Memory stream Dipping into Philadelphia's illustrated past

In late 1945, the charter of the newly established United Nations was ratified. But where would this new organization have its headquarters? It very nearly could have been Philadelphia.

The United Nations favored a location in the United States, particularly after the demise of the European-centric League of Nations. More than 248 cities threw their hats into the ring, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York, Boston, New Orleans, and Chicago, along with Newport, R.I., and tiny Tuskahoma, Okla. - which promoters argued could be as central as any other place, given the potential of air travel.

Many said there was no better place for the United Nations than Philadelphia - the birthplace of freedom and democracy. Proposed sites included Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, west of the Schuylkill, and an area in the Northwest encompassing portions of Roxborough and Gladwyne.

Mayor Bernard Samuel urged the U.N. headquarters committee to choose the City of Brotherly Love in a column published in The Inquirer on Dec. 29, 1945. "Nowhere else than at Philadelphia could the United Nations organization find such great and constant inspiration for the fateful labors it is called upon to perform," he wrote.

The race heated up in 1946, when the committee's top choices of Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Philadelphia ramped up their respective cases, showing off the best of what their cities had to offer and railing against their competitors. But then, John D. Rockefeller Jr. offered $8.5 million to enable the United Nations to buy property in Manhattan along the East River. Shortly after learning of his offer, the committee voted, 33-7, in favor of New York City.

Learn more about Philadelphia's bid to host the United Nations at a free lecture featuring Charlene Mires, author of Capital of the World: The Race to Host the United Nations, Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Philadelphia History Museum. Register at www.hsp.org.