Amy Needle has been working in Philadelphia’s history sector for a long time, but this year is a special one for her, for Philadelphia and the country as a whole.
The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. This summer, July 4 will hold special significance for all Americans, and companies, municipalities and other organizations are planning accordingly.
In Philadelphia, a city with perhaps closer ties to the American Revolution than any other, that planning spans a lot further back than many would realize, said Needle, a former member of Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley and the president and CEO of Historic Philadelphia, Inc.
“It’s been on the mind of anyone in the historic or hospitality industry for probably more than a decade,” she said. “We knew that this was going to be a big year. A lot of times in the convention and tourism industry, you need to book things several years in advance.
And so really, the whole hospitality industry of Philadelphia has been working on bringing major events and conventions, and then, of course, making sure that all of Philadelphia can really shine during that time.”
Needle is co-chair of a yearlong series of events called 52 Weeks of Firsts, which began earlier this month and looks to highlight a number of firsts that have happened in Philadelphia. So far, there have been four celebrations of firsts of various kinds: the first balloon flight in America, the first folk music parade, the first volunteer fire company and the first professional basketball league.
The aim of 52 Weeks of Firsts is not just to keep a consistent schedule of celebration as one of the most significant anniversaries in the history of the country arrives, but to highlight little bits of the past that may have been lost to history in most folks’ minds.
“There are so many Philly firsts. You know, we probably could have done it for a year and a half or two years, but we focused in on 52 weeks. And the great thing about it is, just in the few weeks that we’ve had the opportunity to celebrate these firsts, what we’re finding is that we really are celebrating so many of Philadelphia’s jewels that you may or may not have experienced before,” Needle said.
The 52 Weeks of Firsts events are free and open to the public, held each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. from the first weekend of January to the last weekend of December. The events, affectionately referred to as the “firstivals” by Historic Philadelphia, have an opening ceremony, a storyteller who describes what happened, activities, giveaways, music, selfie stations and more.
The stories are created by historical experts who are part of Historic Philadelphia’s Once-Upon-a-Nation program. Each story will be recorded by an actor and be available online after the respective firstivals occur, and a sculpture for each location is built to signify its history.
The events have been a hit so far. Needle said there is even a dedicated group of people that is committing to attending each of the firstivals, who organizers are calling “firsties.”
“One lady that I talked to had just moved here from Idaho a couple of years ago, and she said this is the way she’s going to find out about Philadelphia, because she’s going to go and visit each one, and she’s going to learn about the different parts of Philadelphia,” Needle said. “These firsts aren’t just in the historic district; they’re all over the city. We’re in like 13 different neighborhoods — obviously so many of the firsts happened in the historic district, but University City has so many firsts, Germantown has so many firsts. So I think it’s going to be really fun, and I’m enjoying getting to go to all these places as well.”
For Needle, the appeal of the 52 Weeks of Firsts is simple.
“It really is celebrating Philadelphia and all the things that people love about Philadelphia, but maybe a lot of things that people didn’t even know about Philadelphia,” she said.
