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City Cast Philly

Abby Fritz

MLB has taken over Philly with events and celebrations leading up to the 2026 All-Star Game tomorrow at Citizens Bank Park. Six Phillies will represent our city at the game, which hasn't been held here since 1996.

While the July 14 game headlines the week of events, tonight you can see (arguably) the most exciting All-Star week happening: the Home Run Derby, which will feature Phillies Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Considering our stadium is among the most 

, it's sure to be an out-of-the-park night. So in advance of the derby at 8 p.m., here's how the Phillies have done in the years since the annual competition started in 1985.

. Ryan Howard, who spent his entire career with the Phillies as a first baseman, made three appearances.

Two Phillies have won the competition. The first was in 2005; Bobby Abreu hit 41 home runs, setting a record at the time. One homer went 517 feet, which remains one of

 the longest home runs in the derby's history

. The next year, Ryan Howard hit 23 homers at Pittsburgh's PNC Park to take home the title.

This will be the second time Philly has hosted the derby; the last was in 1996. No Phillies participated in the competition at Veterans Stadium that ended with Barry Bonds of the Giants beating the Athletics' Mark McGwire. 

The stands were not full, and the event wasn’t even held in prime time.

. He was on the Nationals when he won in 2018, beating out Kyle Schwarber, who was then on the Cubs. Now teammates, Harper and Schwarber will face off against each other in the eight-player competition this year. Harper announced last week he'd be joining the lineup with a social media post captioned:

, but Schwarber has hit more dingers than Harper has so far this season.

A few changes are coming to this year's derby, which will be live-streamed on Netflix. Instead of timed rounds, the competitors will have a limited number of swings. There will be 20 in the first round and 15 in the second and final rounds. But if a player hits a homer on the last swing, they can keep swinging until they don't hit another. The top four players advance to the second round, and the final round will be a head-to-head battle. Ties in the first round will be determined by distance. If a tie occurs in the second or final round, a three-swing swing-off will break it.

Philly brings the heat to the annual MLB power-hitter competition.

The Phillies' History of Hit It Out of the Park at the Home Run Derby

Phillies' Home Run Derby History

People, places, and scenes from Philadelphia's past.

Philly History

Siani Colón

Walking around Independence National Historical Park, you may run into a man who looks like he just stepped out of the 18th century. Dressed in a dark jacket and white cravat, you’ll often find him greeting passersby or walking with his Bible. You likely just encountered 

, who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Or at least, the man who’s portraying him.

Robert Branch, a first-person historical interpreter, has been playing Allen for about seven years. He previously depicted 

, a 19th-century educator and civil rights activist. He’s one of several costumed History Makers at 

 who bring the city’s history to life through interactive storytelling. Here’s a glimpse into that experience.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“The first-person interpreter researches the historical figure and then brings that figure to life from their perspective.

“Historic Philadelphia has a principle that when you share history, it has to number one, be real. It has to be factual. But more importantly, it has to be relevant to today … I try not to deal with triviality.

“I do focus on more what it was like to be an African American in the time frame of the [American] Revolution and Constitution, basically covering the years from 1760 until about 1830 … and the reality was most African Americans were enslaved and, by one way or another, managed to get freedom. But the thing I'm trying to communicate is that freedom is just the first step. Now, you want equality. It's not enough to be free. You want to be recognized as an equal human being.”

Where can we find you, and how long does each session last?

“On an ongoing basis, Tuesday through Saturday, I’m in one of three places: I’m in the Visitor Center; I’m behind Independence Hall; or I’m at Carpenter’s Hall.

“Sometimes you'll speak to people, and they're very curious about you, and you give them a couple minutes, two minutes, five minutes … sometimes people really want to stay for 16, 20 minutes.”

What helps you stay in character to embody these figures?

“I’m interpreting history, but the basis of it is my personal experience.

“[My father] would always share with me the struggles that he had to demonstrate his equality ... even when I was in college, in so many situations, I had the challenge of demonstrating equality.

