Local historian and author Michael Tolle will speak at the Historical Society of Montgomery County, Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at 7 PM. The public is invited to attend this free presentation.
Tolle, the author of “What Killed Downtown? Norristown, Pennsylvania, From Main Street to the Malls” has expanded his study of small town America to encompass eight classic mill towns on the Lower Schuylkill River between Reading and Philadelphia: Pottstown, Royersford, Spring City, Phoenixville, Norristown, Bridgeport, Conshohocken and West Conshohocken.
“They’ve Been Down So Long… Getting Up’s Still On Their Minds” examines both their history and their future with a narrative directed at the community activists in each town, and, by extension, those who seek to revitalize similar small urban communities elsewhere.
The book is a hybrid; its two complementary halves together offer what Tolle describes as “Local History 101. Getting Up’s Still On Their Minds collects the lectures and class discussion. ‘They’ve Been Down So Long’ is the assigned reading.” In them Tolle attacks the all-too-commonly held beliefs that isolate smaller communities from the lessons each can offer the others and calls instead for the sharing of common experiences.
“They’ve Been Down So Long” relates the history of an American river valley, not just the towns along it. Its focus on The Three Fundamental Realities demonstrates the common historical experience of Tolle’s subject towns.
“Getting Up’s Still On Their Minds” confronts the residual misconceptions about what happened to these once-prosperous communities, from the importance of the automobile to the myth of “Section 8.” Arguing that urban activists will continue to make mistakes as long as they continue to belief in myths, Tolle’s “lectures” dissect events local to the Schuylkill Valley in search of the greater truths about the urban condition so well obscured by political and social rhetoric.
The Historical Society located at 1654 DeKalb Street, Norristown, is handicapped accessible. For more information on this program contact the Society at 610-272-0297 or <contact@hsmcpa.org>.
