PHILADELPHIA

city and port, coextensive with Philadelphia county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. It is situated at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Philadelphia has been described either as the elegant but rather jaded great lady or as the overage and sickly spinster of American cities. A more realistic look at Philadelphia, however, shows it to be a very modern and vigorous city, arising in gracious counterpoint to the deep serenity of an older city that has provided gentle but firm intellectual, economic, and humanitarian direction to the nation at whose birth it played midwife. Philadelphia, which is the fourth largest city in the United States and the largest in Pennsylvania, displays many characteristics of a small town. Its many trees, parks, and other open spaces and its quiet pace of life reflect in various ways the genteel Quaker heritage bestowed on the city by its founder, William Penn. Nearly everywhere are dignified reminders of the colonial and Revolutionary city and of Benjamin Franklin, a Philadelphian by adoption, who left his imprint on innumerable ongoing institutions, both cultural and commercial, in the city. Beneath this facade, however, Philadelphia represents an urban cluster of national and international stature. Its harbour, one of the largest freshwater ports in the world, is the major element in the official agglomeration of Delaware River ports known as Ameriport, collectively one of the busiest shipping centres in the world. The enormous industrial production of the city and the surrounding metropolitan area represents a continuation of Philadelphia's early leadership in the Industrial Revolution and in American commerce and finance generally. Lying in the midst of the vast urban community stretching down the Atlantic Seaboard, Philadelphia is an integral part of the turbulent fabric of contemporary social and economic life as well as a tranquil oasis joining together the spirit of America, past and present. city, seat (1833) of Neshoba county, east-central Mississippi, U.S., and headquarters of the Choctaw Indian Agency, 80 miles (130 km) east-northeast of Jackson. It was settled on an old Indian site, Aloon Looanshaw, following the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830) and named for Philadelphia, Pa. The Indian Agency was established in 1918, and the majority of the state's few thousand Choctaw (q.v.) live in the vicinity. A large Indian school is in the city. In 1964 the city received national attention when three civil-rights workers, murdered during a voter-registration drive, were found buried nearby. The city is an agricultural-trade centre (cattle, cotton, corn) with some light manufactures (textiles, electric motors, lumber products). The Choctaw Indian Fair is an annual summer event. Inc. 1904. Pop. (1986 est.) 7,010. city and port, coextensive with Philadelphia county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. Situated at the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, it is the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania. From its founding in 1681 as a Quaker settlement, through its central roles in the American Revolution, the early federal government, and the Industrial Revolution, to the 20th century, Philadelphia has been an intellectual, economic, and humanitarian centre. Much of Philadelphia occupies the fertile Atlantic Coastal Plain, but in the city's western extremity the hills of the Piedmont plateau reach elevations of about 440 feet (134 m). Its continental climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and mild winters. Philadelphia's harbour, one of the largest freshwater ports in the world, is the major element in the official agglomeration of Delaware River ports known as Ameriport, collectively one of the busiest shipping centres in the world. Apparel, food and food products, printing and publishing, and electrical machinery are Philadelphia's leading manufacturing industries, and employment in service industries is substantial. The city is a major banking centre, and it has the oldest stock exchange (1790) in the United States. The gridiron of streets in central Philadelphia, which is known as Center City, follows the original plan of the city's founder, William Penn. Penn Square, midway between the two rivers and occupied by City Hall, marks the city centre. Benjamin Franklin Parkway cuts northwestward from near Penn Square to Fairmount Park, the nation's largest landscaped municipal park. Southwark, Society Hill, and the Independence Hall area, located southeast and east of City Hall, are the city's oldest sections and contain some of its finest old houses, taverns, and churches. Independence National Historical Park houses Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed and the historic Liberty Bell is displayed. Nearby, Carpenters' Hall was the site of the meeting of the First Continental Congress. These areas have two- and three-story red-brick buildings containing impressive examples of colonial design. The areas of Philadelphia north, south, and west of the city centre contain many distinctive ethnic or racial sections. Philadelphia has a vigorous cultural life, with prominent museums, galleries, orchestras, and theatres. The Philadelphia Museum of Art heads a great diversity of museums. The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Walnut Street Theatre, the oldest playhouse in active use in the English-speaking world, are cultural landmarks. Philadelphia is a centre for medical education, and the University of Pennsylvania heads an array of universities and colleges. Local transportation is provided by buses, subways, streetcars, and trolley cars, and both the Delaware and the Schuylkill rivers are bridged at several points. Philadelphia is well served by roads, railways, and waterways, and there are two airports, one international. Area city, 136 square miles (352 square km). Pop. (1990) city, 1,585,577; Philadelphia PMSA, 4,856,881; Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton CMSA, 5,899,345. Additional reading General Robert H. Wilson, Official Handbook for Visitors: Philadelphia, 300th anniversary ed. (1982), a city guide; Philadelphia Magazine, a periodical that often features a sharply critical and satirical approach. Historical works Carl and Jessica Bridenbaugh, Rebels and Gentlemen: Philadelphia in the Age of Franklin (1942, reprinted 1978), an extremely good picture of colonial and Revolutionary times and people; Brooke Hindle, The Pursuit of Science in Revolutionary America: 1735-89 (1956, reprinted 1974), an excellent source for early science in Philadelphia; American Philosophical Society, Historic Philadelphia: From the Founding Until the Early Nineteenth Century (1953), a study in depth; Horace Mather Lippincott, Early Philadelphia: Its People, Life, and Progress (1917), a fine study that is both colourful and informative; Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (quarterly), the prestigious journal of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (well indexed); Russell F. Weigley (ed.), Philadelphia: A 300 Year History (1982), a collection of scholarly essays; Sam Bass Warner, Jr., The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth (1968), a prizewinning and provocative interpretation of the impact of urbanization upon the city; William W. Cutler III and Howard Gillette, Jr. (eds.), The Divided Metropolis: Social and Spatial Dimensions of Philadelphia, 1800-1975 (1980), an insightful anthology of essays. The following provide valuable insights into the texture of working-class life and the nature of interethnic and interracial relations in the city: Bruce Laurie, The Working People of Philadelphia, 1800-1850 (1980); Allen F. Davis and Mark H. Haller (eds.), The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower-Class Life, 1790-1940 (1973); Michael Feldberg, The Philadelphia Riots of 1844: A Study of Ethnic Conflict (1975); and Theodore Hershberg (ed.), Philadelphia: Work, Space, Family, and Group Experience in the Nineteenth Century (1981). Specialized studies Nathaniel Burt, The Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy (1963, reprinted 1975), an excellent study of Philadelphia society; E. Digby Baltzell, Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia: Two Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Class Authority and Leadership (1979, reprinted 1982), an important comparative history; Maxwell Struthers Burt, Philadelphia, Holy Experiment (1945), a good general description with great feeling for the city; W.E.B. Du Bois, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899, reprinted 1971), an excellent monograph on the urban experience of blacks and a landmark in American sociological studies; Vincent P. Franklin, The Education of Black Philadelphia (1979), a solid study of the social and educational history of black Philadelphians during the first half of the 20th century; Jeanne R. Lowe, Cities in a Race with Time (1967), an excellent study of urban problems and renewal, including a good history of Philadelphia; George B. Tatum, Penn's Great Town: 250 Years of Philadelphia Architecture Illustrated in Prints and Drawings (1961), a valuable review of the cultural heritage; William S. Vare, My Forty Years in Politics (1933), a firsthand account of city machine politics. Sylvester K. Stevens John B.B. Trussell Matthew S. Magda