Tellin’ tales
to tourists

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Brittany Holdahl is a native Philadelphian. Yet when her new out-of-town pals at Temple University asked her last fall for the inside scoop on her home city’s vast historical resources, she had very little to offer them.
"People at school would ask me, ‘Where’s Independence Hall?’ And I wouldn’t be able to tell them," the 18-year-old Torresdale resident recalled.
Holdahl certainly is not the first big-city dweller ever to have avoided her hometown’s tourist attractions. Folks in New York have been taking a "pass" on the Empire State Building for years.
Nonetheless, Holdahl couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful, if not embarrassed, about her deficiency of local knowledge.
"I’ve been to a substantial amount of (the historical sites) but I haven’t seen all of them. It’s something that has always bothered me," she said. "I’ve lived here all my life."
Holdahl won’t have to feel so bad when she returns for her sophomore year this fall. Now she knows stuff about late 18th-century Philadelphia that even some of her school’s history professors may not know.
The theater major and aspiring actress is playing the role of Revolutionary-era storyteller this summer with Once Upon a Nation, the 4-year-old tourism program created by the non-profit Historic Philadelphia Inc.
Each year, from Memorial Day through Labor Day, the storytellers tend 13 stations throughout the city’s historical district, all day, every day, reciting for passersby dozens of quirky but true anecdotes that won’t appear in most academic accounts of the nation’s founding.
Holdahl and her colleagues literally reach hundreds of people every day from throughout the United States and abroad, as well as right here in the Delaware Valley.
And with the Independence Day weekend at hand, they’re expecting to perform for and inform their biggest audiences yet as a featured attraction among a succession of family-friendly local activities.
"I was always intrigued by history. It was one of my favorite subjects at school," Holdahl said. "But Once Upon a Nation is definitely not textbook."
Rather, the program has a lot more in common with a field trip, except it’s completely free of charge.
Holdahl’s usual assignment is outside the Independence Living History Center at Third and Chestnut streets. Like the other dozen locations around Old City, and all within close walking distance, a white park bench and a sign featuring the distinctive Once Upon a Nation cursive logo mark the spot.
When folks walk by, Holdahl or one of her colleagues will ask if they wish to sit a spell and listen to a story. The yarns recount a gamut of scenarios from the past.
For example:
• A debutante smitten with the idea of marrying a British soldier is forced to flee the city for England after the Americans finally beat back the redcoats for good.
• After being forced to eat lobster every day, inmates riot at a local jail, prompting authorities to label a steady diet of the modern-day delicacy as "cruel and unusual punishment."
• The founding fathers were able to publish the Declaration of Independence only after settling an argument among them as to who would get to write the document.
Stories can last anywhere from a minute or two to five minutes or more. An audience can consist of a single person, a small family or two, or entire school groups.
Among the other storytelling locations are Independence Square, directly behind Independence Hall; the Second Bank of the United States; Carpenters’ Hall; Franklin Court; Christ Church; the Betsy Ross House; the National Constitution Center; and Franklin Square.
Storytellers learn their history during a three-week orientation program known as the "Benstitute." They’re encouraged to bring their own style and flair to the presentations.
"It’s a lot of improv and it’s like street performance," Holdahl said. "It’s way more interactive than museums."
Tourists can visit as few or as many of the locations as they wish. But to encourage people, particularly younger kids, to visit all 13, storytellers pass out maps and paper Colonial flags with star-shaped stickers. Kids can get a new star at each bench to affix to the circle pattern on the Betsy Ross-style flags.
One day last week, Jonathan Zwilling, 3-1/2, from Cincinnati, was more than halfway done his flag when he and his parents met Holdahl.
"We had wanted to come here from a historical sense for a while," said Nathan Zwilling, the boy’s dad.
Nathan and Beth Zwilling were spending a week in the Delaware Valley, including several days downtown as well as a stop at Sesame Place in Langhorne.
"Animated is probably the one word you can say they consistently are," the father said of the Once Upon a Nation crew.
According to Amy Needle, president and CEO of Historic Philadelphia Inc., Once Upon a Nation is meant to complement the city’s other historical offerings without repeating them.
"The National Park Service has tours of Independence Hall, but the park rangers only have a short time to tell you about everything that happened there," she said. "We tell some of the untold stories. They’re all true, but because they’re quirky or unique, they get people’s attention."
In many cases, tourists can literally sit on a bench, look up and view the building or location where a particular story took place.
Folks who may have made the rounds in past years need not be concerned about repeating their experience. The Benstitute comes up with new stories each year to keep the program fresh.
This year, for the first time, visitors will soon be able to take the stories home with them, too. The volume Patriots, Pirates, Heroes and Spies: Stories from Historic Philadelphia will be available for purchase starting on the Independence Day weekend.
Also throughout the four-day holiday period, Once Upon a Nation hours will be extended from 4:30 p.m. to 6. The presentations start at 10:30 a.m. daily.
Historic Philadelphia Inc. is behind many other local attractions, including the carousel and miniature golf course at Franklin Square and Evenings with the Founding Fathers at the Free Quaker Meeting House, Fifth and Arch streets.
As part of the latter program, actors will portray Benjamin Franklin (July 5), Thomas Jefferson (July 3, July 20 and Aug. 10) and George Washington (July 27) in various presentations.
"Our mission is to make the experience better for visitors, to educate and entertain them," Needle said. "We take our job, though it’s fun, very seriously."
For Holdahl, her rediscovery of her city’s history has become a source of pride. "Some people ask me questions that only a historian would know," she said. "During orientation, we were basically the audience. So I’m more like the person who came back from vacation with some really cool stories." ••
Visit www.historicphiladelphia.org or call 215-629-4026 for information about "Once Upon a Nation" and other Historic Philadelphia Inc. programs.
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com