Upcoming Events
may
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Michelle Lee “Apparatuses of Footbinding: Tracing a Genealogy of Violence against Asian Women” Thursday, May 16, 2024 7:00 p.m. ET Virtual Event |
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Michelle Lee
“Apparatuses of Footbinding: Tracing a Genealogy of Violence against Asian Women”
Thursday, May 16, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET
Virtual Event | Free
How can re-figuring the body uncover alternative epistemologies of racialized and gendered violence? This talk seeks to explore this question by examining the visual cultures of footbinding as a paradigm of violence against Asian women that continues to haunt despite repeated claims of its end. By juxtaposing contemporary visual arts against archival images from the era of Western colonial expansion in China beginning in the 19th century, Michelle Lee examines the episteme of footbinding through its various apparatuses (i.e. stereograph, print media, written travelogues, medical reports, and visual arts.) to construct a specific genealogy. In doing so, Lee argues that framing the particularities of footbinding as one mode of violence against Asian women out of many can elucidate the ways Asian women have not only endured very specific forms of discriminatory violence, but also how their visibility has been dependent on their susceptibility to violence.
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Time
(Thursday) 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
june
07jun11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, June 7, at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, June 7, at 11:00 AM
In-Person Event
Join us for a guided tour of the Library Company’s first-floor exhibition galleries. Learn more about the history of the de facto first Library of Congress and oldest colonial cultural institution in the United States. Guests will also learn more about art and artifacts on display in the Logan Room, and as well as hear about the collection materials showcased in our rotating exhibition space.
Space is limited, so please sign up for only one tour time per person. Tickets are available for all First Fridays in April through September:
Friday, June 7, 11:00 AM—12:00 PM
Friday, August 2, 11:00 AM—12:00 PM
Friday, September 6, 11:00 AM—12:00 PM
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Time
(Friday) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
Event Details
The 10th Annual Lecture in Honor of John C. Van Horne, featuring Alan Taylor Monday, June 10th, 2024 Members & Donors Reception – 5:30 pm
Event Details
The 10th Annual Lecture in Honor of John C. Van Horne, featuring Alan Taylor
Monday, June 10th, 2024
Members & Donors Reception – 5:30 pm
Lecture – 6:30 pm
Hybrid Event
Benjamin Franklin Hall, American Philosophical Society, 427 Chestnut St., Philadelphia
Join us for a conversation with historian Alan Taylor about his new book American Civil Wars: A Continental History of the United States, 1850-1873. (W.W. Norton, 2024)
In a fast-paced narrative of soaring ideals and sordid politics, of civil war and foreign invasion, the award-winning historian Alan Taylor presents a pivotal twenty-year period in which North America’s three largest countries―the United States, Mexico, and Canada―all transformed themselves into nations. The American Civil War stands at the center of the story, its military history and the drama of emancipation the highlights. Taylor relies on vivid characters to carry the story, from Joseph Hooker, whose timidity in crisis was exploited by Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson in the Union defeat at Chancellorsville, to Martin Delany and Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Black abolitionists whose critical work in Canada and the United States advanced emancipation and the enrollment of Black soldiers in Union armies.
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Time
(Monday) 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
Event Details
Celebrate Juneteenth at the Library Company of Philadelphia Generations of Progress: A Juneteenth Celebration Exploring Frederick Douglass’s Legacy Friday, June 14th, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Event Details
Celebrate Juneteenth at the Library Company of Philadelphia
Generations of Progress: A Juneteenth Celebration Exploring Frederick Douglass’s Legacy
Friday, June 14th, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Hybrid Event | Free
The truth, lessons, and hope Frederick Douglass offered during his remarkable lifetime not only helped shape Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and the American Civil Rights movement, they can guide and inspire us in our own cultural moment. Born into slavery in 1818, Douglass escaped to New York City at the age of twenty, determined to tell his story and fight for the rights of all men and women to be free. His first autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (Boston, 1845), remains one of the most influential books of modern times, as captivating and stirring now as it was when it was first published in 1845, with just as many lessons for how to navigate our society. This year’s Juneteenth celebration will feature Kevin Greene, the great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass, discussing his legacy and the new edition of Douglass’s autobiography, featuring an introduction and archival images from Greene and other Douglass descendants. We hope you’ll join us for this journey through the life and impact of one of the most influential figures in U.S. history.
