Watch and Learn Presentations

New Content is posted on our main Programs Page HERE daily Mon-Thurs at Noon. See below on this page for our previously posted Watch and Learn content archived for you to watch whenever you want!

PERFORMING ARTS

Watch this great scene from Les Misérables. The National tour will be in Philadelphia this Fall at The Kimmel Center! Click HERE

Watch the moving Finale from the Broadway Musical COME FROM AWAY. Click HERE
You can watch the full production streaming now on Apple+ TV.

Cirque du Soleil has shows all over the world. Watch some of the acts that best show off the true strength of their artists. Click HERE

Watch these great performances from The Wiz Live recorded on stage in front of a studio audience. Click HERE

Enjoy watching this compilation of stunning Cirque du Soleil performances from their most popular shows across the world. Click HERE

Enjoy this A, B, Circus! Episode, The History of Balancing Acts from Cirque du Soleil. Click HERE

Watch Allison Williams perform as Peter Pan in this Musical role made famous by Mary Martin back in 1954 on Broadway. Click HERE

Take a look behind the curtain and watch how they staged the 25th Anniversary production of Phantom of the Opera at The Royal Albert Hall. Click HERE

Discover more about these 20 Dance Styles from all around the World. Click HERE

A Holiday Caroling Recital presented by Snyder School of Singing. Click HERE

Watch the light show and organ performance from the Wannamaker building (Macy’s) downtown this year form the comfort of your home.  Click HERE

Watch and learn about every OSCAR Award winning BEST Song in a Film from 1935- 2016. How many songs do you recognize? CLICK HERE

Julie Snyder and the students of Snyder School of Singing present a Virtual Recital of the beloved songs of Rogers & Hammerstein! Click HERE to watch

Check out these Cirque du Soleil performances from their shows LUZIA, CORTEO, and VOLTA. Click HERE

Enjoy this excellent song and dance performance from Tony Award winner Sutton Foster and the cast of Anything Goes from the 2011 Tony Awards. Click HERE

Watch the Best of Dances from Cirque du Soleil in this great compilation video. Click HERE

A Documentary about Broadway and the American Musical. Watch Episode 1 Part 1 Click HERE. Parts 2-3 and other episodes in this series can be watched HERE.

The Blue Man Group has been around for over 20 years in cities across the world! Learn all about them from the founding members of this unique variety show. Click HERE

Watch the BEST OF Aerial Acts from Cirque du Soleil. CLICK HERE 

A Fascinating short documentary about the re-imagining and new production of a 25 year old Cirque du Soleil show, ALEGRIA. Click HERE

The National English Ballet presents Stina Quagebeur’s NORA, a one-act ballet inspired by the lead character in Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House. Click HERE

Learn about Olympic Champion Ice Dancers Torvill & Dean and their history making performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Click HERE to watch.

Take a look behind the scenes of the blockbuster movie Forrest Gump in this documentary. Click HERE

Cirque du Soleil presents a fascinating and entertaining video of what they do best! Click HERE

Enjoy the Berlin Philharmonic’s performance of Debussy’s La Mer from 2009 with conductor Claudio Abbado. Click HERE

HISTORY

Find out about Drive in Movie Theaters and why they vanished from our culture. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about products that were found in every home in the 1960’s. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the entire History of the State of Florida, in 16 minutes! Click HERE

Learn about Men’s Clothing from the Medieval Age, and how practical it was, or not! Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the Longest bridge in New York! Click HERE

Learn about the days when you could go up to visit the Torch in the Statue of Liberty. Click HERE

Discover all the things that happened in the 1970s that you have probably forgotten about. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the Pittsburgh Skybus. What was it, and why is it no more? Click HERE

Did an Explorer from South Carolina just find the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s missing plane? Watch and learn about this discovery today. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the Rise and Fall of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Click HERE

Get a healthy dose of nostalgia and discover how different life was in the 1950’s in this fun watch and learn video. Click HERE

Learn more about the History of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. Click HERE

Learn about the 6 wives of King Henry the VIII, in order of their reign. Click HERE

Learn about these 13 things from the 1970s that the kids of today would never understand. Click HERE

What is inside the Washington Monument? Watch and find out today! Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the SS United States, that is rotting away in the water in South Philly today. Click HERE

Do you remember these now defunct retail stores we used to love? Click HERE

Learn about the real history behind the Legend of King Arthur. Click HERE

Discover how different every day common objects were 100 years ago! Click HERE

Watch and learn about one of America’s most controversial monuments: Crazy Horse in South Dakota. Click HERE

