Camden

South Jersey Gas, Electric and Traction Company Office Building is located in Camden, New Jersey. The building was built in 1901 and was added to the... National Register of Historic Places on January 5, 2005. The building served as the main branch of the Camden Free Public Library after it relocated from the former Camden Free Public Library Main Building, but was closed in 2011.
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The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is a Catholic Cathedral located in Camden, New Jersey, United States. It is the seat of the Diocese of... Camden, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 as the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Built in 1864, it was officially designated as a cathedral in 1937. The first Catholic priests to visit the area that is now Camden were Jesuit priests from Old St. Joseph's Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They started to minister to Catholics in southern New Jersey in the 1740s where Catholicism was officially banned from being practiced. Masses and other services were celebrated in private homes. In 1796 the Augustinian priests from St. Augustine Church started ministering to Catholics in the region. They were followed sometime later by priests from the St. Mary’s Cathedral in Philadelphia who served Camden until the Diocese of Newark was established in 1853. Camden became a mission of the Catholic parish in Gloucester, which had received its first resident pastor in 1851. Mass was celebrated a couple times a months in Camden in private homes and in public halls.
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The Walt Whitman House is a historic building in Camden, New Jersey which was the last residence of American poet Walt Whitman, in his declining... years before his death. It is located at 330 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, known as Mickle St. during Whitman's time there. In 1873, Whitman suffered a paralytic stroke and in May the same year, his mother Louisa Whitman died; both events left him depressed. Louisa was in Camden, New Jersey at the time and Whitman arrived three days before her death. He returned to Washington, D. C., where he had been living, only briefly before returning to Camden to live with his brother George, paying room and board. The brothers lived on Stevens Street and Walt lived there for the next eleven years. Whitman spent the Christmas of 1883 with friends in Germantown, Pennsylvania while his brother was building a farmhouse in Burlington, New Jersey that included accommodations for the poet. Instead of moving with his brother, however, Whitman purchased the Mickle Street House in Camden in the spring of 1884. He was 65, and it was the first home he owned. Whitman called it his "shanty" or "coop", emphasizing its shabbiness.
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Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and... realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. Born on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and – in addition to publishing his poetry – was a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War. Early in his career, he also produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans . Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. He died at age 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle.
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Arnold Raymond Cream , better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He broke the world's record for the oldest man to... win the world's Heavyweight title when he earned it at the age of &1000000000000003700000037 years, &10000000000000168000000168 days, a record that would be broken on November 5, 1994, by George Foreman, who defeated the 26 year old Heavyweight champion of the world Michael Moorer at the age of 45, to win the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles. Walcott was born in Merchantville, New Jersey, the son of immigrants from St. Thomas. Walcott's father died when he was 13 years old, so he quit school and took a job working in a soup factory to support his mother and 11 siblings. He also began training as a boxer. He took the name of his boxing idol, Joe Walcott, the welterweight champion from Barbados, hence his nickname, "Jersey Joe". He debuted as a professional boxer on September 9, 1930, fighting Cowboy Wallace and winning by a knockout in round one. After five straight knockout wins, in 1933, he lost for the first time, beaten on points by Henry Wilson in Philadelphia.
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"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, born Herman Rohde, was an American professional wrestler and one of the biggest wrestling stars in the beginning of the... television era. His performances inspired generations of professional wrestlers, such as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Buddy Rogers' nickname, as well as his look, his attitude, and his finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, most notably becoming the first professional wrestler to hold both the WWWF Championship, now known as the WWE Championship, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The son of German immigrant parents, Rogers was an outstanding athlete, taking up wrestling at age nine at the local YMCA. Upon the advice of one of his instructors, he joined the Camden YMCA Wrestling League, winning its heavyweight championship. He also excelled in football, boxing, and track, but perhaps his best sport was swimming. In 1937 he won the YMCA’s three-mile swimming championship, and throughout his life was known as an excellent swimmer.
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Cynthia Ann "Cindy" Birdsong , better known by her stage name, Cindy Birdsong, is an American singer, most famous for singing with the legendary soul... groups Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles and The Supremes. Birdsong was born in Mount Holly, New Jersey in December 1939 to parents Lloyd Birdsong, Sr. and Annie Birdsong. After living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for a duration of her childhood, the family returned to New Jersey settling in Camden. Birdsong set on sights being a nurse attending college in Pennsylvania, returning to Philadelphia, where she was contacted by a longtime friend, Patsy Holt, to replace another member of her group, Sundray Tucker in the group, The Ordettes, in 1960. At twenty years of age, Birdsong was the oldest member of the group with the remainder of the group still in their mid-teens. In 1961, after a year performing in jubilees, sock hops and school functions, the Ordettes, then managed by respected music manager Bernard Montague, who later managed several other Philadelphia-based groups such as The Stylistics and The Delfonics, got their first deal with Harold Robinson's Newtown Records.
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Brian Vahaly is a former American professional tennis player and graduate of the Mcintire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He began... playing tennis at the age of two with his parents, Barry and Karen. As a junior, Brian Vahaly captured the Easter Bowl 18's title and reached the final of the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in 1997. His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the quarter final at Wimbledon that same year, where he finished 17th in the world junior rankings. Vahaly proceeded to play four years of collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia from 1998–2001, where he was a three time All-American and finished as the school's most successful player. In 2000, he won the United States Amateur Championships . In 2001, Vahaly reached the singles final at the NCAA Championships, and lost in the doubles semi-final with Huntley Montgomery, but finished as the country's number one player in doubles and 5th in singles . Vahaly became school's first tennis All-American in 1999 and during the previous season was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year.
