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Iconic author Edgar Allan Poe is often remembered for his horror stories or short poems. But this week, the Philadelphia Historic District is celebrating Poe as a leader in the detective genre. His story, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” is considered the first modern detective story – and it was written in Philly.
“There really is nothing written before Poe’s ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ work that you can look at and say, ‘oh, that is the modern detective story,’” said Benjamin Eckert, a park ranger at Independence Hall National Historic Park and the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. “It just doesn’t exist before Poe created this genre with this specific short story that he wrote here in Philadelphia.”
Eckert said the story includes the elements that have shaped the detective genre.
“There’s a double murder of two women, and it’s really horrific, and the police can’t solve it,” Eckert said. “And we have a citizen detective named Auguste Dupin, who is fascinated by the case and assembles all the clues, interviews people, and basically puts together all of these clues and figures out what happened and arrives at the correct solution to this vexing mystery.”
Poe’s story ran in the Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine and shortly after, it inspired other authors to begin writing in this genre.
English novelist Wilkie Collins published The Moonstone in 1868. It is considered the first full-length detective story.
The iconic fictional detective Sherlock Holmes appeared later in 1887.
Philly influences
Poe spent his life traveling and living in different places. But his Philly era was an important one, Eckert said.
“The truth is, he’s not from any one place,” Eckert said. “He just was constantly chasing opportunities in different locations, so he lived in Philadelphia for a six-year period, and that six-year period is really when he is at the peak of his creative powers.”
Some of Poe’s best-known works, including “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Gold Bug,” were written while the author lived in Philly, Eckert said.
“He did live in Baltimore for a while, and he died there, but I have a former coworker who used to say Baltimore can claim Poe’s body, but we can claim his body of work,” Eckert said.
Poe’s short life was filled with tragedy – with his father leaving and mother dying all before age 3, and his first wife dying after 11 years of marriage.
Although he was a great writer, he most likely wrote a lot in order to support himself, said Michael Carbonaro, a park ranger at Independence Hall National Historic Park and the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.
“Like any writer, he’s writing to pay his bills, and to be a writer in that era is very, very difficult,” Carbonaro said.
Poe bounced around between jobs during and after his time in Philly, until he died at 40 “in a delirium” at a hospital in Baltimore.
Influencing the detective genre
Poe’s influence as the creator of the modern detective story lived on in later works, Eckert said.
“Most people who study the genre would say the high water mark of detective fiction, or at least the most popular or successful detective writer is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writing the Sherlock Holmes stories,” Eckert said. “Doyle was very clear that he based Sherlock Holmes off of Poe’s character Auguste Dupin, and there’s even one short story where Sherlock Holmes even discusses Dupin.”
Poe’s impact extended far beyond the United States, Eckert said.
“Writers all over the world, and in many different cultures and languages, have been inspired by Poe,” he said. “Another great example is one of the most important mystery writers in 20th-century Japan, who used Edgar Allan Poe as his pen name,” Eckert said.
“So he wrote under the name ‘Edogawa Rampo,’ which is how you pronounce Edgar Allan Poe in Japanese, and again, this is someone who on his own was a very successful author,” Eckert said.
This week’s Firstival will celebrate Poe’s far-reaching impact on Halloween.
“We’re going to have a series of activity tables, all kind of family-friendly,” Carbonaro said. “Please do not come if you’re expecting lots of horror and gore.”
While the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is undergoing renovations, Carbonaro said the grounds will still host a celebration.
You can attend this week’s Firstival on Saturday at 532 N. 7th St. from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
And below is the full list of this year’s Firstivals – including the upcoming dates and locations.
Completed
Week 1: Successful balloon flight in America (1793)
Week 2: The Mummers parade, the nation’s first folk parade (1901)
Week 3: Volunteer fire company (1736)
Week 4: Professional basketball league (1898)
Week 5: Public Girl Scout cookie sale (1932)
Week 6: African Methodist Episcopal congregation (1794)
Week 7: Abolitionist society in America (1775)
Week 8: Authentic Chinese gate built in America (1984)
Week 9: Public protest against slavery in America (1688)
Week 10: Flower Show (1829)
Week 11: Women’s medical college (1850)Week 12: Matchbook (1892)
Week 13: Medical school (1765)
Week 14: Stadium (1895)
Week 15: Circus performance (1793)
Week 16: Botanical garden (1728)
Week 17: Postmaster (1737)
Week 18: American-made piano and sousaphone (1775 and 1893)
Week 19: Mother’s Day (1908)
Week 20: Hospital in America (1751)
Week 21: World’s Fair on American soil (1876)
Week 22: Steamboat for passengers and freight (1787)
Week 23: American flag (1777)
Week 24: U.S. Army (1775)
Week 25: Annual Reminder demonstration (1965)
Week 26: Paper maker in America (1690)
Week 27: Bank of the United States (1791)
Week 28: Organized baseball team (1831)
Week 29: Ice cream soda (Oct. 1874)
Week 30: American art school (1805)
Week 31: Scientific Society of Natural History (1812)
Week 31: Zoo in America (1874)
Week 32: U.S. Mint (1793)
Week 33: Selfie (1839)
Week 34: Slinky (1943)
Week 35: Signing of the Constitution (1787)
Week 36: Continental Congress (1774)
Week 37: Naming of the United States (1776)
Week 38: Ronald McDonald House (1974)
Week 39: Penitentiary in America (1829)
Week 40: First peoples
Week 50: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (1775)
Week 51: Public showing of a motion picture (1870)
Upcoming
• Modern detective story written (1841)
Oct. 31, Edgar Allan Poe House, 532 N. 7th St.
• Thanksgiving Day parade in America (1920)
Nov. 7, Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East
• University in America (1740)
Nov. 14, Houston Hall, The University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.
• Children’s hospital in America (1855)
Nov. 21, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Main Building, 3401 Civic Center Blvd.
• Pencil with an attached eraser (1858)
Nov. 28, National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.
• Weather bureau (1870)
Dec. 5, The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.
• Electronic computer (1945)
Dec. 12, The University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut St.
• Public lending library in America (1731)
Dec. 19, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St.
• Philly food firsts: Cheesesteaks (1930s), water ice (1932) and bubble gum (1928)
Dec. 26, Reading Terminal Market, 1136 Arch St.