The Transcontinental Railroad united the American States. Watch the fasinating story! Click HERE

Learn about these 12 items people could not live without in the 1960’s! Click HERE

This man has been collecting vintage NYC Subway signs. Check out this clip from the History Channel about his impressive collection. CLICK HERE

Watch and learn about America’s first Office Building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about Wrigley Field in Chicago, America’s last great historic Ball Park. Click HERE

Watch and learn about the interesting history behind Chicago’s Comiskey Park. Click HERE

Learn about when the US Postal Service began and what its purpose was. Click HERE

Could Blackbeard’s treasure be buried at the bottom of the sea? Watch this great mini-documentary from the History Chanel and find out. Click HERE

Discover the Lost Canals of Los Angeles in this fascinating short documentary. Click HERE

Learn about the Hoover Dam, and how it changed the face of the American West. Click HERE

Discover Goose Island, a long forgotten part of Chicago that had a big part in shaping the city we know today. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the construction of the Sears Tower in Chicago. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about George Washington, and how he went from a Revolutionary war General to America’s first President. Click HERE

Did you know there is an apartment at the top of the Eifel Tower? Watch and Learn about it today! Click HERE

Learn about the History behind America’s greatest border dispute: The Mason-Dixon Line. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the history behind the Mt Rushmore Monument. Click HERE

Discover strange and obsolete home features from the past. Click HERE

Visit the Airplane Boneyard in Arizona. What all can you find there and why. Click HERE

Watch and learn about the Famous and Historic Route 66, past and present. Click HERE

Take a trip back to the 1960’s and look through vintage photos from summer days spent poolside. Click HERE

Learn all about the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 held in Chicago, famously known as the White City. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the Subway tunnels of New York City. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the Men Who Built America during the Gilded Age, in this great episode from The History Channel. Click HERE

Discover what happened to America’s first and oldest telephone network. Click Here

Watch a fascinating clip from the show The Curse of Oak Island on the History Chanel, about the origins of an ancient relic they found. Click HERE

How much do you know about America’s Great Leaders? Find out on this episode of Pop History! Click HERE

After water, tea is the second most popular drink in the world. It has been around as a drink for 5000 years. Discover the history of Tea in this short documentary. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about Pieces of Royal Treasure found by Gary Drayton in this short episode of Beyond Oak Island from the History Chanel. Click Here

Learn about Buttercup Cottage, whose remaining ruins can be seen at the corner of Cresheim Road and Emlen Street in Mt. Airy. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about were most of our Christmas Holiday traditions come from, in this Documentary from the History Chanel. Click HERE

This History Chanel show about the Real Story of Thanksgiving, gives viewers a new understanding of how this much-loved holiday has changed over time. Click HERE

Learn all about the history of The Empire State Building in NYC. Click HERE

Discover how the Vikings Ruled the Seas, with their creation of Long Boats. Click HERE

Learn about what happened to the Worlds Fair. Click HERE

Watch and learn about how Black and Decker got it’s start. Click HERE

Join the “Philly Captain” as he explores Historic Germantown, in NW Philadelphia. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the 1960 Campion Philadelphia Eagles! Click HERE

Buried Philly: Uncovering 300 Years Of History Click HERE

A fascinating lecture from the Penn Museum about Philadelphia: From Colonial Outpost to Modern Metropolis. Click HERE

Margaret Montet returns to present Part 2 of her presentation on 20th Century Music! Click HERE  You can watch Part 1 HERE if you missed it. 

History at Home: Forging a Community Fabric–The Houston/Woodward Developments Click HERE

Watch and Learn about the 1900 Paris Exposition World’s Fair in Paris, through beautiful colorized photographs. Click HERE

After 192 Years the Philadelphia Inquirer has stopped its print presses. Watch and learn about the people (many of them 2nd and 3rd generation) who worked to print this newspaper for decades. Click HERE

Learn How Water Shaped the US Map in this episode from the History Channel. Click HERE

Discover the history of Killian’s Hardware, McNally’s Tavern, Robertson’s Flowers, and Chestnut Hill Cheese Shop on Germantown Ave. Click HERE

Watch this short Documentary about the Chestnut Hill Railroads presented by the Chestnut Hill Conservancy. Click HERE

Watch and learn about WWII: Role of the Homefront presented to us last week by Jeraldine Kohut. Click HERE 