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Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolpho Colombo , known as Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune, "You... Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words", and the legend surrounding his early death. Columbo was born in Camden, New Jersey, the twelfth child of Italian immigrant parents, Nicola and Giulia Colombo. He started playing the violin while still very young and debuted professionally at the age of 13. He left high school at 17 to travel with various bands around the country. He sang and played violin in numerous nightclubs. By 1928, at the age of 20, Columbo began to participate in motion pictures, including a Vitaphone short in which Columbo appeared as a member of Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra. Eventually, he did obtain some feature work in front of the camera, but he slowed down his activities in cinema to pursue other interests. At the time of his death, Columbo had just completed work on the film Wake Up and Dream; he was on his way to stardom when his life was cut short.
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"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, born Herman Rohde, was an American professional wrestler and one of the biggest wrestling stars in the beginning of the... television era. His performances inspired generations of professional wrestlers, such as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Buddy Rogers' nickname, as well as his look, his attitude, and his finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, most notably becoming the first professional wrestler to hold both the WWWF Championship, now known as the WWE Championship, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The son of German immigrant parents, Rogers was an outstanding athlete, taking up wrestling at age nine at the local YMCA. Upon the advice of one of his instructors, he joined the Camden YMCA Wrestling League, winning its heavyweight championship. He also excelled in football, boxing, and track, but perhaps his best sport was swimming. In 1937 he won the YMCA’s three-mile swimming championship, and throughout his life was known as an excellent swimmer.
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Brian Vahaly is a former American professional tennis player and graduate of the Mcintire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia. He began... playing tennis at the age of two with his parents, Barry and Karen. As a junior, Brian Vahaly captured the Easter Bowl 18's title and reached the final of the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica in 1997. His best junior Grand Slam result was reaching the quarter final at Wimbledon that same year, where he finished 17th in the world junior rankings. Vahaly proceeded to play four years of collegiate tennis at the University of Virginia from 1998–2001, where he was a three time All-American and finished as the school's most successful player. In 2000, he won the United States Amateur Championships . In 2001, Vahaly reached the singles final at the NCAA Championships, and lost in the doubles semi-final with Huntley Montgomery, but finished as the country's number one player in doubles and 5th in singles . Vahaly became school's first tennis All-American in 1999 and during the previous season was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of Year.
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Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolpho Colombo , known as Russ Columbo, was an American singer, violinist and actor, most famous for his signature tune, "You... Call It Madness, But I Call It Love", his compositions "Prisoner of Love" and "Too Beautiful For Words", and the legend surrounding his early death. Columbo was born in Camden, New Jersey, the twelfth child of Italian immigrant parents, Nicola and Giulia Colombo. He started playing the violin while still very young and debuted professionally at the age of 13. He left high school at 17 to travel with various bands around the country. He sang and played violin in numerous nightclubs. By 1928, at the age of 20, Columbo began to participate in motion pictures, including a Vitaphone short in which Columbo appeared as a member of Gus Arnheim and His Orchestra. Eventually, he did obtain some feature work in front of the camera, but he slowed down his activities in cinema to pursue other interests. At the time of his death, Columbo had just completed work on the film Wake Up and Dream; he was on his way to stardom when his life was cut short.
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Seymour "Sy" Abraham Liebergot is a retired NASA flight controller, serving during the Apollo program. Liebergot was an EECOM controller and was... responsible for the electrical and environmental systems on board the Command Module. In 1970, he part of the team that guided Apollo 13 back to Earth following the explosion which crippled the spacecraft. He began his career in 1963 with North American Aviation after graduating from California State University, Los Angeles. In 1964, he came to NASA. Liebergot was a Deputy Flight Director on Apollo 4, then an EECOM flight controller on Apollo 8–15. On Apollo 17, he served as CSSB SPAN Support. He continued as a controller in the Skylab and ASTP missions. In the Apollo 13 movie, Seymour "Sy" Liebergot was played by Clint Howard, the brother of director Ron Howard.
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Jim Perry is a former Canadian-American television game show host, singer, announcer, and performer in the 1970s and 1980s. He has had success on... both Canadian and American television, and is best known for his roles as a host on the American game shows Card Sharks and $ale of the Century, as well as the Canadian game shows Definition and Headline Hunters. Perry is also known as the host of the Miss Canada pageant in the 1970s and 1980s. Jim Perry was born James Edward Dooley in Camden, New Jersey. His mother, Genevieve Perry, was a record holding swimmer, as well as a known marathon dancer. His father, Edward Dooley, was a musician. Perry started out as a singer in Special Services after college , working on Armed Forces Radio during the Korean War. After the service, he worked for a short time at General Electric and then replaced Eddie Fisher as the staff vocalist at Grossingers in the Catskill Mountains and later did comedy working with Sid Caesar as his straight man for several years . These were under his birth name of Jim Dooley.
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Loletha Elaine "Lola" Falana is an American singer, dancer, and actress. Falana's father left Cuba to become a welder in the United States, where he... met his wife. Falana spent most of her childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By the age of three she was dancing, and by age five she was singing in the church choir. By the time she was in junior high school, she was already dancing in nightclubs to which she was escorted by her mother. Pursuing a musical career became so important to Falana that, against her parents' wishes, she left Germantown High School a few months before graduation and moved to New York City. Her first dancing gig was at "Small's Paradise" in Harlem. Dinah Washington, the “Queen of Blues”, was influential in fostering Lola’s early career. While dancing in a nightclub, Falana was discovered by Sammy Davis Jr., who gave her a featured role in his 1964 Broadway musical Golden Boy. Lola's first single, "My Baby", was recorded for Mercury Records in 1965. Later in her career she recorded under Frank Sinatra's record label. In the late 1960s Falana was mentored by Davis.
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