On November 14, 2015 Historic RittenhouseTown hosted the first workshop in Historic Germantown’s Elephants on the Avenue series. Geocaching & Creative Reflection with Yolanda Wisher invited local families to actively explore the history and home of one of Germantown’s “first families” and to record their own family history through collaborative and creative exercises. Following a hunt for geocapsules holding historical details and inspiration, participants discussed the ways in which class and privilege can impact one’s ability to preserve family history. Participants were encouraged to preserve a piece of their family’s Germantown story with a take-home time capsule that can be buried or hidden in their yard.

Poet, vocalist, and educator Yolanda Wisher is a 2015 Pew Fellow, the author of Monk Eats an Afro, and the co-editor of Peace is a Haiku Song. Wisher was born in Germantown and raised in Montgomery County, PA, where she was named the first poet laureate in 1999.