“When I look at the history of this country, this is an aspect that should be acknowledged. It's not just independence from England. It's a layer of people who were African or darkskinned that also struggled to get equality, just as the colonists wanted equality with England. African Americans wanted equality and independence from the colonists.”

Before you portrayed Richard Allen, you portrayed Octavius Catto. How did that come to be?

“I [was a storyteller] for about a year or so, and one of the stories that I told was Octavius Catto’s. Right around that time, coincidentally, the city of Philadelphia was preparing to erect a memorial to Octavius Catto on the southern side of City Hall.

“And the city, Mayor [Michael] Nutter, asked Historic Philadelphia, ‘Hey, we need a first-person interpreter.’ And since I have been telling the story … they approached me to do that.

Octavius Catto at Mayor Nutter's press conference

 when he announced that the city was giving $500,000 to the memorial that is now at City Hall. And so I did that for a number of years.

“However, as time goes on, I'm not getting any younger … so it became obvious that I couldn't continue to do Octavius's character because I was too old. And so that's when Historic Philadelphia approached me and said, ‘Hey, Bishop Richard Allen lived until he was about 71 years old.’ And that’s roughly my age now, so that was a better fit for me.”

 regarding what history is being told and how?

“How I navigate it is just simply to share the truth.

Share the facts. It doesn't do any good to make up things or embellish things and make all kinds of wild speculations. No, I simply share what the experience was.

“I haven't had people confront me and tell me to shut up …

Those are not the people that will stop and talk to me. Those are the people that will pretend they don't even see me.”

Who would you like to see join the lineup of History Makers?

, immediately. That's somebody, really, that is underrepresented in historic interpretation … You know Harriet Tubman and people like that, but this guy was considered to be the father of the Underground Railroad.”

Learn about Philly history through Historic Philadelphia’s

. To become a storyteller and first-person historical interpreter, keep an eye on 

. Ready to explore history? Here are some places to 

Walk around Independence Mall and learn colonial history from figures such as Bishop Richard Allen.

What It’s Like To Be One of Philly’s History Keepers

What Does It Take To Tell Philadelphia’s Story?

What Philadelphians have been wondering. We break down why things in Philadelphia are the way they are and how they work.

Philly, Explained

As a city of fighters, it makes sense that boxers are elevated to the top of many Philadelphians’ collective memories and imaginations. And Smokin’ Joe Frazier stands out as one of the most legendary.

, he helped to inspire the character Rocky Balboa from the iconic “Rocky” movies, and always championed Philadelphia, the city that helped make him a boxer.

Joe Frazier was born in 1944 in South Carolina, the 

. His parents were sharecroppers in the small coastal town of Beaufort, and 

on the family television. Frazier showed early talent for the sport. He was just 10 years old when his uncle 

predicted he would be a heavyweight champion one day

, pushing him to practice punching on a burlap bag filled with rocks and fruit.

Frazier dropped out of school at 13, and two years later he moved to New York City to live with his brother. Employment was scarce, so he stole cars to make money. 

This was not the life he had envisioned for himself

, so his eyes turned towards Philadelphia. 

and needing to support his wife, Florence, he found a job at a slaughterhouse in the City of Brotherly Love where he aimed to continue his boxing journey. He punched sides of beef at his workplace and jogged along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and up the Art Museum steps (yes, Rocky took these moves for the movies).

Frazier didn’t actually enter a boxing ring until 1961, 

when trainer Yank Durham recruited him at a gym

 where he worked out. Durham also eventually became his manager, praising Frazier’s determination and sheer power, saying, “

Okay Joe, let’s see them gloves smoke,”

 giving the boxer his nickname, Smokin’ Joe Frazier.

Frazier started fighting competitively and became one of the best amateur heavyweight boxers in the country. 

until a match in the 1964 Olympic trials. He nonetheless went to the Olympic games in Tokyo that year as an alternate; Buster Mathis, who had defeated Frazier in the trials, broke a knuckle while practicing and couldn’t box, so 

Frazier stepped in and won the gold medal

Frazier’s left hook became legendary, despite a childhood injury 

 that made his left arm crooked with restricted motion.

