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There are several things you want when you go to a lecture. A compelling topic, a terrific speaker, and that elusive third dimension that you forget about unless you suddenly find yourself surrounded by it… an amazing space.

This Wednesday afternoon / evening, local historian and, fortunately for us, vivacious and engaging speaker Thomas Keels will give a lecture called Rest in Pieces: Philadelphia’s Lost Cemeteries, an outright shocking yet wryly presented look at how we’ve regularly destroyed thousands of graves in Philadelphia. Keels is good, and I’d look forward to this lecture even if it was in a yawn inspiring conference room at The Hotel Nowheresville… which is certainly is not.

The lecture is being held at one of my all time favorite hidden places in all of Philadelphia… The Wagner Free Institute in North Philly! The Wagner is an awesome natural history museum that looks like someone bolted the doors in 1880 and just reopened them this year. It is so delightfully unreal that it seems more a movie set than a real institution.

Get to know the Wagner. It is one of those gems you should be familiar with when showing visitors around our beloved city.

The lecture is at 5:30, though doors open at 4, and you should try to get there early enough to experience a little of the Wagner first, if you can. The Wagner is at 17th and Montgomery, right across from the police station. Hopefully, Mr. Keels will have copies of his book, Philadelphia Graveyards and Cemeteries, on hand. I treated myself to a copy recently, and I recommend it!

The Wagner
1700 W Montgomery Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19121
(215) 763-6529
www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org