Mat Johnson, _Loving Day_ Tour of Germantown, Philadelphia

Entries on This Tour

1. Concord School and Upper Burial Ground

The Concord Schoolhouse , open from 1775-1892, was Germantown's first English language school. The school is sited on a lot set aside in 1692 to serve as a civic burial ground.

2. Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion

The Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion is Philadelphia's only authentically-restored Victorian house museum and garden.

3. John Johnson House

Built in 1768 and located in Philadelphia, the John Johnson House is a reminder of the struggle that many runaway slaves faced before the Civil War. The Colonial Georgian-style home was built by Dirck Jansen as a wedding gift to his son, John Johnson, Sr. The home is one of the only remaining structures affiliated with the Underground Railroad in the city. Harriet Tubman and other abolitionists led escaped slaves to the doors of this residence in the years leading up to the Civil War. The home is now a National Historic Landmark and also serves as a museum that preserves and interprets the history of the Underground Railroad.

4. Germantown White House (Deshler-Morris)

The Germantown White House, also known as the Deshler-Morris House, of Germantown, Pennsylvania is one of the oldest and best-preserved presidential residences in the United States. It is most famous for being the retreat of First President and decorated general George Washington on two separate occasions, once in 1793 and once in 1794. It was also the primary residence of British General Sir William Howe following the bloody Battle of Germantown in the American Revolutionary War.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Mat Johnson, _Loving Day_ Tour of Germantown, Philadelphia

Created by Pennsylvania History 2020 (Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania) on January 17th 2020, 3:35:30 pm.

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Description

Matt Johnson's _Loving Day_ is set in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. It is about a bi-racial protagonist working to raise a teenage daughter whom he left behind when he was a teen himself. It deals with issues of racial identity that have been part of Philadelphia's landscape, white flight and gentrification, and segregation. A central part of the novel's plot surrounds a decaying mansion along Germantown Avenue that Johnson inherits when his father dies.

Entries on This Tour

Mat Johnson, _Loving Day_ Tour of Germantown, Philadelphia

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