In 1965 he went pro and had a stellar 11-0 record. By 1968 he was heavyweight champion, and held that title 

 (who also lived in Philly for some time) struck up a rivalry that resulted in three famous matches, 

After Frazier retired in 1976, he opened a boxing gym in 

 to connect with young people and teach them the sport. He even 

 from cancer at the age of 67 in Philadelphia.

It wasn’t until after his death in 2015 that the sports legend was honored with a 

that was located at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex until it was moved this month to the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.

Smokin’ Joe Frazier made history as a heavyweight champion 

 The Story of Philly Boxer Joe Frazier  

Joe Frazier Is Philly's Real-Life Boxing King 

The Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, marking the celebration with a special performance on 

 featuring a new welcome center and plaza.

The Mann has established a reputation as a world-class entertainment venue, right inside Fairmount Park. But the outdoor concert space’s full history goes back over 100 years to its predecessor, the Dell Music Center.

Local historian and archivist Jack McCarthy collected this story in a new book, “A Century of Music Under the Stars: A History of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts and Robin Hood Dell.” 

He describes the Philadelphia Orchestra’s prominence in the 1920s, known to the world but out of reach to many Philadelphians. “There was this feeling that we have this phenomenal orchestra, but only a fraction of the local population gets to hear it — the people that can afford tickets in the Academy of Music, their regular season home,” McCarthy said. “There was this general belief in the cultural community, like, we have to make this orchestra more accessible to the people.”

Plus, after its regular concert season concluded in the spring, musicians were essentially out of work until the fall. So The Dell opened in July 1930 in East Fairmount Park as the orchestra’s summer home, narrowly avoiding the impacts of the Great Depression.

But in 1948, the Dell had its lowest-attended season yet due to bad weather and the fact that the Republican National Convention was in town. The venue ended the season three weeks early when money ran out. Help then arrived in the 

, a patron for the arts who made his fortune founding a cardboard box company. He agreed to help the Dell’s board with their troubles if he was granted full control of the institution.

“His strategy was to present the greatest music to the greatest number of people for the most affordable cost,” McCarthy said. “And so he began to present some free concerts and then, in 1952, he announced that the entire season would now be free. This is unheard of.”

Mann’s connections, innovative ideas, and wealth sustained the Dell for several more years. But as time went on, the venue’s golden era waned. Poor weather and the noisy, newly constructed Schuylkill Expressway disrupted performances. It was time to move.

The organization that founded the Dell East — renamed the Dell Music Center in 2010 — transferred management to the city in 1975. Then the Robin Hood Dell West opened across the river in 1976, and was renamed the Mann Center in 1979.

The opening of the new music center wasn’t without its hurdles. Ideally, a concert venue would have finished construction well before its debut. That wasn’t the case for The Dell West.

“The cement truck drivers went on strike that summer so there was no concrete delivered…things just were way, way behind,” McCarthy said. The seating in the balcony was installed like the day before opening night…The sod had not been laid on the lawn until like two days before. It was just a field of mud.”

The acoustics, the most important part, were the biggest problem.

“They did not have time to test and fine-tune that sound system, so it was a disaster,” McCarthy said. “They were able, over the course of the season, to fine-tune it. Then at the end of the season, they did a major upgrade so that the second season was much better.”

The move marked a shift in audience tastes. Though Mann was a big proponent of classical music, the market for that was shrinking as a new generation of music lovers preferred the genres dominating the airwaves. So Mann invited 

music promoter and founder of the Electric Factory, Larry Magid

, to present a series of rock and pop shows featuring artists such as James Taylor, Barry Manilow, and The Carpenters. Taylor was the first nonclassical artist to perform at the venue.

