I used to be a big fan of “The West Wing” on TV, and the term has become synonymous with the presidency. But there are West Wings and West Wings. The one that is attached to Independence Hall in Philadelphia isn’t as famous or as deserving of fame as the one stuck to the Executive Mansion. But it is a bit of a hidden gem in terms of what it contains inside.
In Philadelphia’s historic district, just south of the Second Bank of the United States, stands a statue to Robert Morris, someone most of that city’s current residents will never have heard of. But Morris was a very important man in the country’s early history. If Robert Morris had had his way, the nation’s capital today wouldn’t be in Washington, DC. It would be in Philadelphia.
Lunch counters seem like a quaint piece of early 20th century Americana, and I have long loved them for that. But as with so much of the iconography of Americana, the ugly shadow of racism has tainted our memory of lunch counters and their place in the culture. And when I say lunch counters, I’m really thinking about one lunch counter in particular: the one that once stood in the Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina.
I love the Freedom Trail. It’s basically just a red brick path that runs through historic Boston, but its existence transforms the visitor’s experience of that city. It’s very cool, and very Boston.
Whenever I see photos or newsreel footage of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, I’ve taken a moment to wonder about the identities of the park rangers standing next to King. That also got me thinking more about King himself.
If you find yourself visiting the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial in Philadelphia, you’re likely either a hard-core Revolutionary War buff, a National Park Service completist, a Polish tourist, or a Polish-American. And unless you’ve brought a friend you might be the only visitor there. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out, though.
In my early days in America I knew very little about Colonial Williamsburg. What little impression I had formed of the place was not particularly positive. Somewhere along the line I’d got it into my head that it was little more than a cheesy colonial Disney World. I was wrong about that. Colonial Williamsburg is actually a worthwhile endeavor, if a little pricey. Still, there is a whiff of Disney about the place, and it can’t be avoided.
Dougie Does Monuments 