Sponsored by the Program in African-American History
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Time
(Friday) 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm(GMT-04:00)
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Paul Croce William James, American Influencer: History, Challenges, Models Thursday, June 20, 2024 7:00 p.m. ET Virtual Event | Free
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Paul Croce
William James, American Influencer: History, Challenges, Models
Thursday, June 20, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET
Virtual Event | Free
While contributing to the founding of American psychology and philosophy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, William James (1842-1910) applied his insights to controversial public issues. Using lectures, essays, and letters to the editor, he was a social influencer of his day. He spoke out about the unfair treatment of alternative healthcare providers, the “lynching epidemic” oppressing African Americans, and the cruelties of American expansion. Dr. Paul Croce will be discussing how James’s achievements and his challenges present lessons for steering through the fraught differences of our own time.
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Time
(Thursday) 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
july
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Michael L. Dickinson Almost Dead: Slavery and Social Rebirth in the Black Urban Atlantic, 1680-1807 Thursday, July 18, 2024 7:00 PM ET
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Michael L. Dickinson
Almost Dead: Slavery and Social Rebirth in the Black Urban Atlantic, 1680-1807
Thursday, July 18, 2024
7:00 PM ET
Virtual Event | Free
From the late 17th century to the abolition of the slave trade in the Atlantic, Almost Dead (University of Georgia Press, 2022) is an account of the lives, sufferings, and resistances of thousands of enslaved people in the Black urban Atlantic, and how the survival of those captives led to the formation of unique and dynamic communities. Dr. Michael L. Dickinson explores a network of commercially linked cities to reveal commonalities, differences, and connections between urban communities of enslaved Black people across the Atlantic: both in the mainland United States and the Caribbean. As Dr. Dickinson reveals through the adoption of the perspectives of the enslaved, the similarities far outweighed the difference, and cities continued to be key sites for both Black subjugation and resilience. These similarities root themselves in the all-too-similar environments of oppression and a shared transnational need of enslaved Black people to resist social death and maintain their humanity.
Sponsored by the Program in African American History
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Time
(Thursday) 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
25jul1:00 pm2:00 pmFor the Common Good: Reviewing the Library Company’s First 150 Years
Event Details
For the Common Good: Reviewing the Library Company’s First 150 Years A Virtual Talk by Dana Dorman, LCP Papers Project Archivist Thursday, July 25, 2024 1:00
Event Details
For the Common Good: Reviewing the Library Company’s First 150 Years
A Virtual Talk by Dana Dorman, LCP Papers Project Archivist
Thursday, July 25, 2024
1:00 PM ET
Virtual Event | Free
As the Library Company nears its 300th anniversary, our staff are taking a deep dive into our past thanks to the Library Company Papers Project, a three-year, NEH-funded project to review, process, and digitize institutional records from the Library Company’s founding in 1731 through 1881. Join Library Company Archivist Dana Dorman for a virtual collection review of our institutional archives. She’ll be sharing a selection of documents from the Library Company’s first 150 years of operations, including minutes, correspondence, shareholder records, financial documents, book orders, and much more.
This project has been made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this resource do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For additional information on NEH, visit www.neh.gov.
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Time
(Thursday) 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
august
02aug11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, August 2, at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, August 2, at 11:00 AM
In-Person Event
Join us for a guided tour of the Library Company’s first-floor exhibition galleries. Learn more about the history of the de facto first Library of Congress and oldest colonial cultural institution in the United States. Guests will also learn more about art and artifacts on display in the Logan Room, and as well as hear about the collection materials showcased in our rotating exhibition space.
