Celebrating National Historic Preservation Month

May is National Historic Preservation Month. To celebrate, the Preservation Alliance asked 31 historic preservation leaders in Philadelphia to name a building that has inspired them and why. We invite you to watch this space daily and hear from leaders in the local preservation movement as they reveal the historic buildings that have inspired them.

Cory Kegerise Elfreth's Alley Old City, Philadelphia

My first paying job in preservation was a work-study position at the Elfreth’s Alley Association while I was in graduate school. In addition to doing all of the things you’d expect at one of the most heavily traveled historic sites in the city – tours, gift shop, and giving directions to wayward tourists, I was also immersed in some head turning research and interpretive work that would reshape the narrative of the entire neighborhood. For decades the only stories told about the Alley were about pre-Revolution artisans and architecture, and yes – that people still actually lived there. But in the early 2000s the Association began an ambitious research initiative to discover what happened on that tiny street AFTER 1800. What emerged were new narratives about everyday life in the dense immigrant communities of the 19 th and early 20 th centuries – stories not being told elsewhere in Philadelphia. The well-preserved and seemingly idyllic buildings along this narrow lane were more than just architectural remnants – they illustrated the origins and evolution of the most common buildings in the city – the row house – and the realities of urban living throughout the City’s 300+ year history. All of this was on top of the better-known stories of seamstresses, chair makers, and one of the City’s earliest and hardest-fought preservation battles.

A few years later I was hired as the Executive Director and was able to carry on these research and interpretive initiatives. It was exciting work and reinforced the value of everyday places and stories, something that factors heavily into my professional life to this day. But perhaps the greatest takeaways of Elfreth’s Alley for me are that older and historic places are often more nuanced and layered than we might assume, and that we need to consciously seek out those stories to truly appreciate the value they add to our city.

Cory Kegerise Community Preservation Planner - Eastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Historical and Museums Commission

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Tuesday, May 26, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Penn Square, City Hall, and the Emergence of Modern Philadelphia Presented by Paul Steinke ,   Executive Director,  Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia The building of Philadelphia City Hall at Center Square in the late 19th century was not only a monumental feat of art, architecture and engineering. It was also a powerful catalyst for city building, and for the forging of a civic identity. Preservation Alliance executive director Paul Steinke discusses the forces that led our municipal headquarters to be located where it is, as well as the forces it unleashed to transform the surrounding neighborhood.

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