The Main Branch of The Library

DUKES FANS: In October of 1918, The Fairmount Parkway was officially opened in Philadelphia. Based on Paris’ Champs- Elysees, the diagonal roadway was one of the crowning achievements of Philadelphia’s attempts in the early 20th century to beautify and clean up polluted and overcrowded sections of the city. Its purpose was to connect the center of the city with parts of Fairmount Park. In 1937 its name was changed to The Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and over time new buildings, statues, and garden designs were added to the road. Ninety-nine years ago this month my favorite addition to that boulevard was unveiled. The Central Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library was opened on June 2, 1927, and I consider that place one of the most wonderful and important buildings in the entire city. The Parkway is one of my favorite things in Philly design and architecture. It is a glorious diagonal that starts at City Hall and cuts its way down to the Art Museum. When I was a kid, I used to love when my parents would drive on it. Looking from side to side out the car window and seeing the hotels, the Free Library, The Franklin Institute, and the statues was exciting to me. And when I went to Masterman Jr High School at 17th and Spring Garden Streets, I came to regularly experience that road. I especially spent a lot of time inside the Central Branch of the Free Library just off the Parkway at 19th. That place became one of my all-time sacred places. I love the design of the building; it is grand with high ceilings, huge windows, stately stairways, and terrazzo floors. It was built to look like a mythic temple, and to me it is a temple, one dedicated to learning, information, questioning, and thinking. I spent hours in just about every section of that building; hours in the Music Room listening to all 7 of the Southern Folk Heritage field recordings, The Best of Muddy Waters, James Brown Live at the Apollo, and hundreds of other recordings. Hours doing historical research in the Social Science and History Department, The Map Room, the Literature Department, and of course, the Main Lending Room where I borrowed books by and read authors ranging from Raymond Chandler, Toni Morrison, and literally hundreds of others. In fact, I have two books now that I need to return by the end of next week. That place is still an important part of my life. Next year I am looking forward to a celebration of the Centennial of that building. I hope it is a grand and big one. But if is not, I won’t mind too much. June 2nd, 1927 is, to me, one of the most important dates in Philadelphia history, And even if no one else celebrates that date, I will honor it. For I am incredibly grateful that that branch of the library was opened and is still available to me. Wonderful! If you are interested in the City Beautiful Movement which led to the creation of The Parkway; here is a link to an article about it: https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/city-beautiful-movement/#essay Here is a link to an article about the opening day of the Central Branch of the library: https://www.inquirer.com/history/philadelphia-free-library-parkway-opening 20260605.html?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=edit_social_share_email_traffic&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_term=&int_promo= Dukes of Destiny: Philly's longest lived and best loved blues band http://www.dukesofdestiny.com Private Gigs: The Dukes have a number of private gigs coming up these next couple of months, and I want to remind folks that we can and do a variety private affairs. Birthday parties, retirement parties, graduations, and more. If you are interested in having a danceable blues event, please get in touch. Brother John; Johnny Never and John Colgan-Davis: acoustic blues duohttp://johnnynever.com/schedule 1) Friday, June 12, Triple Sun Distillery;126 South State St; Newtown, PA 18940; 8-11PM (215) 944 3057 2) Saturday, June 13 Letty’s Tavern; 201 State Street; Kennett Square PA 19348 7-10PM https://www.lettystavern.com Friday and Saturday find us at two of our regular monthly gigs that we love. Triple Sun is a great spot with some home distilled beverages, a variety of beers, good food, and friendly folk. Newtown is a lovely town, and nighttime there is gorgeous. It is a beautiful SMALL town with no high- rise buildings, so the sky is present; it is THERE. It is almost always very blue with a clearly visible moon. It is a lovely spot. Letty’s is in Chester County’s Kennett Square, and it is a funky restaurant with a great menu, wonderful waitstaff and bartenders, and a great vibe. Kennett Square is a wonderful, walkable place with great shops and buildings. We love playing this town. Come on out and experience it. Black Crow video: Brother John:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0mawSh5BFY&list=RD-0mawSh5BFY&start_radio=1 The Sunday Blues Jam at Jamey’s House of Music; 32 S. Lansdowne Ave; Lansdowne, PA; jamey@jameyshouseofmusic.com Blues lovers and players have made Jamey's Sunday Blues Jam the place for some great blues jamming, inexpensive and tasty eats, craft brews on tap, fresh brewed coffee, a great waitstaff, and friendly people who love the blues.  