“Over the course of 30 years, it went from being a classical music venue with some rock and pop to a rock and pop venue with some classical music,” McCarthy said. “The audience for classical music was shrinking, but the cost of presenting the orchestra was rising dramatically, and they weren't getting enough income from those concerts to support that.”

The Mann remains the summer home of the Philadelphia Orchestra and has 

 across genres. It has connected with the Philadelphia community, especially its Parkside neighbors, through 

workforce development programs and arts education initiatives

. And as a result the Mann has remained an important gathering space for the city.

The full history with archival photos of both music venues and their impact on Philadelphia’s music scene can be read in “A Century of Music Under the Stars: A History of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts and Robin Hood Dell.” 

As the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts celebrates a milestone on the cusp of the country's semiquincentennial, we look back at its interwoven history with the Dell Music Center and how it’s served Philly music lovers. 

A Dive Into the Musical Impact of The Mann and Dell Music Centers

In 1965, Philadelphia was at the center of one of the earliest wins for the LGBTQ+ community.

At a time when gay and transgender people were considered unwelcome in many establishments, they 

, like at coffee shops such as Dewey’s. Two of the diner chain’s locations, on 13th Street and 17th Street, became central gathering spaces. While the one on 13th embraced its clientele, managers on 17th Street did not.

 instructed Dewey employees at the 17th Street location to refuse service to “

homosexuals and persons wearing non-conformist clothing.

And so on April 25, taking inspiration from the 

civil rights movement’s lunch-counter sit-ins

, more than 150 protesters of all backgrounds staged a peaceful sit-in at Dewey’s and were denied service. Police came and arrested three teenagers who refused to leave. Clark Polak, president of the Philadelphia-based homophile organization The Janus Society, was also arrested. All were charged with disorderly conduct.

 informing them of Dewey’s policies and patrons’ legal rights if they protest and are arrested. Protests continued for the next five days.

On May 2, a second sit-in was staged. When protesters refused to leave, the police were once again called to the restaurant. After speaking with demonstrators, the Philadelphia Police decided not to take further action and left. Polak, 

, said that police told him that “we could stay in there as long as we wanted as the police had no authority to ask us to leave.”

Seeing this as a victory, protesters stayed for another hour before leaving. The Janus Society 

reported in its publication Drum magazine

 that the sit-in accomplished all of its objectives, including “to bring about an immediate cessation to all indiscriminate denials of service.”

, and as the restaurant changed hands in later years – becoming the popular diner Little Pete’s – it continued to be a haven for the LGBTQ+ community.

Two months after the original Dewey’s protests, 

 picket outside of Independence Hall was held.

The act of civil disobedience against discrimination occurred before the more widely known Stonewall Riots, which are considered the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ movement.  


How Dewey’s Restaurant Sit-In Moved the Needle for LGBTQ+ Rights

The First Successful Sit-In for LGBTQ+ Rights Was in Philadelphia

City Cast Philly staff

On May 21, Philadelphia will celebrate a new holiday. City Council 

 last month recognizing the date as “Ona Judge Day.”

, an enslaved seamstress, and Andrew Judge, a white indentured servant, Ona “Oney” Judge inherited her mother’s status as a slave 

 and worked on the estate of George and Martha Washington in Mount Vernon.

When Judge was a pre-teen, she was assigned to serve as Martha’s personal maid. Despite the trust and responsibility required for this role, her enslaved status did not change. When George became president of the United States, the household moved to New York and later Philadelphia, bringing nine enslaved workers with them. Judge was among those moved to Philadelphia without a choice, leaving her mother and family behind.

exposed to the free Black and Quaker abolitionist

 communities working to abolish slavery. While inspiring, Judge was in a precarious situation. Pennsylvania’s 

 allowed slaves to claim freedom after six months of continuous residency, but Washington got around this by rotating his enslaved workers between Philadelphia and Virginia to prevent them from qualifying. Judge did not risk leaving.

