In which I officially become a history nerd.

I have 2 very important developments to report on:

1) I've made a friend.
2) I may have been inducted into the most awesome secret society ever.

I feel these may require explaining. SO...

1) I have a new neighbor in my suite, and when she moved in....(drum roll) she smiled at me and said "hello!" Based on the lukewarm enthusiasm of the rest of my suitemates, I jumped at the opportunity to make a neighbor-friend. Desperate times, people. Turns out, we walk to the same part of the city in the morning, so she joined me yesterday (and she walks as fast as I do. She's a keeper.) She's Brazilian, works as a flight attendant, and is here for a month to improve her English for work. As we walked, I helped her with some new phrases. Somehow, our first English lesson involved me explaining what a "nerd" meant. Apparently pointing to the archive and then pointing to me didn't suffice. Nevertheless, she eventually caught on, and has decided that she'll cook me Brazilian food and I'll help her with homework. I may have added in the cooking bit. But, I'm liking the arrangement.

2) After work yesterday, I met up with my professor/grad student mentor from my fellowship this summer. He was in town, so we grabbed dinner, and then he took me to what has now become my nerdiest pastime ever: a secret historians gathering. It was in the house next door to the archive, and basically involved wine, cheese, and a few too many jokes about Ben Franklin. Lots of professors and grad students in the Philly/NY/DC area get together each month, location TBA, and have someone come and talk about their upcoming book or project. We sat in a candlelit living room, enjoyed some healthy intellectual sparring, and finished around 10. Though I didn't actually speak during the talk, I did awkwardly mill about in the beginning, jumping into conversations with things like "Hi-I'm-Casey-I'm-the-Library-Company-intern-and-I-was-a-fellow-there-this-summer" to somehow prove that I was legit enough to be there. I think it worked. That and I had a pencil in my hair.

And now onto the AHFOD! I've been doing some fun research on the artifacts in the collection, and I'm putting together an exhibit on neoclassical influence in Philly, which, surprisingly enough, is quite extensive. Little did I know, Philadelphia was once known as the "Athens of America" (Boston also claimed this title, but we'll just ignore that.) Starting in the 1810s, people complimented Philly for its classical architecture, and its longtime dedication to education and free public services (score one for B.Franks!) And, Philadelphia's nickname "brotherly love" is actually what "Philadelphia" means in Greek. So it all comes full circle! However, the whole Philly-is-just-like-a-beautiful-ancient-city thing didn't last long. Example: there was once an ad campaign in the 1970s to convince people that Philadelphia was worthy of visitors. Its slogan: "Philadelphia isn't as bad as Philadelphians say it is." Ah, how far we've come.