Choose Your Own Adventure

Do you ever look back at key moments in history and think, “I would’ve made a better choice”? We’ll test that assumption using a real-world scenario with local roots.

Philadelphia, 1896: Typhoid fever has been running rampant in the city. The last few decades have seen nearly 16,000 deaths from the terrible disease. Health professionals say polluted water is to blame, but anticontagionists contend the water is pure and safe.

Add to that the manufacturing industries that have brought about a near environmental catastrophe by draining their waste into Philadelphia’s waterways, and you have everything you need for a lively debate about how to make the city’s water safe. But what’s the best solution? Should the city build an expensive filtration plant or invest in a more cost-effective aqueduct system?

Join the Chemical Heritage Foundation for an after-hours gaming adventure where you’ll get to step into someone else’s shoes, and—using your wits, luck, and all the best information available to you at that moment in history—see where your choices land you!

Afterward, toast to your success (or failure), and learn more about the history of Philadelphia’s waterways with representatives from the Fairmount Water Works.

Tickets for this event are $10 per person, and registration is required.

For more information about this event, contact Alexis Pedrick at 215.873.8293 or apedrick@sciencehistory.org.

This program is presented in partnership with the Fairmount Water Works, as part of the upcoming Grid and Flow exhibition.