Upcoming Events
may
03may11:00 am12:00 pmLibrary Company History & Exhibitions TourTOUR
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour Friday, May 3, at 11:00 AM In-Person Event Join us for a
Event Details
Library Company History & Exhibitions Tour
Friday, May 3, 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, May 3, 11:00 AM—12:00 PM
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)
14may1:00 pm2:00 pmEconomies of Freedom and Bondage in the Caribbean
Event Details
Economies of Freedom and Bondage in the Caribbean A Conversation with Dr. Christopher Baldwin and Dr. Shauna Sweeney Tuesday, May 14, 2024 1:00 PM ET Virtual
Event Details
Economies of Freedom and Bondage in the Caribbean
A Conversation with Dr. Christopher Baldwin and Dr. Shauna Sweeney
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
1:00 PM ET
Virtual Event | Free
This dialogue between Library Company Program in Early American Economy and Society Fellow Christopher Baldwin and Professor Shauna Sweeney will explore the distinct yet overlapping spheres of the two scholars’ research concerning plantation and slave trade economies in the Caribbean. From the trafficking of Black captives by privateers at sea to the rebellious underground economies created by enslaved Black people on land, the two scholars will create a clear picture of how enslavement and resistance defined the economic realities of the Caribbean during the eighteenth century and beyond.
Sponsored by the Program in Early American Economy and Society
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Time
(Tuesday) 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm(GMT-04:00)
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Michelle Lee “Death Becomes Her: Asiatic Femininity and the Aesthetics of Disfigurement” Thursday, May 16, 2024 7:00 p.m. ET Virtual Event | Free
Event Details
Fireside Chat with Michelle Lee
“Death Becomes Her: Asiatic Femininity and the Aesthetics of Disfigurement”
Thursday, May 16, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET
Virtual Event | Free
Dehumanizing descriptions of Asian people have saturated the U.S. cultural imagination, and encouraged a long history of anti-Asian violence. In particular, Asian women and femmes have been objectified in popular culture in ways that have marked their racial difference and femininity as licentious, morally corrupt, and threatening. Because of this perceived threat, portrayals of Asiatic femininity as complex and multitudinous are often arrested through representations of disfigurement, mutilation or harm.
Rejecting these representations as foregone conclusions, Asian American diasporic, and cultural producers are re-appropriating the aesthetics of disfigurement. This talk explores the relational and feminist possibilities that emerge when disfigurement is not merely a reflection of racial and gender-based violence, but a mode of engagement that explores differentiated histories of imperialism, lived and embodied experiences, and human and non-human intimacies. By paying attention to the ways bodies, flesh, and in/animacies are rendered in their works, this talk offers a critical reading practice of disfigurement through Asian American feminist frameworks.
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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
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
more
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.
more
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