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Lecturer, writer, and commentator specializing in Philadelphia history, Thomas H. Keels, will be presenting to the Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill: “The Sesqui Sinks,” on June 12, 7:30 am, Center on the Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue, Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. The public is invited to attend the meeting which will include a short question and answer session.
The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926, held in South Philadelphia, was meant to be the greatest world's fair since the 1876 Centennial.
But, thanks to political corruption, greed, egotism, and the wettest summer on record, it became a crumbling, sodden, bankrupt mess, Philadelphia's "forgotten fair." The Sesqui served as a symbol for the city's monolithic Republican Organization, where one boss (Congressman William S. Vare, the "Duke of South Philadelphia") could kidnap an entire world's fair and transfer it from the newly completed Fairmount Parkway to the swamps of South Philly, his congressional district.
His talk will also explore how the Sesqui became an unwitting battleground for many of the social struggles convulsing America in the 1920s: racism, anti-Semitism, women's rights, the Ku Klux Klan, eugenics, and Prohibition.
“In his portrayal of the 1926 Sesqui-Centennial, Tom Keels has once again opened a wide, insightful and revealing historical lens on Philadelphia,” said Sam Katz, Executive Producer, History Making Productions.
Writer, Thomas H. Keels.
Specializing in Philadelphia history and architecture, Keels has authored or co-authored seven books: Philadelphia’s Golden Age of Retail; Wicked Philadelphia: Sin in the City of Brotherly Love; Forgotten Philadelphia: Lost Architecture of the Quaker City; Philadelphia Graveyards and Cemeteries; Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square; and Chestnut Hill. He has appeared in many documentaries and has served a tour guide at Laurel Hill Cemetery for nearly two decades.
The Rotary Club of Chestnut Hill, founded in 1995, services the neighborhoods of Mt. Airy, Germantown and Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia as well as surrounding communities. The club is part of Rotary International, a humanitarian organization with more than 1.4 million members around the world. Rotary members volunteer frequently for service projects and fundraising efforts focused on: Peace and Conflict Resolution, Disease Prevention and Treatment, Water and Sanitation, Maternal and Child Health, Basic Education and Literacy, Economic and Community Development, and the Environment.
