where one of the few remaining houses on the Underground Railroad still stands.

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