Generous Fire: Charles Dickens in America By Brian McCann Sunday, April 6, 2025 • 1:30 to 3PM Join us for an afternoon with Charles Dickens in this recreation of his 1867-68 tour of the United States. Written and performed by Philadelphia theater artist Brian McCann, this program is a fictionalized presentation of one of Dickens' public lectures – a popular form of entertainment and enlightenment in Victorian Britan and America – with the text taken mainly from Dickens' own works and letters. By the time of his 1868 visit to Philadelphia, Dickens had already survived one stroke, and the end of his life is imminent. McCann embodies the acclaimed novelist who is feeling the strain of a tour far from home and letting his public persona slip to show a fragile human spirit despite his great accomplishments. Your complimentary ticket includes the performance and a post-show discussion with Brian McCann. VENUE: This special event will be performed at the Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, which is located at 200 W. Tulpehocken Street in Northwest Philadephia. Presented as part of the Lantern's new Spotlight Northwest Series.

2-Part Mount Airy Learning Tree (MALT) class at Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion

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On June 6, 1832, the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Railroad began operating a 6-mile railway line between Germantown and the city below. Now part of SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill East line, it was the first railroad to operate within Philadelphia and established Germantown as America’s first railroad suburb. Germantown became a popular commuter suburb for wealthy Philadelphians, especially after the Pennsylvania Railroad opened the Chestnut Hill West line in 1884. However, Victorian Germantown and its twin railroads are at the center of a larger story. The locomotives that traveled the East and West lines did not merely enable elite suburban living, they were also the engines that drove Germantown’s manufacturing boom. This presentation will outline the history of railroading in Germantown, describe the changes that it wrought in the late nineteenth century, and contextualize these changes within the wider history of the Philadelphia region and—more broadly—the United States.