Learn about the complex water system that was used by NW Philadelphia Neighborhoods in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Click HERE

Google’s Year in Search video for 2020 reflects on this past year, and what people all over the world searched for. Click HERE

This video from the Chestnut Hill Conservancy titled Vanished Northwest, shows us some fascinating architecture that used to be in the area. Click HERE

Watch this interesting short video about the planning of the city of Philadelphia. Click HERE

Watch and learn about the history of the “Gentle Wissahickon” Valley Park in this short documentary. Click HERE

A short documentary, History at Home: Wissahickon People and Nature, presented by the Chestnut Hill Conservancy. Click HERE

Hershey’s chocolate is a big name in PA, but exactly how big is the Hershey Company today? Click HERE to watch and learn all about it!

Take a look at the site of the 1964 Worlds Fair in Queens NY. This documentary includes great footage from both then and now. Click HERE

Take a look at landmarks, buildings and parks that once defined life in the Philadelphia area, that are no longer here, in Part 1 of this interesting documentary presented by WHYY. CLICK HERE

Things That Aren’t There Anymore: Philadelphia- Part 2. Click HERE to watch this documentary about long gone landmarks and places. 

Take a trip back in time to  early 1900’s Philadelphia. Streets looked different, but many of the buildings remain today. See if you can spot them in this collection of old photos. Click HERE

Before it was a mall it was Willow Grove Park, where “life was a lark”. Watch this documentary all about it. Click HERE 

Watch all about the Italian Artisans who built Chestnut Hill. Click HERE

Learn about Thomas Jefferson’s lesser known historic “vacation” home Poplar Forrest in Virginia. Click HERE

SPEAKERS and PRESENTATIONS

Lecturer and Librarian Margaret Montet presents her popular short lecture  “Fighting Fake News” Click HERE to watch

SPEAKERS SERIES/ FORUM ON THE HILL PRESENTATIONS

  • May 2024: Angelo Cataldi  Topic: Turning up the Volume in the Most Passionate Sports City in America  Click HERE
  • April 2024: Amy Jane Cohen  Topic: Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape  Click HERE
  • March 2024: Dr. Joel Schwartz  Topic: Laughter is the Best Medicine  Click HERE
  • February 2024: Rebecca Yamin  Topic: Digging In the City of Brotherly Love. Stories from Philadelphia Archaeology  Click HERE
  • January 2024: Brett H Mandel Topic: Philadelphia, Corrupt and Consenting. A City’s Struggle against an Epithet   Click HERE
  • November 2023: David Young Topic: The Battles of Germantown: Effective Public History in America. Click HERE
  • September 2023: Thomas Keels Topic: Franklin’s Forgotten Philadelphia CLICK HERE
  • April 2023: Dan Biddle and Murray Dubin Topic: Tasting Freedom: the life of civil rights activist Octavius Catto. Click HERE
  • March 2023: Eric Gershenow Topic: The Science Behind Creating a New Medication. Click HERE
  • February 2023: Eric Corson, Topic: Reaching Beyond Prison Walls: Stories of Volunteer Visitors and the Prisoners They See  Click HERE
  • January 2023: Chris Petrak  Topic: Philadelphia and the birth of American Ornithology  CLICK HERE
  • November 2022: Jane Golden  Topic: Mural Arts Philadelphia  Click HERE
  • October 2022: Josh Hitchens  Topic: Haunted History of Philadelphia  Click HERE
  • September 2022: John Wilkinson  Topic: The Post-Pandemic Church  Click HERE
  • June 2022: Michael Kraus, Topic: A Modern Renaissance Man! Click HERE
  • May 2022: Rev. Dr. Beth Shalom Hessel  Topic: The Right to Be American: Japanese Americans and World War II  Watch HERE

  • March 2022: Dr. Jason Karlawish  Topic: The Problem of Alzheimer’s   Watch HERE

  • February 2022: Kathleen Barron, L. J. Rasi and Danny Rivera Topic: The Impact of the Opioid Crisis on a Community   Watch HERE

