Philadelphians know Sam Katz as a Philadelphia businessman and former Republican mayoral candidate.

Now he is helping Philadelphians get to know themselves and their city better with his eight-hour documentary film project, The Remaking of America's First Great City: Philadelphia.

"It's hard to figure out where you are going and what's possible without knowing where you've been and why you got there," Katz said.

He took on the project after looking for, but not finding, a definitive narrative on the City of Brotherly Love. He has watched documentaries on New York, Chicago and New Orleans but could find none for Philadelphia.

History books line the shelves in Katz' richly paneled office in The Library Company of Philadelphia's Cassatt House, adjacent to the main building on Locust Street.

While the 1982 tome Philadelphia: A 300-Year History explores the city from its founding to 1982, each segment is written by 20 different scholars and lacked the storytelling element that Katz seeks to employ with his film project.

For many, Philadelphia history is the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Liberty Bell and the mayoral election of Frank Rizzo in 1971, Katz quipped, referring to the late politico's enduring legacy in the city.

The focus of the 22-minute pilot for the documentary covers the city's history from 1864-1876, up to but not including the Centennial Exposition.

A lot was going on during that period, not long after the city expanded its boundaries with the consolidation of townships in 1854 and endured the growing pains that went with it.

The period encompassed the emancipation of slaves, the end of the Civil War and the optimism that followed it.