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All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

Brief biographies of permanent residents of Laurel Hill East in Philadelphia and Laurel Hill West in Bala Cywnyd, Pennsylvania. Often educational, always entertaining.

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All Episodes

46:09

Walter R. Livingston, Jr.: Building with a Black...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/02/15

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #053Architecture expanded during the 19th century period of European colonialization, ignoring influences from Asia and Africa. Although not buried at Laurel Hill, African American architect Julian Abele is thought to have designed mausoleums at both properties. Walter R. Livingston, Jr., interred at Laurel Hill West, is considered Philadelphia's top Black post-War architect; his masterwork is the Zion Baptist Church on North Broad

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35:32

Mpozi Tolbert: Mpozitivity in Naptown

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/02/05

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083, part 4Mpozi Mshale Tolbert was a West Philadelphia native who became a beloved photojournalist and DJ in Indianapolis. Despite his 6'6" frame and waist-length dreadlocks, he was described by all who knew him as a gentle giant. Two murals of Mpozi exist in Indianapolis’s Broad Ripple and Fountain Square neighborhoods, celebrating his life and work.

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37:57

Julia Komai: Freedom for Liberia

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/02/04

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083, part 3 Reverend John Komai, son of a Krahn chief, and his wife Julia Komai were prominent Liberians who fled their homeland during the 1989 coup, leaving behind their estate and enduring a perilous journey to Sierra Leone before resettling in the United States. John became a community leader for Liberian refugees in the U.S., working as a counselor and continuing efforts to support Liberian refugees. Julia was a political activist who had been jailed

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31:19

Rev. Leonard Smalls: A Parish of Prisoners

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/02/03

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083, part 2 Leonard Leland Smalls was a Baptist minister who dedicated much of his life to prison ministry and community development. After military service and education at Virginia Union University, he was ordained in 1956 and became the first Black minister certified as a prison chaplain in Pennsylvania. He was active in civil rights, associated with figures like Martin Luther King Jr., and involved in political activism including a 1967 mayoral

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20:22

Frances "Mom" Williams: "Get Off Your Rocker and Vote!"

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/02/02

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083, part 1 Frances “Mom” Williams was a dedicated community leader and advocate for seniors and the disabled in Philadelphia. Despite an unsuccessful run for City Council in 1979, her influence extended through her family and her activism, leaving a lasting impact on her city and community.

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141:20

Four More Black Champions

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/24

SNOWSTORM SPECIAL - EARLY RELEASE All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083 for February 1, 2026 for Black History Month Frances “Mom” Williams was a dedicated community leader and activist in Philadelphia who campaigned for City Council in 1979 with a focus on seniors and neighborhood safety. Her son Hardy and Grandson Anthony became State Senators. This segment will be released as a separate podcast on February 2nd. Rev. Leonard Leland Smalls became the first Black minister certified as a

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71:14

Mary S. Costanza: Finding a Glimmer of Light in the...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/12

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #052 for mid-February 2026Mary Scarpone Costanza was raised Roman Catholic. She claims she never met a Jew until she went to Temple University. After obtaining a degree in teaching, she developed an interest in art produced by victims of the Nazi Holocaust. It turned into her life work.

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19:58

Samuel Patch Frankenfield: Laying Out the Dead

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/06

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082, part 5In 18th- and 19th-century Pennsylvania, women played a central role in caring for the dying and the dead, performing tasks that combined practical, emotional, and ritual duties. Over time, the profession of undertaking evolved, becoming male-dominated and more specialized, reducing women’s involvement in death care. Early undertakers often apprenticed from trades like cabinetmaking, expanding into funeral services; Samuel Patch Frankenfield was

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20:19

Dr. Thomas Hewson Bache: Cofounder of Children's...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/05

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082, part 4 Script by Russell Dodge, narration by Joe Lex Thomas Hewson Bache co-founded CHOP, the first children’s hospital in the United States. He also served as a Major in the Medical Corps, where he was involved in the Gettysburg Campaign and remained with wounded soldiers even as a prisoner of war. Bache also served as curator of the Mütter Museum from 1866 to 1885 and oversaw significant acquisitions like the Joseph Hyrtl skull collection. He was

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27:56

Daniel Pabst: Philadelphia's Top Cabinet Maker

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/04

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill stories #082 for January, 2026Happy 200th Birthday! Daniel Pabst Daniel Pabst was a prominent 19th-century Philadelphia cabinetmaker known for his exceptional craftsmanship and distinctive designs, blending traditional Victorian styles with emerging artistic movements. His work served affluent clients and reflected evolving furniture styles from Renaissance revival to Modern Gothic. His work done with Frank Furness has been unsurpassed.

