Tatiana Proskouriakoff (1909-1985)

Philadelphia, PA · est. 2018

When L. Frank Baum died in 1919, the beloved land of Oz might have faded away—except that Ruth Plumly Thompson took up his pen. From her Philadelphia home she wrote nineteen Oz books between 1921 and 1939, more than Baum himself, beginning with The Royal Book of Oz. Her steady output kept Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and their friends alive in children's imaginations right up to the 1939 MGM film that made them immortal.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1992

Laura Wheeler Waring built her career as a portrait painter in an era when few Black women found a place in the American art world. Trained in Philadelphia and in France, she captured the faces of leading African Americans and led the art department at Cheyney State College, shaping generations of students. Her portraits now hang in the National Portrait Gallery and other major collections.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1997

Founded in 1882 by Eliza S. Turner, the New Century Guild became one of the oldest and largest organizations devoted to improving the lives of women in the paid workforce. As more women entered offices, shops, and factories in the industrializing city, the Guild offered education, classes, and mutual support. It moved through several Philadelphia addresses before settling at this location in 1906.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 2001

On Armistice Day 1932, Philadelphia Girl Scouts baked cookies and sold them in the display windows of the local gas and electric company, turning a simple fundraiser into a local sensation. The idea spread through the city as a yearly tradition, and by 1936 the national Girl Scouts had adopted the cookie sale as an official program. What began as girls behind a store window grew into one of the most recognizable youth enterprises in the country.