All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories

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Philadelphia Fliers: Grover Cleveland Bergdoll, Hobey Baker, Benjamin Lee II Sep 03, 2025

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ABC:LHS #078-2 The First Philadelphia Fliers

Beer heir Grover Cleveland Bergdoll took to flight early; it is his Wright Brothers biplane that suspends from the ceiling of the Franklin Institute. He was also the most notorious American Draft Dodger during the Great War.

You met Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker in ABC:LHS #019 when fellow guide Paul Sookiasian and I talked about his athletic prowess; now I discuss his life as a pilot, and add new information uncovered only last year by ESPN.

Benjamin Lee II eagerly shipped off to be a flier before he finished his college days at Penn. His plane went down and his body never found. He has a cenotaph at Laurel Hill East.

Lincoln's Air Force: Defying Gravity in the 19th Century Sep 02, 2025

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ABC:LHS #078-1 Thaddeus Lowe, who has relatives at Laurel Hill East, was the man who introduced the balloon to American warfare when he helped guide Union troops from 500 feet above the earth during the Battle of Fair Oaks. Until replaced by spy planes in the 20th century, balloons were one of the best surveillance tools in warfare.

Look! Up in the Sky! Laurel Hill Pilots (part 1) Sep 01, 2025

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ABC:LHS #078-0 Look! Up in the Sky!

Thaddeus Lowe is not buried at Laurel Hill, but has many connections there. He was an balloon aeronaut during the Civil War, thus father of the United States Air Force.

Grover Cleveland Bergdoll's family is in a huge mausoleum at Laurel Hill West. An early student of the Wright brothers, he became a poster child for privilege when he dodged the draft during the Great War.

Hobey Baker's athletic gifts made him a natural pilot, but he crashed and died on the day he was scheduled to return stateside.

Benjamin Lee II eagerly awaited his opportunity for a dogfight, but he was killed during a training accident.

Holger "Hold Your Horses" Hoiriis was a Danish American flyer who made history when he flew across the Atlantic with a paying customer.

Jacques Louis Francine was an All-American boy who used his flying skills to explore wilderness regions of northern Canada. His wartime service was very impressive.

Edgar Loftus was commanding officer at a European Air Base in the final days of the war when Hitler's Iron Eagle made a surprise landing at his base, but then perversely refused to surrender.

Fold up your tray table, fasten your seatbelt, and get ready as we take off into the world of pilots at Laurel Hill.

Sara Oberholtzer: Philadelphia Thrift Aug 14, 2025

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BBB:LHWS #057 Sara Louisa Oberholtzer...

...was a feminist, an abolitionist, and a temperance advocate who helped establish school bank accounts for millions of American children during the "Thrift" movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Her legacy for thrift in Philadelphia is second only to Benjamin Franklin's.

Antoinette Westphal: Drexel Forever! Aug 05, 2025

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ABC:LHS #077-4 Antoinette Westphal...

...was a Dragon through and through. While a student in the late 1950s, she captained both field hockey and lacrosse teams, and wrote the newspaper's gossip column. She and fellow grad Ray Westphal married and started a family as Ray turned an idea into a successful business. After her death, Ray's donation caused creation of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.

Joseph Wharton: The Law without Morals Is Useless Aug 04, 2025

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ABC:LHS #077-3 Joseph Wharton...

...was a Quaker businessman and philanthropist and the primary founder of Swarthmore College. Fisher Park in northeast Philadelphia was his gift to the city. The Wharton State Forest in New Jersey is the largest mass of land owned by the state. And, of course, the world-famous business school that bears his name has graduated more eventual billionaires than any school in history.

Henry Biddle: Educating the Freedman Aug 03, 2025

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ABC:LHS #077-2 Captain Henry Biddle...

...was wounded in the Battle of Glendale and died a few weeks later after having befriended his treating physician. His wife donated money in his name to found Biddle College in North Carolina, which has since changed its name to Johnson C. Smith University.

His son Spencer Fullerton Baird Biddle was a Navy man who became a cattle rancher and introduced the highland cow to America and was a co-founder of the American Hospital in Paris.

Charles Macalester: Inventing Glengarry & Torresdale Aug 02, 2025

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ABC:LHS #077-1 Charles Macalester...

...established the town of Torresdale, founded Presbyterian Hospital, financially advised eight US presidents, and may have been the richest man in the world. A codicil in his will provided for the beginning of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, one of the top-ranked liberal arts schools in the country. The river mansion Glen Foerd stands as another of his creations.

Some College Namesakes (part 1) Aug 01, 2025

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ABC:LHS #077 College Namesakes (part 1)

Charles Macalester made a contribution that helped to turn a small liberal arts school into one of the finest small colleges in the land.
Joseph Wharton made fortunes several times over, but is best remembered for starting what has become one of the top business schools in the country.
Henry Biddle died from wounds received during the Peninsula campaign; his wife donated money to start a college for freedmen in his name in North Carolina.
Antoinette Passos Westphal was Drexel through and through. She and her husband Ray made numerous contributions to the school. After her death, the university renamed the College of Media and Design in her honor.

Robert A. Groff, MD: Cutting Brain Jul 15, 2025

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BBB:LHWS #046 Psychosurgery...

...dates back to the Neolithic period but became more prominent in the 19th and 20th centuries. For about 30 years in the middle of the 20th century, medical wisdom had declared that destroying organically healthy brain tissue was a legitimate treatment for varying psychiatric disorders. The champion for destroying healthy brain tissue was a Philadelphia born-and trained neurologist Walter Freeman, who performed the procedure several thousand times.

Robert A. Groff, MD, also trained at Penn, as well as under the legendary Harvey Cushing in Boston. Toward the end of his legendary career, he was convinced to perform a lobotomy on a patient who had already failed the procedure once. Groff did it twice, and when the patient and his mother were disappointed by the results they sued. But Dr. Groff died after giving his deposition, but before his case came to trial.

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