Exploring Worldwide Hometowns: Philadelphia, PA | Harvard Independent

In a personal essay, student Kathleen Shovlin explores her childhood memories and life in Philadelphia, PA. The piece presents the city through personal routines, neighborhood descriptions, and local traditions.

Streets, Trees, and Neighborhood Life

The essay describes Philadelphia as sitting in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, located between Washington, D.C., and New York City, and an hour from the Jersey Shore. The author notes that the city is filled with historical sites from the American Revolution and the abolitionist movement, and that notable areas like the Ben Franklin Parkway were modeled on Paris’s grand boulevards. Center City features dense, tight streets and block-sized parks, creating a walkable, bustling, and welcoming feel.

Neighborhood life includes old sycamores that line the author’s street, dropping branches during storms and leaving a crunch underfoot in every season. When trees die, crews replace them with skinny saplings that take 30 to 40 years to reach full height. Housing is described as tight quarters, with rowhomes cozied together and front doors feet apart, while neighbors often move to the suburbs for bigger houses, real yards, and better parking. The author notes that their mother was raised in the city’s northeast section, while their father grew up in Yardley, a town located half an hour north of the city.

Local Traditions and Family Routines

Family routines involve Sunday morning walks through winding neighborhood streets toward a coffee shop, guided by the family puppy Winnie. The walk leads down a hill and over train tracks into the Wissahickon Valley, where autumn trees stand almost entirely bare with a few brown leaves clinging to swaying branches. The author also recalls that when the Rose’s Water Ice truck passes through the neighborhood and rings its bell, they and their sibling often run inside to retrieve cash from their father’s wallet.

Another focal point is Philadelphia’s historic Mummers Parade, which takes place every New Year’s Day. Sidewalks fill with people behind barricades to watch string bands strut down the street playing classics like Mr. Sandman, wearing extravagant outfits featuring colorful feathers, gems, sequins, large backpieces, and striking face paint. While the author was frightened by the performers as a child, they now enjoy taking photos with the mummers and collecting the beaded necklaces tossed into the crowd.

School Days and Baseball

The essay also touches on school days during better weather when gray rain clears for blue skies. Students spend most of the day lounging in the grass under the shade of a large oak tree before heading to a Phillies game once school lets out. The author notes that these games often coincide with Central Night, the annual tradition where students from the author’s high school attend a Phillies game together as a group.