Boston makes a move for Edgar Allan Poe / Image credit Media Technology Services, Boston College

Guest commentary

By Ed Pettit

If you haven’t heard, Philadelphia and Baltimore have been locked in battle over the literary legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. Well, maybe it’s just me who has been locked in a battle, but there

Richmond, VA behind new Poe stamp

has been a lot of media attention. Most recently, the NY Times ran a piece about the Poe Wars.

Now it looks like Boston has joined the fray, as reported in the Boston Globe, Paul Lewis, a professor from Boston College, thinks the Beantowners ought to “embrace their inner Edgar.”

Before anyone goes all frothing at the mouth again over my call to have Poe’s remains relocated from Baltimore to Philadelphia, let me just say that for me this argument has always been over the Legacy of Poe, not his bones. I only want Poe’s metaphorical bones.

Poe house in Baltimore Img: Nevermore

All my life, I’ve noticed how Baltimore has embraced Edgar as one of their own, when in fact their connection has always been tenuous (in sports terms, Baltimore was Poe’s minor league team). While in Philadelphia the National Park Service has admirably tended to our own Poe House, the city hasn’t done nearly enough to promote Edgar as its greatest writer. It’s time for Philly to wake up and realize that Poe is a Philadelphia writer.

With the Bicentennial of Poe next year (he was born Jan 19, 1809) all the Poe cities-Bmore, Philly, NY, Richmond and Boston-are rolling out the red carpet for Poe tourists. Baltimore has two websites promoting its events. Last month, they held a press conference to promote the Bicentennial which is still making waves in newspapers and news sites online. Richmond has a website, as well. And now Boston, the city with the smallest of claims to Poe’s Legacy (his actress mother gave birth to him while passing through on a theatrical tour), is hosting a two day celebration and calling for their city to recognize Poe as own of their own.

Philadelphia has lots of events planned for the Bicentennial, or should I say, the Park Service and other groups have lots of events planned. There is no organized effort to reach out to the Poe tourists (and believe me, there are lots of them), bring them to Philly and show them why this is his true “literary” home. So far, all Philly has done is bring in Elvira for a couple Halloween events. Do they have any plans to promote the Bicentennial next year?

So I’m going to make a proposition here for what Philly needs to do to spread the word that Poe is a Philadelphian, that Philadelphia was the crucible for his creative genius and that Philly is the place to be for the Poe Bicentennial.

Phila needs:

• a coordinated effort between the NPS, who run the National Historic Edgar Allan Poe site at 7th and Spring Gardens, the Friends of Poe, local Universities and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism board

• a website as a central station for events and information about Poe (like Bmore and Richmond)

• a Poe statue (yes, in the city with more public statuary than any other city in the world, that there is no statue of America’s most famous writer, who also happens to be a Philadelphia writer, boggles the mind)

• several city sponsored Poe Bicentennial events throughout the year (that can also help raise money for our public libraries)

• an official press conference to spread the word

Now, why should a city that has just announced such a vast array of cuts in services to its citizens invest in a dead, white male writer from the 19th century. Because that investment will pay off. Because the Poe House in Philly already has 15,000 visitors (more than any other Poe site) from all over the world visit each year. Imagine the potential for Poe’s Bicentennial with a concerted effort to bring those Poe tourists (and literary tourism is an ever-growing market) to the Quaker City.

While we’re at it, let’s use our Poe connections to help the city, as well. Why not have Poe celebrations that raise money to help save those library branches that Mayor Nutter has scheduled for closing. What a perfect fit, using the legacy of our most famous literary son to help ensure the ongoing literary legacy of our own citizens.

And I know just the guy to spearhead Philadelphia’s Poe Bicentennial. Greater Phila Tourism, I’m waiting for your call.

So, let’s get to it, Philly. Poe is ours and we want the world to come celebrate with us.

Ed Pettit is a local historian who writes about Edgar Allan Poe at his bibliothecary blog