All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #084, part 3

Florence Cowanova (born Cowan in 1901) was the daughter of dancers Edward and Mary Cowan. On the suggestion of dancer Anna Pavlova, she adopted the surname Cowanova. Florence grew up immersed in dance, with her father specializing in kinesiology and her mother in dance instruction and publicity. By her teens, Florence was recogni...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #084, part 2

Matilda "Tillie May" Forney, raised in a prominent Philadelphia family with journalistic roots, gained experience as her father’s secretary and became a columnist known for her “Fashionable Luncheon and Tea Toilets” column, which focused on high society fashion and etiquette. Her column catered to an affluent audience, discussing topics like French fabrics and social customs....

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #084, part 1

Emily Elizabeth “Lillie” Smith Edwards Holman (1854–1925), aka "E.E. Holman," emerged as a trailblazer in architecture. After starting as a clerk in an architect’s office, she quickly demonstrated design talent and transitioned into practicing architecture independently. Holman designed numerous homes, theaters, and institutional buildings over a career spanning about twenty ...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #084

Emily Elizabeth Holman was an accomplished architect who preferred using her initials so as not to disclose her gender.

Matilda “Tillie May” Forney followed in the steps of her newspaper publisher father John Forney. She made newspaper work her career at a time when women were barely tolerated in the newsroom.

Florence Cowanova was the ballet teacher all the little girls loved. A...

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #053

Architecture expanded during the 19th century period of European colonialization, ignoring influences from Asia and Africa. Although not buried at Laurel Hill, African American architect Julian Abele is thought to have designed mausoleums at both properties. Walter R. Livingston, Jr., interred at Laurel Hill West, is considered Philadelphia's top Black post-War architect; ...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083, part 3

Reverend John Komai, son of a Krahn chief, and his wife Julia Komai were prominent Liberians who fled their homeland during the 1989 coup, leaving behind their estate and enduring a perilous journey to Sierra Leone before resettling in the United States. John became a community leader for Liberian refugees in the U.S., working as a counselor and continuing efforts to support Li...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083, part 2

Leonard Leland Smalls was a Baptist minister who dedicated much of his life to prison ministry and community development. After military service and education at Virginia Union University, he was ordained in 1956 and became the first Black minister certified as a prison chaplain in Pennsylvania. He was active in civil rights, associated with figures like Martin ...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #083 for February 1, 2026 for Black History Month

Frances “Mom” Williams was a dedicated community leader and activist in Philadelphia who campaigned for City Council in 1979 with a focus on seniors and neighborhood safety. Her son Hardy and Grandson Anthony became State Senators. This segment will be released as a separate podcast on February 2nd.

Rev. Leonard Leland Smalls became the ...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082, part 5

In 18th- and 19th-century Pennsylvania, women played a central role in caring for the dying and the dead, performing tasks that combined practical, emotional, and ritual duties. Over time, the profession of undertaking evolved, becoming male-dominated and more specialized, reducing women’s involvement in death care. Early undertakers often apprenticed from trades like cabinetma...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082, part 4

Script by Russell Dodge, narration by Joe Lex

Thomas Hewson Bache co-founded CHOP, the first children’s hospital in the United States. He also served as a Major in the Medical Corps, where he was involved in the Gettysburg Campaign and remained with wounded soldiers even as a prisoner of war. Bache also served as curator of the Mütter Museum from 1866 to 1885 and oversaw signif...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill stories #082 for January, 2026

Happy 200th Birthday!

Daniel Pabst

Daniel Pabst was a prominent 19th-century Philadelphia cabinetmaker known for his exceptional craftsmanship and distinctive designs, blending traditional Victorian styles with emerging artistic movements. His work served affluent clients and reflected evolving furniture styles from Renaissance revival to Modern Gothic...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082, Part 2

Happy 200th Birthday!

Henry Hagert: Prosecuting Catto's Accused Killer

Octavius Valentine Catto was a pioneering African American leader and activist in Philadelphia during the Reconstruction era, advocating for civil rights, voting rights, and racial integration. His assassination in 1871 during violent election-day riots marked a significant and tragic moment...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082 for January 2026 - Happy 200th Birthday! 

Part 1 - Martha Coston: She Had a Certain Flare

Martha Coston significantly advanced maritime communication by developing pyrotechnic signal flares that could be seen day and night, improving naval operations and safety at sea. Ships originally used signal flags and lanterns to communicate, but these were limited by visibility and weather condi...

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #082 for January 1, 2026

It's January! Time for our annual 200th Birthday Bash for people born in 1826.

After Martha Coston was widowed at age 21, she used her husbands notes and reputation to invent airborne signal flares that saved hundreds of lives.

Henry Hagert was assistant District Attorney for the City of Philadelphia when he prosecuted a man for the murder of Civil Rights Activist O...

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, Part 4

James "Jimmy" Bland is NOT buried at Laurel Hill, but he serves as a logical link between minstrelsy and mummery. Many people called him the "Black Stephen Foster," and songs he wrote like "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" and "Hand me down My Walking Cane" have become standards. One of his more popular tunes, "Oh Dem Golden Slippers" became the theme song for Phil...

Biographical Bytes from Bala: Laurel Hill West Stories #051, part 3

Born in 1848 in New York to French immigrant parents, Frank Dumont became a seminal figure in minstrel culture. He began to perform as a boy and joined Christy’s Minstrels by 1862, a troupe that set the enduring standard format for minstrel shows: a semicircle stage arrangement with an interlocutor (emcee) in the center and end men characters Mr. ...