Space is limited, so please sign up for only one tour time per person. Tickets are available for all First Fridays in April through September:
Friday, August 2, 11:00 AM—12:00 PM
Friday, September 6, 11:00 AM—12:00 PM
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Time
(Friday) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
06aug5:30 pm7:30 pm Dolls of our Lives : Exploring American Girlhood Then and NowFree
Event Details
Dolls of Our Lives: Exploring American Girlhood Then and Now A Book Talk and Collection Review with Mary Mahoney and Amy Sopcak Joseph Tuesday, August 6, 2024 Reception
Event Details
Dolls of Our Lives: Exploring American Girlhood Then and Now
A Book Talk and Collection Review with Mary Mahoney and Amy Sopcak Joseph
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Reception at 5:30 PM | Lecture at 6:00 PM
In-Person Event | Free
Combining history, travelogue, and memoir, Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can’t Quit American Girl (Macmillan Publishers, 2023), follows Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney on an unforgettable journey to the past as they delve into the origins of the iconic American Girl doll brand. Through interviews with a legion of devoted doll lovers, a field trip to Colonial Williamsburg, a place that inspired Pleasant to create American Girl, and an exploration of their own (complicated) fandom, their work takes a deep dive into one of the ’90s’ most coveted products. Join Mary Mahoney for a discussion about the nostalgia and allure of American Girl dolls and see Library Company collections related to American girlhood.
Sponsored by The Davida Tenenbaum Deutsch Program in Women’s History
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Time
(Tuesday) 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm(GMT-04:00)
15aug7:00 pm8:00 pmFIRESIDE CHAT: The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History Free
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Michael D. Hattem The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History Thursday, August 15, 2024 7:00 PM ET Virtual Event |
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Michael D. Hattem
The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History
Thursday, August 15, 2024
7:00 PM ET
Virtual Event | Free
While the American Revolution is the agreed-upon beginning of our nation’s origins, the meaning of that revolution has never achieved anywhere near the same degree of consensus. For almost as long as the United States has existed, a wide range of political and social actors have narrativized and reimagined the Revolution to match their current climates and personal agendas. Through revealing the Revolution’s singular presence as an American national myth, Dr. Hattem reveals the ever-changing nature of the Revolution’s meaning, how the nation’s founding is used far more often as a divisive tool than a unifying one, and how reinventing the past is a central and long-lived American sociopolitical pastime.
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Time
(Thursday) 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
september
06sep11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, September 6, at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, September 6, at 11:00 AM
In-Person Event
Join us for a guided tour of the Library Company’s first-floor exhibition galleries. Learn more about the history of the de facto first Library of Congress and oldest colonial cultural institution in the United States. Guests will also learn more about art and artifacts on display in the Logan Room, and as well as hear about the collection materials showcased in our rotating exhibition space.
Space is limited, so please sign up for only one tour time per person. Tickets are available for all First Fridays in April through September. A new link will be made available to sign up for Fall-Winter tours.
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Time
(Friday) 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Michael A. Blaakman Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic Thursday, September 26, 2024 7:00 p.m. ET Virtual Event |
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Dr. Michael A. Blaakman
Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic
Thursday, September 26, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET
Virtual Event | Free
In the first twenty-five years after its founding, the United States experienced an extreme wave of land speculation, so intense that people referred to it as a “mania” both then and now. Dr. Michael A. Blaakman’s Speculation Nation (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023) traces the revolutionary origins of this real-estate fanaticism in a catalogue of ambition, corruption, capitalism, and politics that spanned millions of acres and was intrinsically tied to Native American land dispossession. Dr. Blaakman follows the schemes of these speculators from boom to bust, and in doing so creates a picture of the economic realities that underpinned (and underpin) U.S. settler colonialism: a frontier defined by profit first, and land second, where the conventions of the era firmly rooted land theft as an axiom of the American republic and made speculative capitalism intrinsic to the land of the free.
Sponsored by the Program in Early American Economy and Society
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Time
(Thursday) 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
2024 Holiday Closings
The Library Company will observe the following holidays in 2024:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Jan 15, 2024
President’s Day – Feb 19, 2024
Memorial Day – May 27, 2024
Juneteenth – June 19, 2024
Independence Day – July 4, 2024
Labor Day – September 2, 2024
Thanksgiving- November 28 & 29, 2024
Christmas Eve – December 24, 2024
Christmas Day – December 25, 2024
Winter Break – December 26, 2024 – January 1, 2025
For more information on these events please call 215-546-3181 or email events@librarycompany.org