  • November 2021: Sr. Catherine T. Nerney Topic: Forgiveness and Reconciliation: The Great Work of Love in a Wounded World Watch HERE
  • October 2021: Rachel Falkove, Tara Monihan, Eileen Jones Topic: Serving Our Neighbors During the Pandemic and Beyond. Click HERE
  • September 2021: Jeff Marazzo, CEO, Spark Theraputics  Topic: Creating The Path For Gene Therapies Watch HERE
  • June 2021: Dr. Michael Stephen  Topic: The Power, Fragility, and Future of our Extraordinary Lungs  Click HERE
  • May 2021: Drew Brown Topic: Philadelphia’s consolidation of 1854, and how it led to us drinking the Schuylkill River  .Watch HERE
  • April 2021: Pamela King Topic: Digital Data Security & Privacy: What you don’t know can hurt you. Watch HERE
    Download resource links she shared: Click HERE
    Download steps to take if you have been hacked. Click HERE
  • March 2021: Mike Sielski  Topic: Philadelphia Sports Media- yesterday, today and tomorrow  Watch HERE
  • February 2021: Thomas Hine  Topic: Populuxe Revisited: The Look and Life of Midcentury America Watch HERE
  • JANUARY 2021: David Thornburg Topic: The 2020 Election’s (Almost!) Over: Now What? The Challenges to Politics and Governance in Pennsylvania Watch HERE
  • NOVEMBER 2020: Larry Arrigale and Thomas Keels Topic: Philadelphia’s Golden Age of Retail  Watch HERE
  • OCTOBER 2020: Margaret Montet  Topic: Twentieth Century American Music- Part 1 Watch HERE
  • SEPTEMBER 2020: Mark Nottingham Topic: An Economic Outlook. What the Presidential Election foretells and what to expect in 2021 Watch HERE 
  • JUNE 2020: Yosaif August. Topic: Follow your passions in an Encore Career. Watch HERE
  • MAY 2020: Elizabeth Sawyer. Topic: Unearthing the Past: Archaeological Research at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Watch HERE
  • APRIL 2020: Eric Gershenow. Topic: The Future of Medicine- The Emergence of Cell and Gene Therapies. Watch HERE

PLACES and HOW TO VIDEOS

Discover interesting facts about the World Trade Center in NYC. Past, Present and Future. Click HERE

What is inside the spires of New York City’s most notable buildings? Click HERE

Watch and Learn about some of the collections you can find at the Penn Museum! Click HERE

Watch and Learn about what it means for Philadelphia to be America’s First World Heritage City. Click HERE

Learn how to find your core values, and what matters most to you, so you can apply it to various aspects of your life. Click HERE to try it with Mariangela as she is lead through a Values Mining exercise. 

What you missed on Day 2 of the Tokyo Olympics. Click HERE

How to create stunning garden borders with these essential tips. Click HERE

Learn about the Grand Teton National Park in this fun video from the Travel Channel. Click HERE

Watch and Learn about how a Disney World attraction ended up at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando. Click HERE

Learn about Niagara Falls. One of the wonders of the world. Click HERE

Watch this video tour of Marineland Dolphin Adventure in Florida, where they are rescuing marine animals who have suffered injuries in the wild. Click HERE

This Classic Cookie has been around for over 100 years. Learn how Oreo’s are made. Click HERE

Watch and learn how to make Swedish Bread– Click HERE, and CLICK HERE for the recipe. 

Watch and learn about Gordon Ramsay’s Simple Holiday Recipes and get cooking today! Click HERE

Watch and Learn about how Candy Canes are made, and their history. Click HERE

Watch and Learn how to make an easy no-sew pillow cover! Click HERE

Watch and learn how to make healthy quick and easy meals with Gordon Ramsay. Click HERE

Watch and Learn how to make a beautiful Fall Wreath for your home! Click HERE

Learn to make Not Your Grandma’s Coleslaw. A delicious, healthy version of this favorite side dish. Click HERE

Learn how to make donuts easily at home two ways- Baked and Fried! Click HERE

Watch and Learn about these key cooking skills from Master Chef Gordon Ramsay. Click HERE

Quick & Simple Breakfast Recipes With Gordon Ramsay. Click HERE

Do you know what happens to your recyclables after you put them in the bin and they get picked up? Learn about it today! Click HERE

Learn about how Food Waste contributes to climate change. Click HERE to watch.

PHILADELPHIA: THE GREAT EXPERIMENT Episodes

A fascinating documentary series filmed and produced locally.

MORE INFORMATION:

You can also visit our YouTube Channel anytime by clicking HERE. It has some of the messages, and videos we have shared above on it, and is updated regularly.

To get on the e-mail list for Center on the Hill please contact Mariangela  Saavedra, Director, at 215.247.4654 or msaavedra@chestnuthillpres.org.