A trip through freedom's hometown

The illustrious documents produced in Philadelphia proclaim enlightenment and ideals of liberty and equality for all men. But tensions from Penn's time on just these issues continued for centuries. How did slavery exist in this ostensibly enlightened nation? Why didn't women vote? Why weren't Native Americans citizens? In the end these tensions make the Liberty Bell an ironic metaphor -- a flawed, cracked emblem of an unfinished revolution.

But there's life in Philadelphia after the Revolution. And this is where we need to talk about good old Ben Franklin, because all through the 1700s, Franklin was founding pathbreaking institutions for cultivating practical knowledge and skills. He set up America's first lending library, its first modern university, its first philosophical society, all unique institutions in America and all means to bringing Philadelphia to the vanguard of a second revolution: the Industrial Revolution.

Philadelphia became the center of the railroad industry and home to the Pennsylvania Railroad, the world's first billion-dollar corporation. It's also where John Wanamaker invented the modern department store. And from a tourist's point of view, the best part about Philadelphia is that no matter what you are looking at, the religious toleration of the 17th century, the political revolutions of the 18th century or the industrial revolutions of the 19th century, all the monuments are still standing. Philadelphia is the best place to come if you want to understand America.

Being the first city in North America to have a hospital and a medical school gave Philadelphia a serious interest in medical history, and one place to see that interest on display is the M|tter Museum. Perhaps its most unusual exhibition is a collection of 139 skulls, representing the people of Eastern and Central Europe. The museum acquired them in 1874 from an anatomist who used them to study the relationship between biology and destiny. He finally concluded that skull shape has nothing to do with destiny.

The M|tter is also home to the Jackson collection of foreign bodies, or objects swallowed or inhaled. Dr. Jackson was a pioneer in the field of broncho-esophagology who perfected instruments that could reach into people's air passages and remove things that they were choking on. He saved them in order to record the case history of each object and show other doctors, faced with a similar situation, what had worked. It's a teaching collection for fellow broncho-esophagologists.

Philadelphia has the largest collection of outdoor murals. They were put up as part of the Mural Arts Program, started in 1984 as a way to combat graffiti. The organizers thought that if they could take people who had been caught tagging walls and channel their energy into something more positive, it would be a way to change things around. Over 2,000 murals were put up; there have been very few instances of graffiti on those walls. The program offers an interesting tour of the works.

Not on most lists of sights to see in Philadelphia, but downtown and worth a visit, is the Masonic Temple, home of the Freemasons. The Freemasons are the world's oldest and largest fraternity, and many of the Founding Fathers belonged to the organization, including George Washington. There are free daily tours of their building.

Philadelphia has become the leading city for African-American tourism in the United States. Part of the reason is historic, but just as important is the role that African-American artists play in the city's present cultural life. A perfect example is Philadanco, a modern, contemporary dance company, founded by Joan Myers Brown.

The city also has an unusual blend of music and dance, which is only on display New Year's Day, when Philadelphia's New Year Shooters and Mummers Association holds its annual parade. Shooters got their name from Scandinavian settlers who came to this area in the 1600s and would fire their guns as part of their New Year's celebrations. The name for Mummers comes from Momus, the ancient Greek god of mockery. The French word mumeur is a disguised participant at a festival who makes fun of society. James Bland, an African-American composer of the 1800s, wrote "Oh, 'Dem Golden Slippers," the official song of the parade. And the official dance step is a cakewalk, a high strut with a backward tilt.

The Reading Terminal Market has supplied the cooks of Philadelphia with excellent products for over 100 years, but it is also a good market for tourists. Try the soft pretzels, which are served with mustard; hoagies, which were developed to celebrate the first presentation in Philadelphia of a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta; and cheese steaks, which have become a signature food in the history of Philadelphia gastronomy.

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