That all changed when Judge, in her 20s, learned the Washingtons 

were planning to transfer her to Martha’s granddaughter as a wedding gift

, Judge said: “Whilst they were packing up to go to Virginia, I was packing to go, I didn't know where; for I knew that if I went back to Virginia, I should never get my liberty.”

On May 21, 1796, Judge slipped out of the president’s mansion during a dinner party. With the assistance of the free Black community, Judge 

, N.H. Two days after her escape, the Washingtons 

 demanding her capture, offering a $10 reward.

Judge would remain in New Hampshire, where she later married John Staines, a freed Black sailor with whom she had three children. The Washingtons never found her, and 

Visitors at Independence National Historical Park could 

literally walk in Ona Judge’s footsteps

. At the former site of Washington’s home, footsteps are embedded in the pavement, replicating the path she took to her escape.

executive order signed by President Donald Trump

 last year demanded the removal of materials from national parks, museums, and monuments that “inappropriately disparage Americans.” Several panels from the President’s House that referenced slavery were removed and later partially restored as a 

court battle between the Trump administration and the city drags on

🎧 Yet the inaugural Ona Judge Day ensures that her legacy will not be forgotten. Learn more about the Ona Judge Coalition’s efforts to preserve her story on 

A new holiday honors one woman’s brave escape to freedom even as there are efforts to erase that history. 

Why Philly Is Celebrating Ona Judge Day

Who Is Ona ‘Oney’ Judge?

Did you know Philadelphia has been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since before the United States officially became a country?

By 1770, just a few years shy of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 

one-third of Pennsylvania’s 350,000 residents

 were Irish. In Philadelphia, many Irish settlers lived along the Delaware River waterfront, in neighborhoods such as Kensington, Port Richmond, and Northern Liberties, 

poorly made vessels known as “coffin ships,”

 as nearly one out of five died on the journey to the port of Philadelphia. To support the wave of newcomers, the 

Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick for the Relief of Emigrants from Ireland

, or The Friendly Sons, was founded on March 17, 1771. The group kicked off its mission with a dinner celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the first documented observance in the city.

the brotherhood included 24 regular and six honorary members

. These were well-to-do men who played significant roles in the American Revolution.

Membership would grow to include figures such as 

. Despite membership being restricted to men of Irish ancestry, George Washington was a member. Washington was granted honorary membership in 1781, eventually elevating his status further when members 

The dinners continued into the 19th century, but the celebrations grew beyond the annual feast and became more political. By the 1830s, the Irish community used their patron saint’s feast day to 

As the Irish population continued to grow, Irish Philadelphians began to splinter and form more aid groups. Amid these changes, the society continued to financially support people facing starvation or exile from Ireland, especially during the Great Famine between 1845 and 1852.

 beyond their countrymen at the turn of the century, with donations being made toward relief efforts for victims of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Spanish-American War.

 in 2016, former Irish ambassador Anne Anderson. The organization still exists today, now known as the 

Philadelphia’s annual parade celebrating Irish culture just happened on Sunday, a tradition dating back over 200 years.


history

Phillies' Home Run Derby History

What Does It Take To Tell Philadelphia’s Story?

Joe Frazier Is Philly's Real-Life Boxing King

Latest articles

Phillies' Home Run Derby History

What Does It Take To Tell Philadelphia’s Story?

Joe Frazier Is Philly's Real-Life Boxing King

A Dive Into the Musical Impact of The Mann and Dell Music Centers

The First Successful Sit-In for LGBTQ+ Rights Was in Philadelphia

Who Is Ona ‘Oney’ Judge?

How St. Patrick’s Day Started in Philly

Latest articles

A Dive Into the Musical Impact of The Mann and Dell Music Centers

The First Successful Sit-In for LGBTQ+ Rights Was in Philadelphia

Who Is Ona ‘Oney’ Judge?

How St. Patrick’s Day Started in Philly

Mural Arts Founder Jane Golden on Art as a Medium for Beauty, Opportunity, and Democracy

Where To Celebrate Women’s History Month in Philly

Why We Celebrate Women’s History in March