THE PHILADELPHIA JUNTO.
Celebrating The PJ's 48th Year as a Charivari of the Lit'ry Life | PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com | Richard Carreño, Editor | No. 245 April 2024 | Meeting @ Philadelphia © MMXXIV. WritersClearinghouse. | See us @ "PJ" via Facebook. Donations via Venmo. Dedicated to the memory of Ralph J. Carreño. Nothing herein may be published in any other media without the permission of the Editor. Est. 1976 in Fabyan, Connecticut
Celebrating ....
Wednesday 3 April 2024
THE GINGER MAN
Friday 29 March 2024
AVAILABLE IN SEPTEMBER
Pre-order at Philabooks@yahoo.com |
Sunday 3 March 2024
DISCUSS
Monday 11 December 2023
PARIS: 1967
Friday 1 December 2023
Season's Greetings
Thursday 30 November 2023
BAHAMIAN GALLERY: A SONG OF NASSAU 1.
Dedicated to Marion B. Carreño, Ralph J. Carreño, Roberta E. Carreño Bernard, and Stafford Morrison 2
Limbo, Limbo Like Me
You Can't Go Home Again
Thursday 16 November 2023
On the Road with Justin: SAN MARINO
Wednesday 21 December 2022
PHILADELPHIA TRIVIA
The question: In his classic Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia, Penn sociologist E. Digby Baltzell — the chronicler of the ways of the elite who introduced the acronym "WASP" (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) into the language — noted with some lament that Philadelphia's old-money families didn't support its local universities, most notably Penn, of course. However, some of Philadelphia's new money did go all-out for a school in another city: Harvard, whose main library is named for the would-have-been scion of one new-money family. Who was this person, and why was the library named for him? Bonus question: Another member of this same family did devote his life to supporting local higher education. One of the schools on whose boards of trustees he served renamed itself in 1972 in honor of his family. Name that descendant. The answer(s): Harry Elkins Widener. The bibliophile grandson of streetcar magnate Peter A.B. Widener, the 1907 Harvard grad perished along with his father, businessman George D. Widener, when the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage in 1912. His mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener, donated Harry's large library to Harvard, which named its main library for him in return. Bonus question: Fitz Eugene Dixon. Better known as the man who brought "Dr. J" to town when he owned the Philadelphia 76ers, he also served on the board of the Pennsylvania Military College and its civilian sibling, Penn Morton College, in Chester for four decades, including serving as its chair. An unverified local legend has it that his contributions to the school saved it from closing in the 1970s, leading the board to rename it in honor of his mother's mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener — Harry's mom. Another fun fact: were it not for him, LOVE Park wouldn't be LOVE Park: When the city couldn't come up with the purchase price sculptor Robert Indiana wanted for his iconic work, Dixon bought it from Indiana and donated it to the city. |
Wednesday 14 December 2022
W R I T E R S C L E A R I N G H O U S E * Philadelphia
Sunday 7 August 2022
John O'Hara Weighs in
Saturday 18 June 2022
McFADDEN GOES TO CAMBRIDGE
Friday 4 March 2022
ƒ ON UKRAINIAN REFUGEES ƒ
Whether Black, White, or Brown,
THEY LOOK LIKE US
Sunday 27 February 2022
LONG LIVE A FREE UKRAINE!
Sunday 6 February 2022
Whose Worse?
JOHNSON OR TRUMP?
Tuesday 25 January 2022
DO YOU?
I LIKE IT
Wednesday 1 December 2021
The Corner House...
Letter from Latvia
A HOUSE OF HORRORS
On a recent foray to Riga, I visited what is referred to as “the
Corner House” – the former headquarters of the Soviet KGB secret
police in Latvia, also known as Cheka. I thought this was going to be
another exhibit and tour of spy gadgetry and historical operations
much like the Spy Museum in Washington, DC, but this was nothing of
the sort. Rather it was a poignant and emotional look into the horror
of totalitarianism and repression.
We entered the imposing structure that blended in just like any other
art nouveau building in Riga. It could be an apartment house, or an
office building, or anything else. Built in 1912, it, in fact, was
originally an apartment building, but the interior was modified into a
veritable dungeon.
As I entered it appeared to be an abandoned building inside. There was
no heat, and so cold I, along with my friend, and the others on the
tour, continued to wear our jackets, scarves, and gloves through the
visit. We bought our tickets for 10,00€ each from a young woman behind
a window. She said the (English-language) guided tour started at 11am,
and we had about 30 minutes, so she suggested we look at the exhibits
in the main hall during our wait.
Wednesday 20 October 2021
Past Favs
MIND THE GAP
Tuesday 12 October 2021
Sunday 3 October 2021
SPANISH RIDING SCHOOL
VIENNA
Thursday 30 September 2021
Friday 17 September 2021
PROMOTIONAL COVER
The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing financially or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXXI. All Rights Reserved.
Friday 3 September 2021
Liverpool Learned Society Praises New Book on Local Art Collector John H. McFadden
John H. McFadden and His Age: Cotton and Culture in Philadelphia
Richard Carreño 304pp.19 black and white illustrations. Camino Books, Philadelphia, 2021. Available from Amazon £18.69 hardback. ISBN: 978-1680980394.
I consider myself a reasonably well-read amateur Liverpool historian but confess that, until recently, I had never heard of John H McFadden. And, I suspect, neither had any of my fellow local history friends. This despite the fact that he and brother George headed up the biggest firm of cotton dealers not just in Liverpool during the late Victorian and early Edwardian era when the city was indisputably “King Cotton”, but on both sides of the Atlantic.
Like John Howard McFadden’s life itself, this is a book of two halves covering his early and later years in Philadelphia and his two decades or so in Liverpool when he was at the height of his cotton dealing powers. In spite of his business success and the great wealth that went with it, McFadden largely lived his life under the radar. So, it is thanks to Carreño that he has managed to tease out so much of the detail of his life. Aside from dealing in cotton futures, McFadden had three main passions, and the money to indulge them: medical research (of which Liverpool was a major beneficiary), polar exploration (and in particular Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) and assembling an outstanding private collection of 18th and 19th century British paintings by the great masters, including one by Liverpool horse painter George Stubbs.
Thursday 26 August 2021
LIVERPOOL'S LITTLE-KNOWN ART WORLD
Friday 20 August 2021
MOUNTAIN HIGH
Tuesday 17 August 2021
PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE RAVES!
Friday 13 August 2021
GENERATION GAP? SPECIAL REPORT BY MATTHEW DAVIS
SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS |