Mount Pleasant

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1990

John Coltrane lived in this Strawberry Mansion neighborhood house from 1952 to 1958, during the formative years when a young saxophonist was becoming one of the most important voices in jazz. He would go on to weave African and Indian musical elements into a searching, spiritual style that first startled listeners before it reshaped the music entirely. Philadelphia was the crucible where his restless artistry took form.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1998

For more than eight decades, Black baseball thrived in Philadelphia, from the Pythians and Excelsiors of 1867 to the great professional clubs of the twentieth century. The Philadelphia Giants claimed early championships, the Hilldale club won the 1925 Colored World Series, and the Philadelphia Stars competed in the Negro National League. These teams built a proud institution while the major leagues remained closed to Black players.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1993

Founded in 1807 by John Cloucester, a formerly enslaved man, the First African Presbyterian Church became a cornerstone of Presbyterianism among African Americans. Its first edifice was dedicated in 1811 at 7th and Bainbridge Streets, in the heart of early Philadelphia's free Black community. The congregation has worshiped at this location since 1957, carrying a legacy now more than two centuries old.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 2013

William Lewis was a Philadelphia lawyer and judge whose convictions helped end slavery in his state at the dawn of the republic. He played a key role in drafting and passing Pennsylvania's 1780 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery — the first such law in America — and spent his life defending the freedom it granted, serving as counsel for the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. His elegant summer home, Strawberry Mansion, built in 1789, still stands as a reminder of the man.