Philadelphia Films: Videos from the Tri-Co Libraries

DVD copy of an archival VHS tape. A lively trolley and railroad video tour of the booming city and its suburbs from the late 1890's through the 1930's.

Streaming and DVD. Documentary on the Mother's Day, May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police bombing of the M.O.V.E. organization in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, as told from the perspective of the neighboring residents of Osage Avenue, which resulted in the destruction of 61 homes on Osage Avenue and the death of 11 MOVE members.

DVD. Documents the confrontation between the city of Philadelphia and MOVE, a small radical group, which took place on May 13, 1985. Describes the complaints of the neighbors which were responded to by the police with tear gas, automatic weapons, and bombs.

DVD. First program on Disc 2 of Africans In America.
During the first 50 years of the new nation, freedmen and fugitive slaves in Philadelphia push the country to live up to the promises made in its Constitution. But with the invention of the cotton gin, slavery expands into America's western frontier, and a revolution in Haiti inspires slave rebellions throughout the southern United States...

DVD. This documentary illustrated with period lithographs, engravings, and photographs, gives a detailed history of the prison from its initial practice of total solitary confinement through its transformation into an overcrowded "Big House" to its replacement with a modern facility in 1970. The narrative places Eastern's changing practices in their social context and raises serious questions about the contemporary growth of prisons in the United States.

DVD. With over 100,000 Jewish immigrants, South Philadelphia was at one time the second largest inner city Jewish neighborhood in North America. After World War II, the Jews began leaving South Philadelphia for other parts of the city and surrounding suburbs. At the close of the century, the original Jewish immigrant community of South Philadelphia has dwindled to less than 500 people. Using interviews, archival photographs, home movies and present day footage of the remaining community, this video documents this one thriving Jewish neighborhood and illuminates the lives of those who once lived, worked and worshiped there.

DVD. Details the history of 57 Irish railroad workers who died mysteriously in eastern Pennsylvania, less than six weeks after arriving in America.

VHS format. The frantic, frustrating search, led by David W. Fraser of the Centers for Disease Control, for the cause and a cure of what came to be known as Legionnaire's disease.

Streaming and DVD. A found footage film that unwinds like a great thriller about the 1985 feud between the city of Philadelphia and the radical urban group MOVE.

DVD. This documentary recounts the life and career of one of Philadelphia's great 20th-century leaders. The film features Albert Greenfield's realization of the "American Dream," as he worked his way up from humble beginnings to become a real estate mogul, university trustee, and philanthropist as well as an adviser to church leaders, educators, mayors, governors, four presidents of the United States, and world leaders.

DVD copy of archival VHS tape. The subterranean world of the Delaware Valley is a treasure trove of history and a hub of activity 24 hours a day. Historical photos and films set up the stories of these and other mysterious places, but the crux of the program consists of our cameras underground exploring these sites ourselves. Secrets Beneath the Streets takes viewers to places that are just under their feet, but scarcely imagined by the people who walk over them.

DVD. In 1904, author Lincoln Steffens wrote, "Philadelphia is a city that is corrupt and contented." In 2003, filmmaker Tigre Hill chronicled the Philadelphia mayoral race between Democrat incumbent mayor John Street and Republican challenger Sam Katz.

DVD. Spotlights the world of the Philadelphia Mummers and their annual New Year's Day parade. The parade is a melting pot of pre-Colonial history, Vaudeville slapstick, cultural diversity, and 4-minute Broadway shows. Shot with no script, the Mummers' tale is told through revealing interviews, new and vintage footage, still photos, and music.

In 1985, Philadelphia poIn 1985, Philadelphia police dropped a military-grade explosive on a residential building to end a standoff with Black liberation group MOVE, setting a new standard for institutionalized violence and the dehumanization of Black bodies. 11 people, including 5 children were killed. TARGET: PHILADELPHIA explores the rise of police militarization within the parallel contexts of Black nationalism and the systemic disenfranchisement that incubates movements like Black Lives Matter.

DVD copy of an archival VHS tape. A tribute to the places in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley where people used to go to have fun.

VHS format. Tocqueville and Beaumont visited Philadelphia in October 1831, where they stopped at Eastern State Penitentiary. Sean Kelley, program director of the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, discusses the Quaker-based practice of solitary confinement at Eastern State.

DVD copy of archival VHS. Join Philadelphia media personality Bill "Wee Willie" Webber and architect and preservationist Hyman Myers as they take a 12-mile walking tour of Broad Street -- the longest, straightest urban street in the world. The tour begins at League Island at the southern end and continues to Cheltenham Avenue at Philadelphia's northern border. Includes discussions about the Navy Yard, St. Rita of Cascia Roman Catholic Church, the Civil War Rail Station, the Academy of Music, the Bellevue Stratford Hotel, the Union League, City Hall, Masonic Temple, Divine Lorraine Hotel, and Metropolitan Opera House.

VHS format. Partly filmed at Haverford using "The Holy Experiment" portfolio of Violet Oakley; includes Emma Lapsansky, Curator of the Quaker Collection.

DVD copy of an archival VHS tape. Examines the industries that supported and defined Philadelphia in the 19th and early 20th centuries: ship yards; textile, railway, iron, steel and food factories; the brewery and publishing industries; and others. Some of the companies profiled include Henry Disston & Sons, New York Ship, Pennsylvania Railroad, J.B. Lippincott Publisher, Campbell's Soup Co., and RCA Victor.