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24:53

Henry Hagert: Prosecuting Catto's Accused Killer

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/03

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082, Part 2 Happy 200th Birthday! Henry Hagert: Prosecuting Catto's Accused Killer Octavius Valentine Catto was a pioneering African American leader and activist in Philadelphia during the Reconstruction era, advocating for civil rights, voting rights, and racial integration. His assassination in 1871 during violent election-day riots marked a significant and tragic moment in Black American history. The prosecution of his alleged killer, Frank Kelly, was

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26:10

Martha Coston: She Had a Certain Flare (encore...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/02

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082 for January 2026 - Happy 200th Birthday! Part 1 - Martha Coston: She Had a Certain Flare Martha Coston significantly advanced maritime communication by developing pyrotechnic signal flares that could be seen day and night, improving naval operations and safety at sea. Ships originally used signal flags and lanterns to communicate, but these were limited by visibility and weather conditions, especially at night. Martha received her first patent in 1859,

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138:51

Happy 200th Birthday to Five Laurel Hill Residents

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2026/01/01

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082 for January 1, 2026 It's January! Time for our annual 200th Birthday Bash for people born in 1826. After Martha Coston was widowed at age 21, she used her husbands notes and reputation to invent airborne signal flares that saved hundreds of lives. Henry Hagert was assistant District Attorney for the City of Philadelphia when he prosecuted a man for the murder of Civil Rights Activist Octavius V. Catto. Daniel Pabst was the finest cabinetmaker in town

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25:56

James "Jimmy" Bland: From Minstrelsy to Mummery

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/19

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, Part 4James "Jimmy" Bland is NOT buried at Laurel Hill, but he serves as a logical link between minstrelsy and mummery. Many people called him the "Black Stephen Foster," and songs he wrote like "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" and "Hand me down My Walking Cane" have become standards. One of his more popular tunes, "Oh Dem Golden Slippers" became the theme song for Philadelphia Mummers.

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35:06

Frank Dumont: "Gentlemen Be Seated" - Standardizing...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/18

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, part 3 Born in 1848 in New York to French immigrant parents, Frank Dumont became a seminal figure in minstrel culture. He began to perform as a boy and joined Christy’s Minstrels by 1862, a troupe that set the enduring standard format for minstrel shows: a semicircle stage arrangement with an interlocutor (emcee) in the center and end men characters Mr. Tambo and Mr. Bones at the sides. The interlocutor opened the show with the phrase,

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37:21

Carncross & Dixey: Two Fathers of Modern Minstrelsy

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/17

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, part 2 E.F. Dixey & John Carncross were the bedrock of Philadelphia minstrelsy for more than 20 years. Many people did not feel a trip to the Quaker City was complete if they didn't make a stop at the 11th Street Burnt Cork Opera House. The podcast also discusses pigmentocracy, historical nonracial uses of blackface, scientific racism, Black Philadelphia society in the mid-19th century, and much more.

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27:23

A Brief History of Performance

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/16

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, Part 1 Human performance has ancient roots in ritual, storytelling, music, and dance, evolving from prehistoric communal activities to formalized theater in ancient civilizations. Mumming originated in pre-Christian seasonal rites involving masked performances symbolizing death and rebirth, later becoming popular folk dramas in medieval Europe with themes of good vs. evil and resurrection. Minstrels were traveling musicians and

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141:33

Mummers, Minstrels, and Laurel Hill

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/14

Biographical Bytes from Bala #051Philadelphia has been the home of Mummers for centuries and you can still see their antics every New Year's Day. For the latter part of the 19th century, Philadelphia was also the place to see a minstrel show. The Carncross & Dixey company made both of its owners rich men and provided entertainment for thousands of Philadelphians for mere pennies. Frank Dumont literally wrote the book on how to perform a minstrel show. Although James A. Bland is not buried at

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23:55

Benjamin Richards: Merchant, Mayor and Cemetery...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/05

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #041, part 4Benjamin Wood Richards' tenure as mayor coincided with challenges such as public health crises, infrastructure needs, and social tensions in Philadelphia. In 1819, Richards co-founded a large commission house in Philadelphia, a business acting as an intermediary for securities and commodities transactions, earning income through commissions. He served in the Pennsylvania legislature in 1827, advocated for public schools, was a canal

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49:26

Nathan Dunn and His 10,000 Chinese Things

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories ·

2025/12/04

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #081, part 3 Nathan Dunn was born to Quaker parents in New Jersey. After early financial difficulties and disownment by the Philadelphia Quaker Meeting, he sailed to China around 1818 to rebuild his fortunes. In Canton, he gained respect by avoiding the opium trade and engaged in commerce involving tea, silks, porcelain, and other goods. In 1835 he joined with John Jay Smith and others to form Laurel Hill Cemetery, for which he served as primary financial

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339 results

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