Long Tables (Norman)

 Typically, the folding tables at the Philadelphia Senior Center are arranged to be compact and close together. Every time I come in I'm used to seeing three small tables arranged in a sort of pi-symbol shape, but without any space between the two bottom parts. This week, there were closer to four or five tables arranged in a C shape, with all the extra space included. This arrangement is perfect for larger classes, but when there's only five people in the room, they tend to spread themselves out and leave lots of room between seats. It makes the room and the class look more sparse. I thought that we'd have all clumped together so we could hear each other and talk to each other more easily, but we like our space between chairs. I've seen it on Septa, and I've seen it all over the U.S. The Europeans don't need nearly as much personal space as we Americans.

 

Not actual tables from the Philadelphia Senior Center.

Norman Cain 

2.16.2017 

Having Our Say  

Several Sundays, I had the pleasure of being a part of a senior group from Scottish Rite Senior Housing Development that saw the play entitled "Having Our Say" at the Suzanne Robert theater located across the street from the Phila Senior Center. 

The play was adapted from the 1995 memoir of the Delaney Sisters which 

chronicled the first 100 years of their existence. The 2 scene play was enacted in a spacious and 1990s modern kitchen in New York. Through dialogue and photography, their story was unveiled. Their father, an ex slave, was from Florida. Through perseverance and luck attended and became principal of the Saint Augustine school in Raleigh, North Carolina. He and his wife were the parents of 10 children. Sara, Louise. DzSadiedz Delaney was born in 1889 and her sister Anne Elizabeth "Bessie" was born in 1891. 

Eventually, Sadie graduated from Pratt Univ. in New York and went on to graduate from Columbia Teacher College. She became the first teacher in genetic science in NY in 1923. Bessie graduated from Columbia Dental School. The sisters lead a rewarding life, filled with giving back to the community through their lives They were well respected and were friends of Walter White, W.E. Dubois, Booker T Washington, Pearle Bailey, and Cab Calloway.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri