Badass Women's History tour shines spotlight on Philadelphia female pioneers
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With every step in Old City, a class of high school seniors is learning about the women behind what makes Philadelphia the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.
"Welcome to your Badass Women's History tour," Rebecca Fisher, co-founder of Beyond the Bell Tours, said.
Fisher, a guide, led the students from Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on a tour Monday afternoon.
"It's not actually possible to talk about Philadelphia without women, without people of color, without queer people, without indigenous people," Fisher said.
Fisher shares the story of Hannah Callowhill Penn, whose husband was founding father William Penn.
"She pays off all of William Penn's debts," Fisher said, "and she keeps track of where Maryland begins."
In front of the Liberty Bell Center, the group stopped to talk about Ona Judge, a slave who worked for the nation's first president, George Washington, and then continued to 6th and Chestnut Streets to learn more about activist Barbara Gittings.
"For many," Fisher said, "[Gittings] is considered to be the mother of the LGBTQ rights movement."
For the second year, Tommy Richards brought his history class.
"This city is built from the ground up, from the bottom up from Philadelphians, women and men who we don't often hear about," Richards said, "but they shaped the city just as much as Franklin, Ben and the famous guys."
The tour spans one-and-a-half miles, lasts two hours and highlights more than 10 stories of Philadelphia female pioneers.
Students say it's an experience they don't take for granted.
"We don't hear a lot of these stories because we only pretty much learn about George Washington and Ben Franklin," Ryan White, a senior at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, said.
"I think it's just important to remember their stories and remember history was not just dictated by men," senior Caroline Foley said.
Beyond the Bell offers a walking tour every Friday through Monday.