Each Sunday features an hour long set led by a different house band, and then there is an open jam until 3PM.The second Sunday of most months features The Roger Girke-John Colgan-Davis Project as the house band, and we will be there on June 14th. Play an instrument? Sing? Just want to listen to some exciting blues and have some good food? Come on out and take part in this great blues jam with great food and liquid refreshments. $5 minimum to be spent Don’t Want to receive any more of these newsletters? 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BLUE MOON

DUKES FANS: “Blue Moon; you saw me standing alone; without a love of my own..” Rogers and Hart Last weekend saw the appearance of the first and only Blue Moon for 2026, and it was big news. It was featured on the web, in blogs, on news broadcasts and in newspapers and magazines all around the world. There were also some great photographs taken and posted all over various media. I am always interested in sky things, and I was outside on Sunday evening viewing it. It was a quietly spectacular bit of astronomical occurrence. I first became interested in astronomy when I was in junior high school. I went to Masterman at 17th and Spring Garden Streets, and they took us fairly regularly to The Franklin Institute, a few blocks away on the Parkway. I loved all the displays, but I especially loved The Fels Planetarium. There I would be immersed in stunning totally surrounding views of the night sky, the constellations, the planets, the moon, the sun, the rings of Saturn, and more. It was truly awesome. And I have gone there a couple of times a year ever since. When I was older and could travel some, I also visited The Hayden Planetarium at New York City’s Museum of Natural History. I would go there a couple of times a year, and I was happy to be taken on journeys to all different parts of the universe in even more spectacular fashion than at the Fels. The Hayden is bigger, and they pioneered many of the innovations that are now standard in planetariums around the world. For several years I was a member of the New York Natural History Museum as well and The Franklin. And as many of you who have been reading these missives for a while know, I am still in love with and amazed by that thing overhead called, “the sky” in my old age. As to why the blue moon is called the “Blue Moon,” there are several stories about that. The most commonly accepted etymology says that saying was used in 1500’s Europe to describe something completely absurd or inconceivable. Saying, “the moon is blue” was a way of describing something that was virtually impossible to imagine. However, the term's meaning changed when later events atmospheric things happened that actually turned the moon blue. When the volcano Krakatoa happened in 1883, there were numerous accounts of people seeing a bluish moon overhead for several days. Scientists believe that the unusual combination of chemicals, gasses, and substances from the eruption gave the moon a “blue tint” when seen from earth. And history has recorded that some massive forest fires have had the same effect. Given those events, the phrase slowly came to mean not something impossible, but something that happens very rarely: ‘once in a blue moon.” The phrase also has gained a calendrical meaning. The second full moon in a month is considered a “Blue Moon,” and May this year fit that definition. In fact, any month that starts with a full moon, except February, will have a Blue Moon because it takes approximately 29.5 days for the moon to go through all its phases. So if there is a full moon on the first of a month, there will be another at the end of the month.This happens once every two to three years. I hope you got to see some of May’s Blue Moon. It was slightly cloudy, but the moon shone through boldly and proudly. Here are a couple of links to some interesting photos of the occurrence: (apologies for the ads) Enjoy. https://www.space.com/stargazing/astrophotography/mays-blue-moon-wows-stargazers-worldwide-see-these-stunning-photos-of-the-smallest-full-moon-of-2026 https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/blue-moon-may-2026-images https://nextdoor.com/p/xQBpNz7K8DjJ?post=482893068&utm_source=email§ion=post_0&mar=true&ct=4eOq-BxY5Ms5RMbDTA-oukNIxc9tLT5vrFGY-PPHdawKq0bCJ6lyF4VONFqcrHJ1&ec=OWKiQRDj9vEHAYwTV6YMARldwuFdgGkeefhwfGYAE0s%3D&mobile_deeplink_data=eyJhY3Rpb24iOiAidmlld19wb3N0IiwgInBvc3QiOiA0ODI4OTMwNjh9&link_source_user_id=37647443