Who was the first mayor of Philadelphia? Who designed Independence Hall? What influence did Italian Americans have on the city's architecture?
While these questions may seem trivial and better left for a history department midterm, many believe they are critical to the story of Philadelphia.
Over the past month, an increasing number of city councilors have discussed testing requirements for Philadelphia tour guides. If approved, tour guides would be required to pass exams on Philadelphia's history and become certified or risk possible penalties.
City Councilor Blondell Reynolds Brown proposed the legislation and is its primary advocate. Brown and her supporters noticed that many tour guides were telling personalized stories of the city's history and were unable to address many visitors' questions.
"Our hope in passing the bill is that the story of Philadelphia is told accurately," said Joseph Meade, legislative director for Brown.
Similar tour-guide certifications have been commonplace in New York and Washington, D.C. for years, he said, noting that they had been "well-received" in those places.
"We're not trying to make [the exam] too strenuous," Meade said, but he noted that standardization will "help market the city" to visitors.
Penn's Kite and Key, the tour-guide organization on campus, has also noted the impact that a precise knowledge of history and fact can have on visitors.
Kite and Key requires that prospective tour guides attend information sessions about security, housing and the four undergraduate schools. In addition, they are evaluated while giving actual tours.
Kite and Key tries "to ensure that all tour guides are well-acquainted with historical facts," said College sophomore Amanda Nelson, Kite and Key tour-guide coordinator.
Fortunately, most of the Kite and Key tour guides get Penn's history right, Nelson said. However, the city's tours are often blamed for distorting history by not telling the full story, said City Councilor Curtis Jones, a supporter of the bill.
As for tour companies adapting to the new regulations, Jones said there might be a "fear of change," but it won't be that difficult to adjust to new requirements.
When people hear how their background mattered to the development of a city, "those people feel welcome and a part of those cities," he said, advocating a substantive teaching of the city's diverse past.
"Right now it's not uniform; they don't get it right, and it's not diverse," Jones said.
