Upcoming Events
July
11jul11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, July 11th at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, July 11th 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 May through October.
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Time
July 11, 2025 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
22jul7:00 pm8:00 pmFireside Chat- American Laughter, American Fury, With Eran ZelnikFree
Event Details
July Fireside Chat American Laughter, American Fury:
Event Details
July Fireside Chat
American Laughter, American Fury: Humor and the Making of a White Man’s Democracy, 1750–1850
Tuesday, July 22nd at 7 PM ET
Virtual Event | Free
In his new book American Laughter, American Fury, Eran A. Zelnik offers a cultural history of early America that shows how humor among white men served to define and construct not only whiteness and masculinity but also American political culture and democracy more generally. This humor — a category that includes “Indian play,” Blackface Minstrelsy, and frontier tall tales — transformed the United States into a white man’s democracy: a country in which only white men could be truly comfortable in their own skin.
Dr. Eran Zelnik received his PhD from UC Davis in 2016 and for the past seven years has been teaching history at Chico State University in California. A cultural historian, his work examines the intersecting categories of race, gender, and nationalism in the early United States. Alongside his recently published book, American Laughter, American Fury, Humor and the Making of a White Man’s Democracy, 1750-1850, he has published articles in the Journal of the Early Republic and in Early American Studies.
Hosted by the Program of Early American Economy and Society
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Time
July 22, 2025 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
August
01aug11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, August 1st at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, August 1st 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 May through October.
more
Time
August 1, 2025 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
September
05sep11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, September 5th at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, September 5th 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 May through October.
more
Time
September 5, 2025 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
11sep5:30 pm9:00 pm11th Annual Lecture in Honor of John C. Van Horne, with Richard Kagan
Event Details
11th Annual Lecture in Honor of John C. Van Horne, with Richard Kagan Thursday, September 11th, 2025 Franklin Hall at the American Philosophical Society
Event Details
11th Annual Lecture in Honor of John C. Van Horne, with Richard Kagan
Thursday, September 11th, 2025
Franklin Hall at the American Philosophical Society
Join us for the 711th Annual Lecture in Honor of John C. Van Horne, featuring Richard Kagan, author of The Inquisition’s Inquisitor: Henry Charles Lea of Philadelphia. In this lecture, Professor Kagan, will examine Lea’s multi-faceted career as a historian, shrewd businessman, dogged reformer, and major benefactor of the Library Company and University of Pennsylvania. He also offers new insights into Lea’s personal life, notably his controversial infatuation with his first cousin and future wife, Anna C. Jaudon; the periodic breakdowns that sidetracked his intellectual pursuits; and religious convictions that compromised the ostensibly “scientific” and objective character of his historical work.
Help us celebrate Dr. John C. Van Horne’s legacy of education and scholarship by joining us at the free public lecture and book signing, members-only reception, and private dinner immediately following the event.
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Time
September 11, 2025 5:30 pm - 9:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
October
03oct11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, October 3rd at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, October 3rd 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 May through October.
more
Time
October 3, 2025 11:00 am - 12:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
2025 Holiday Closings
The Library Company will observe the following holidays in 2025:
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Jan 20, 2025
President’s Day – Feb 17, 2025
Memorial Day – May 26, 2025
Juneteenth – June 19, 2025
Independence Day – July 4, 2025
Labor Day – September 1, 2025
Thanksgiving – November 27 & 28, 2025
Winter Break – December 24, 2025 – January 2, 2026
For more information on these events please call 215-546-3181 or email events@librarycompany.org