Philadelphia

(Rebroadcast from Nov. 5, 2002.) Worden was director of the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. She died on Aug. 2 at the age of 57, from a brief illness. She turned the little-known medical museum into a museum with a worldwide reputation. The museum was founded in the 19th century. It originated with the collection of Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter who gathered unique specimens for teaching purposes. It exhibits medical deformities, pathologies and medical anomalies, like the horned woman, the man with the giant colon, deformed fetuses and a plaster cast of the Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker.

She's put together a book of photographs of and from the museum's collection of human oddities and outdated medical models. The Mutter Museum is in Philadelphia, Pa., and is one of the last medical museums from the 19th century. It originated with the collection of Dr. Thomas Dent Mutter, who gathered unique specimens for teaching purposes. The museum displays many strange human artifacts, such as a slice of a face, amputated limbs and a plaster cast of the conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker.

Journalists Monica Yant Kinney and Tom Ginsberg of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The two covered the protests during the Republican National Convention two weeks ago. They’ll pick up the story since the convention, and discuss the lawsuits filed against the city on behalf of the protesters. (THIS INTERVIEW CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SHOW)

Reporter Dave Davies talks about Philadelphia and next week’s Republican National Convention. He’ll talk about what the city did to get the convention, what image the city is trying to project, and what the city is doing to prepare for the delegates, the protestors, and the media. Davies will also talk about the current controversy surrounding the Philadelphia police. Davies is a long time reporter in the Philadelphia area. He covers City Hall and city politics for the Philadelphia Daily News.

Staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer Thomas Ginsberg. He’s been covering how the city is preparing for the advent of protests during the Republican National Convention.

The sport of boxing has been in the news since boxer Mike Tyson bit the ear of his opponent, Evander Holyfield. Photographer Larry Fink has captured many images of boxing which have been collected in his book, "Boxing" (Powerhouse Books). And sports writer Bert Sugar has written numerous works on sports and has served as senior vice-president of "The Ring" magazine, a magazine on boxing. He wrote the essay included in Fink's book. They'll talk about the often maligned sport. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Mary Anne Hunter, the president of the Fair Hill Burial Ground Corporation. A member of the Quaker community, Hunter led the Quaker community in the restoration of the burial ground, which had fallen into disrepair and had been taken over by drug dealers. North Philadelphia itself has the highest murder rate in the city. Community activists have sought to make Fair Hill a place where people can go safely to enjoy a clean, green space and to visit an historical landmark in which historically important people, such as abolitionist Lucretia Mott, are buried.

Teacher Ron Whitehorn has also involved himself and his students in the restoration of Fair Hill. A teacher at the Julia De Borgeos Middle School, Whithorn has tried to help urban children overcome the odds and add to their own community. He is joined by 12 year-old Sofia Gonzales, a student who has been active in the program. She is tired of the image of North Philadelphia as an urban wasteland and wants to prove that she lives in a neighborhood where people care.

Community activist Peaches Ramos has been working to rid the neighborhood of drug dealers. She lives across from Fair Hill and has led community efforts to clean it up and make it safe.

Steve Lopez was an award-winning columnist for the "Philadelphia Inquirer" for twelve years. In his novels, Lopez confronts political corruption and greed as he did in his columns. His new novel is called "The Sunday Macaroni Club" (Harcourt Brace and Company). Lopez is now Senior Writer-at-large for Time Magazine.

Foreign editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Zucchino. In his new book "Myth of the Welfare Queen," he turns his attention to his own town, Philadelphia, where he follows the lives of two welfare mothers, Odessa Williams and Cheri Honkala. One reviewer writes, "David Zucchino has shattered unequivocally the stereotype of women receiving welfare."

Poet Robin Becker reads "The Roast Chicken" from her collection "All-American Girl."

On November 11, 1994, Eddie Polec was clubbed to death in a Philadelphia suburb by a group of rival high school kids. He was clubbed with a baseball bat on the steps of the St Cecilia's Church where he had been an altar boy. Investigators say he was beaten until limp and then held aloft "to give the bat-wielding youths a better shot." He had been waiting for his young brother, to walk home together when the group of kids arrived, looking for a fight. Eddie hadn't been part of the rivalry. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On November 11, 1994, Eddie Polec was clubbed to death in a Philadelphia suburb by a group of rival high school kids. He was clubbed with a baseball bat on the steps of the St Cecilia's Church where he had been an altar boy. Investigators say he was beaten until limp and then held aloft "to give the bat-wielding youths a better shot." He had been waiting for his young brother, to walk home together when the group of kids arrived, looking for a fight. Eddie hadn't been part of the rivalry. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews the new book, The Price of a Child (Knopf) by Lorene Cary. It's a historical novel about a black woman who escapes slavery with her children.

Frank Cardon is one of three teenagers who was given a video camera for a year to record his daily life in North Philadelphia. His footage is part of the documentary Teen Dreams. Cardon says he wanted to show a world composed of a lot of angry people trying to survive.

Columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer Steve Lopez. He's just written his first novel, "Third and Indiana" about the hard life of North Philly. The origin of the story was a two-paragraph item Lopez read in the paper about a 14-year-old boy shot and killed on a drug corner. He was disturbed by the casualness and brevity of the report. Terry talks with Lopez about his new book, and about his popular columns.

Parish Priest John McNamee. For twenty five years he's lived and worked the poorer neighborhoods of Philadelphia. His book, "Diary of a City Priest" (Sheed & Ward) documents his struggle to keep faith, when surrounded by poverty and despair.

Documentary film makers Alan and Susan Raymond. They made documentary history with "An American Family," living for seven months with the Loud family, to film the life of a "typical" American family. The 12-part series was broadcast over PBS in 1973, and it turned out to be a portrait of a not-so-typical family, and of a family disintegrating before our eyes.

Elementary school principal Madeline Cartwright took over the run-down Blaine Elementary School in a run-down, drug-infested neighborhood in North Philadelphia and turned it into a school that works. One of her first acts when she took over the school was to get down on her hands and knees and scrub the foul-smelling children's bathroom.