Christopher Stevens

“Looking for treasures and being boys” sums up how Christopher Stevens (b. 1964) and his friends spent their childhood in Society Hill. Born when his parents were completing construction of their house at 116 Delancey Street, they rode their bikes and walked everywhere.

In this way they explored Mariners’ Church, which was falling down, and the big highway, Interstate 95, which was under construction. In the family car with their parents, they visited grandparents in Allentown and Lancaster and went camping in Quakertown. With their neighbors, they played pickup ball games and had a community vegetable garden. Chris and his best friend shuttled between one another’s houses by climbing over a brick wall. There were lots of children in the neighborhood, and Chris knew them all. He recalls the babysitting co-op, which operated on a point system rather than cash and was tremendously popular with both parents and children.

Chris attended McCall’s School for a few years, and after the Philadelphia public school teachers’ strikes started, he attended Friends Central in the suburbs. Later, he attended a school in Wallingford. Most of the students in the school in Wallingford lived in the suburbs and “were wary of the city, were unsure, didn’t really have the confidence to … go to the city by themselves to check out all the museums and the Liberty Bell.” Chris showed them around the city, introducing them to some of the museums and sites. The boys enjoyed the experience. Chris says he was never afraid of being in the city. “I think it just made us smarter, as city people, because we knew to have eyes in the back of our head…. By living in the city, we learned a lot more defenses on how to protect ourselves as an individual, versus being somewhat sheltered.”

He relates an interesting, if somewhat harrowing, story of a time when he was going home from school by the subway and was mugged by a young black man; but with the help of a black couple was able to escape.

Transcript

DS:      This is an interview on December 15, 2008, with Christopher Stevens, my son, who lives in Carson City, Nevada, and my name is Dorothy Stevens.

             Christopher, tell me about your beginnings.

CS:      My parents rented a house at 240 Delancey Street while they were building the 116 Delancey Street house. I was born May of 1964, and we moved into the 116 Delancey Street house in the fall of 1965. I have two younger brothers. Gregory was born in 1966 and Jason was born in 1970. The family attended St. Peter’s Church at Third (1:00) and Pine [Streets]. [I] grew up playing in Three Bears Park at Third and Delancey [Streets] and at Starr Gardens at Sixth and Lombard [Streets]. [I] went to many museums as a child: the Natural Science museum, the Zoo, the Franklin Institute [and] to the main library for reading groups there. That was the beginning. As I grew older, I did a lot of exploring of the old, historical area of Society Hill in Mariners Church, which was at the corner of Front and Delancey Streets. It had old wells in the basement and old glass bottles and different treasures that you could find there. We played – (2:00)

DS:      Was this before the church fell down?

CS:      This was when the church was –

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About the Interview

Interviewer
Dorothy Stevens
Transcriber
Cynthia J. Eiseman
Interview Location
1856 Pinoak Lane, Carson City, Nevada
Interview Date
December 15, 2008
Interviewee
Stevens, Christopher
Narrator Type
Third Generation
Oral History Sources