Congress's Philadelphia Luncheon

A few days after the hearing, Hardie Scott wrote to Lewis, telling him that there was a good chance that the subcommittee would include all five areas in the bill. However, its members would like to hold an additional hearing in Philadelphia. Scott suggested that the Philadelphians entertain them at lunch. Lewis adopted the idea with enthusiasm, and orchestrated, as he had in the past and would in the future, a congressional trip to Philadelphia. On a fine spring morning, members of the subcommittee and their wives, along with several National Park Service representatives, were met at Thirtieth Street Station by a welcoming committee of prominent Philadelphians. After checking in at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, the party moved to the Union League Club for a luncheon with the Colonial Society of Philadelphia. (The wives lunched below stairs in the women's dining room.) A tour followed lunch. Each of the congressmen must have had a personal guide, for the group was joined by McAneny, Greenfield, Hopkinson, Martin, Larson, Simon, McCosker, Ostroff, and others. The visitors saw the areas and buildings encompassed in the proposed park, had their pictures taken at the Liberty Bell, and visited Society Hill for a reception at a private house on South Fourth Street. The day ended with a dinner at the Barclay Hotel, where Mayor Samuel and Hopkinson, among others, made brief addresses. Several of the congressmen had never been to Philadelphia before and appeared to be impressed by what they were seeing. Chairman Richard J. Welch of the full House committee was unable to make the trip. Three weeks later, on April 10, Welch and his wife came to Philadelphia at judge Lewis's invitation. In the course of his visit he told the press that the subcommittee had recommended approval of all the proposed areas with the exception of Project B, the section south of Walnut Street. After his tour, he thought that it too should be included.