Dilworth Park

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins.

-Benjamin Franklin

Protest against Hitler + Nazi Germany, 1933

Philadelphia is the home of many firsts for the United States, including its first successful general strike. In 1835, the General Trades’ Union protested against the City of Philadelphia for a shortened, 10-hour work day. For over 100 years, groups of various interests have gathered in Dilworth Park to have their concerns, fears, and demands heard by the lawmakers inside City Hall and the public at large.

South Philadelphia Stadium Protest, 1964

In 2011, a group of nearly 300 people camped out in what was then known as Dilworth Plaza to protest government-enabled corporate greed. After eight weeks, the protesters were forcibly removed from Dilworth to make way for a $50 million renovation project, resulting in the present-day Dilworth Park.

Occupy Philadelphia Protest, 2011

People protesting low wages, unsafe working conditions, drug criminalization, corporate and government greed, police brutality, and other injustices continue to fill Dilworth Plaza to demand change.

Civil Rights Protest, 1963

How do political, economic, and social power shape our individual and shared experiences? Are there ways to use these kinds of power to improve our individual and shared experiences?

Citations

As Thousands Protested Hitler’s Acts. Photograph. The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 11, 1933.

Billy Penn Staff. Thousands march at Philadelphia City Hall to defend abortion rights after Roe is overturned. Billy Penn at WHYY. June 25, 2022. https://billypenn.com/2022/06/25/abortion-rally-philadelphia-march-city-hall-roe-dobbs/.

DiFilippo, Dana. Timeline: A history of Philly protests. WHYY. July 25, 2016. https://whyy.org/articles/timeline-a-history-of-philly-protests/.

Everly, Wilmer R. Demonstrations at City Hall. August 18, 1978. Temple Digital Collections.

Grubbs, Patrick. General Trades Union Strike (1835). The Encyclopedia of General Philadelphia. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/general-trades-union-strike-1835/.

Prescod, Paul. A Labor Day History of Philadelphia, Home of America’s First General Strike. Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2019/09/a-labor-day-history-of-philadelphia-home-of-americas-first-general-strike.

Warner, Bob. Occupy Philadelphia costs city $400,000 in police surveillance. Philadelphia Inquirer. October 11, 2011. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/local/0111012_Occupy_Philadelphia_costs_city__400_000_in_police_surveillance.html.

Wasko, Joseph. Philadelphia peace pickets march by City Hall before a rally to protest the Viet Nam War. Temple Digital Collections.