Do You Mispronounce These Historic Philadelphia Names?
See for yourself!
To me, the name of architect Frank Furness, designer of the fabulous Fisher Fine Arts Library at the University of Pennsylvania, is the most frequently mispronounced historic name in Philly. Photo by Smallbones.
In my many years as a certified member of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides and 11 years researching and writing my book, “Real Philly History, Real Fast,” I’ve learned this:
The five most frequently mispronounced historic names I hear in Philadelphia are: Frank Furness, Julian Abele, W.E.B. Du Bois, Octavius V. Catto and The Athenaeum of Philadelphia.
Read on to see if you agree … or not
Frank Furness — If I had a dollar for every time I hear his name pronounced Fur-NESS, I would be writing this from my private tropical island somewhere. The correct pronunciation is furnace, like the equipment that heats our homes and offices. I first learned this while reading a Penn Libraries’ online guide to the Fisher Fine Arts Building that Furness designed. Harry Philbrick, director of PAFA when I interviewed him in 2014, also confirmed that “furnace” was the way the architect’s family pronounced his name. I hope this confirmation ends the debate. But most people I know continue to pronounce it FurNESS.
Julian Abele – The first Black to graduate from Penn with a degree in architecture, he had an impressive career — first for his extensive work on the Philadelphia Museum of Art — and then as primary designer of the West Campus of Duke University. At first, I thought his name was pronounced Aay-BELEE. I discovered the truth when I saw his yearbook entry from Penn. There he described himself as: “Willing and Able.” That made it easy to remember his name.
W.E.B. Du Bois – Author of the groundbreaking study, “The Philadelphia Negro,” his name is often mispronounced as Du BWAH. He himself corrected that in a letter to the Funk & Wagnalls Company dated Sept. 21,1933 with these handwritten instructions: “U as in You, Oi as in Boy, accent on last syllable,” reads the note, scrawled in black ink, at the bottom of the typewritten letter. To me, that translates as: Doo Boyz.
These last two names can be pronounced different ways …
Octavius V. Catto – A man of many talents and the subject of a wonderful book “Tasting Freedom” by Daniel R. Biddle and Murray Dubin, he was a civil rights activist killed on Election Day, 1871.
There’s no doubt about that. But there’s much doubt about how to say his name. Is it CAT-oh or KAY-oh? Two narrators on a History Making Productions’ video about Catto said it both ways within seconds of each other. I emailed Sam Katz, a founder of the company, to find out which was correct.
Sam’s answer: “There is no certainty as to the correct pronunciation. Dan Biddle and Murray Dubin, authors of the book on Catto, believe his slave ancestors may have been on a cattle farm in South Carolina and that the name comes from cattle, therefore Cat-Oh.” So no one knows for sure.
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia — You simply can’t go wrong with this name. Everyone pronounces it differently. According to former executive director Peter Conn, the correct way is “Ath-a-nay-um” (Ath as in “path,” a as in “apple,” nay as in “bay,” and um as in “museum”). However, I’ve heard Bruce Laverty, the Gladys Brooks Curator of Architecture there, refer to the “Ath eh KNEE um” on a Zoom call. He also said the British pronunciation was “A-THEEN-ium.” So take your pick on that one.
Are there other historic Philadelphia names you hear mispronounced?
If so, please let me know. These are my personal top five.
Some Sources:
Frank Furness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNbpNq3YbN0
https://guides.library.upenn.edu/comberg/FFAL_History
Julian Abele:
https://archives.upenn.edu/exhibits/penn-people/biography/julian-francis-abele
https://spotlight.duke.edu/abele/
W.E.B. Du Bois:
https://theberkshireedge.com/152-years-later-myriad-lessons-surrounding-du-bois-enduring-legacy/
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+prononce+Du+Bois&oq=how+to+prononce+Du+Bois&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i13l2j0i8i13i30l5j0i390.10151j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_Mqf-YaaEBPOpptQP68ec2AE18
https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/25526/whats-in-a-name-w-e-b-du-bois-vs-w-e-b-debois/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3IG1EecSvk
Octavius V. Catto:
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/murder-of-octavius-catto/
https://www.inquirer.com/philly/opinion/20070102_Shining_a_light_on_O_V__Catto.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKxFGz3ejwc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0shSp1R82Y
The Philadelphia Athenaeum:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reWidenb26s