The amount of history to be found in Philadelphia is astounding, so much so that, as I wrote the article for our annual travel issue, I found it impossible to include four centuries of accomplishments and strides in a single piece. So although my Philadelphia story ends in the nineteenth century, the City of Brotherly Love still has many tales to tell. There are, for instance, accounts of individuals such as Dr. Charles L. Blockson, a historian and author who as a child in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown was told by a substitute teacher that there weren’t any famous black people in history. He made it his goal to prove her wrong and went on to amass a collection of books, manuscripts, photographs, and other ephemera that became the foundation for the 500,000-item Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection that resides today at Temple University.

During my visits to Philadelphia this summer I was surprised and delighted by the number of beautiful murals found throughout the city. I learned the urban masterpieces owe their existence to the city’s Mural Arts Program. Founded in 1984, it was initially designed to provide art projects as a positive outlet for young graffiti artists who’d run afoul of the law. Today more than 2,800 murals—many of them black-themed—created by well-known artists and community members, adorn walls across the city. Visit www.muralarts.org for more information.

I can’t close my letter without mentioning a Philadelphia-based organization that also deserves our attention. Preserving America’s soul is the heartfelt goal of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, a nonprofit that is dedicated to those creatively blessed individuals who have enriched American music with R&B. The foundation, (which marked it’s 20th anniversary in September with a gala event during its annual Pioneer Awards) has helped to provide financial and medical support to R&B artists in distress, as well as advocate for artists’ royalty rights and assist in archiving works that otherwise may have been lost to history. For more information visit www.rhythmblues.org or call (215) 568-1080.

While I invite you to return to future issues for more Philadelphia stories, I’d also like you to turn your attention to other places we’ve traveled this issue. The state of Louisiana has created a new African-American Heritage Trail that winds its way through the state, taking us beyond the historical and cultural jewel of New Orleans to places in the Bayou State that hold other once-hidden gems of black history. Andrea Murphy’s account of her trip along the heritage trail begins on page 58. And starting on page 19, the renowned photographer Chester Higgins, Jr. gives us an account of his personal journeys to the ancient Ethiopian cities of Lalibela and Aksum. I hope you are as enlightened, inspired, and amazed at what you see and read as I was.

AUDREY M. PETERSON, Editor