The Union Library Company of Hatboro, Pennsylvania, founded in 1755, is one of the oldest public libraries in America and one of many that imitated the Library Company of Philadelphia in name, mission, and organization. Recently the Board of Directors of the Hatboro Library approved a long-term deposit in the Library Company of Philadelphia of […]
On Thursday, April 23, the Library Company will host the keynote address for a conference titled “Human Trafficking in Early America,” co-sponsored with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, the Department of History at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University. The United Nations defines human […]
The Union Library Company of Hatboro, Pennsylvania, founded in 1755, is one of the oldest public libraries in America and one of many that imitated the Library Company of Philadelphia in name, mission, and organization. Recently the Board of Directors of the Hatboro Library approved a long-term deposit in the Library Company of Philadelphia of […]
Marriott C. Morris took this photograph of his son, Marriott Jr., in 1903 outside their house on Cresheim Road in the Mt. Airy neighborhood. Young Marriott’s attire was typical for a boy of three at the time: skirted sailor suit, long hair, stockings and a wide brimmed hat. However for modern viewers who are used […]
The following is a guest post by Michael Froio who is a professional photographer, associate professor and facilities manager for the Photography Program, part of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Drawing inspiration from the work of William H. Rau and Frederick Gutekunst, Michael’s ongoing project, “From […]
In 1906 the Keystone Automobile Club was established, and fifteen years later became affiliated with the newly formed National Motorists’ Association, a group promoting national standards for roads, pedestrian and motorist safety, as well as the distribution of travel information. In the Library Company of Philadelphia’s collection of photographs by the Philadelphia commercial studio The […]
As a visitor to the Library Company, you might see any of the thousands of objects in our collection in a variety of ways. You could view prints, pamphlets, and paintings as part of an exhibition in the gallery, study rare books in the reading room, or unfold a map from the 18th century in […]
On April 8, Library Company members will gather at the Union League of Philadelphia for the 2nd Annual Library Company Lecture in Honor of John Van Horne. The annual series honors the former Library Company director who served for over 29 years at the helm of the organization. This year’s speaker will be historian Margaret […]
Although exhibitions rotate through our Louise Lux-Sions and Harry Sions Gallery, many find new lives as online exhibitions. K-12 teachers reference and utilize these online resources, and to encourage further classroom use, we are creating a teacher’s guide for our current exhibition The Genius of Freedom: Northern Black Activism and Uplift after the Civil War. […]
As part of Philadelphia’s three-month long celebration Framing Fraktur, the Library Company has a small selection of our printed and manuscript fraktur on exhibition through May 22, 2015. From birth certificates to bookplates, these gems of folk art illuminate the German-American experience in early America. Other holdings from our German-Americana collections are showcased. Pennsylvania German […]
One of the hallmarks of the Digital Humanities is collaborative education and outreach. The Library Company continues to work with digital managers and support staff among area colleges, cultural organizations and museums. This past December LCP’s Information Technology manager Nicole Scalessa collaborated with Laurie Allen, Coordinator for Digital Scholarship and Services at Haverford College, to […]
Perhaps as a distraction from yet another month of winter weather, turning the calendars to February focuses some of our thoughts on Valentine’s Day and romance. While we are all familiar with today’s ubiquitous visual records of weddings, I found myself wondering about love and marriage and photography in an earlier time period, and began […]
About seven miles north of Avocado, the Morris family shore house located in Sea Girt, New Jersey, is the small town of Ocean Grove. Founded in 1869 by a group of devout Methodists as a permanent camp meeting location, Ocean Grove became a seaside community devoted to simple living and everyday holiness. It does not […]
A wide variety of projects have resulted from readers using our historical collections. Occasionally we like to feature them in our blog. In late 2014 I had the pleasure to meet Ronald Shaffer, who among his many activities serves as the president of the Old Pine Conservancy, as well as a tour guide of the […]
To celebrate the popularity of our current exhibition “Genius of Freedom: Northern Black Activism and Uplift after the Civil War” and to make it possible for more people to visit our gallery, the Library Company will be open from 10 am to 3 pm on the last Saturday of the month from February to June. Include […]
In December, the Greer family gave the Library Company an oversized album of 19th century photos taken by Frederick Gutekunst. A native of Germantown, Gutekunst was a celebrated post-bellum photographer whose subjects included Walt Whitman, Thomas Eakins, and Woodrow Wilson. The Greer album focuses on Gutekunst’s images of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1870s. These […]
The Library Company is pleased to partner with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for a teachers workshop that examines African American agency in procuring equal rights and freedom before and after the Civil War. First, teachers will examine Underground Railroad sources at the Historical Society and will then move next door to view “The Genius […]
When Wendy Woloson, guest curator of the Library Company’s 2012 Capitalism by Gaslight exhibition, selected an 1849 guidebook to Philadelphia’s seamy underbelly—A Guide to the Stranger—to exhibit, she may not have realized how much attention it would get. Subtitled Pocket Companion for the Fancy, Containing a List of the Gay Houses and Ladies of Pleasure […]