Jim Duffin

By Margaret Fahringer

On Thursday, June 21, Historic Germantown will celebrate three notable individuals from the German Township as it revives the Germantown Historical Society’s Hall of Fame. From 1994 to 2007, GHS honored locals whose impact on the quality of life in our communities of the northwest has been significant. From Maggie Kuhn, founder of the Gray Panthers, to Grover Washington, Jr., to architects Denise Scott-Brown and Robert Venturi, GHS has recognized the value of contemporary history. Historic Germantown is continuing that tradition this year by honoring Jim Duffin, distinguished historian and archivist, Betty Turner, revered community leader, and Ken Weinstein, well-known developer, preservationist, and restaurateur.

In the following interview, we find out a bit of what makes Jim Duffin tick. For many years, he has been quietly and diligently researching and indexing properties in the German Township in order to make a wealth of information accessible to researchers. Here is what Jim had to say:

What led you to become an archivist? What do you do as the senior archivist at the University of Pennsylvania?

I chose this career path thanks to the Germantown Historical Society. As an eighth grader, living in Mount Airy, I was interested in the history of the house I grew up in. and I did research at the society’s library. I really enjoyed learning and using the archives and special collections. I later found I could indulge my interest in history and make a living. At the University of Pennsylvania, I work as a senior archivist describing and cataloguing collections. I help researchers with questions about University history, and I have administrative tasks as well.

You worked on the nominations for Mount Airy and Germantown to become historic districts on the National Register?

I was part of a group, the Mount Airy Historical Awareness Committee joining East and West Mount Airy neighbors in the 1980’s. We were concerned about the status of Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy. The Chestnut Hill section of the avenue was added to the National Register followed by the Germantown section, but there was a big donut hole along the Avenue in Mount Airy. We hired a consultant in the late 1980’s to add this section, and I helped with the research. We succeeded, and now all of the Avenue within the historic German Township is on the Register. Actually, all of Germantown Avenue is a National Historic Landmark, a step above the historic district. The only other site in Philadelphia that shares that distinction is Elfreth’s Alley.

You have your own projects that don’t relate to your work at Penn. Tell me about your book, “Acta Germanopolis.”*

It is a reference book, the result of 20 years of effort in my spare time. You know it’s not an exciting novel, though it does have some interesting tales of disputes in Germantown. It stemmed out of my experience working as the librarian at GHS. I encountered lots of people contacting us to find out about their ancestors who were among the founders of Germantown, the first German community in British North America. There are only scattered records of that time, preserved by the borough government, but they weren’t fully accessible. About half were written in German and Dutch, so I worked to translate these records and compile them in one place. This gold mine of information is now useful to both historical and family history researchers. I have also researched over 8,500 properties making maps available to the public at GHS and the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network, www.philageohistory.org.

(*The book, “Acta Germanopolis,” records of the Corporation of German Town Penna., 1691-1707, Edited and with introduction by James M. Duffin, a publication of The Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, 2008.)

The Philadelphia Historical Commission just recognized another historic property due largely to your work. Tell me who William and Letitia Still were and why finding their house is important.

Due to the current real estate boom and the rising value of the land, buildings are in danger of being torn down for other land uses. I have been working with activist Oscar Beisert to protect properties by nominating them for the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places including some in Germantown. My interest in finding William Still’s house came after a project researching Harriet Tubman and her connection to Philadelphia’s Underground Railroad. I learned that she worked closely with Still, and I wondered where were the physical elements of his life here. William Still was one of Philadelphia’s key figures in the abolitionist movement and ran the offices of the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society. He directed countless fugitive slaves on their trip up North. His significance is further amplified by his book, “The Underground Railroad”. He recorded the detailed stories of freedom-seeking peoples offering us an invaluable glimpse into their lives. Most writings on the Underground Railroad are about the abolitionists helping them, not the real life stories of enslaved people. There was a marker on a Still house on South 12^th Street, but it is next to where Still’s house was demolished. Directories in the 1850’s only gave street names with no house numbers. Remarkably, it was through an ad that his wife, a seamstress, placed in an abolitionist paper that I found an exact description of the location, now 625 South Delhi Street.

In the 1990’s, you were the assistant librarian for the Germantown Historical Society. Now your picture will be in the Germantown Hall of Fame. Seems sort of full-circle to me.

It is very unusual to think that I am joining those on the wall at GHS. It is certainly a great honor. I am pleased to know that Historic Germantown values the work of historians and practitioners who are out in the field supporting preservation. It’s funny to think I will always have a place at Historic Germantown where I was a teenager doing research, a volunteer librarian, a paid librarian, and then a board member. I think it is important for people to participate in whatever they can to preserve our history. Coming to see the new Hall of Fame inductees at the June 21^st fundraiser is a great way to support the work of Historic Germantown and to learn ways you can volunteer.

Historic Germantown is a consortium of 16 extraordinary historic houses, destinations, and museums in northwest Philadelphia that have joined together to protect, preserve and share some of Philadelphia’s prized historical assets. The Hall of Fame event will take place in its green courtyard at 5501 Germantown Avenue at Market Square on Thursday, June 21, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, to sponsor the event in honor of one of the inductees, or to purchase tickets, call 215-844-1683 or visit 222.freedomsbackyard.com