Join the conversation about “That’s So Gay”!

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“That’s So Gay: Outing Early America”—an exhibition featuring textual and visual material in the Library Company’s collections that relates to gay history—will open in February 2014. An accompanying blog being launched this month…

Outsulating the Collections

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  When the Ridgway Building was built in 1965, the cost of fuel was low enough that the architects didn’t think about the need to create a barrier against temperature and moisture.  In 2013, however, the lack of insulation around the…

A Shout-Out to Special Collections

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Inspired by the Library Company’s Visual Culture Program, researcher Abby Glogower arrived in the summer of 2012 with only a vague direction for her dissertation topic. Associate Curator of Prints & Photographs Erika Piola’s thoughtful…

282nd Annual Dinner

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On Tuesday, November 19, the Library Company will hold its 282nd Annual Dinner. The event includes a reception at the Wells Fargo History Museum, dinner at the Union League, and a presentation by Michael F. Suarez, S.J., one of the rare book…

Philadelphia Ephemera Acquired

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The Library Company has acquired the Joe Freedman Collection of Philadelphia Ephemera. Compiled over many decades by a distinguished collector with a discerning eye for historical significance, the Freedman Collection comprises nearly 900…

Conference on Colonial Economies

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On October 24 and 25, the Library Company will present the 13th Annual Conference of the Program in Early American Economy and Society (PEAES). This year’s topic, “Ligaments: Everyday Connections of Colonial Economies,” focuses on the…

Documentary Filmmaker Gives A Gift of Light

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Since 2009, the Library Company has been assisting documentary filmmaker Rick Feist with a project entitled Thomas Paine: Revolution in America, which explores the life and writings of Founding Father Thomas Paine. Paine’s revolutionary…

Collaborative Ephemera Conference Opens Tomorrow

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The broad program starts with a reception and tour of the corresponding exhibition Remnants of Everyday Life:Historical Ephemera in the Workplace, Street, and Home on the evening of September 19. Participants will learn more about the Library…

Getting Creative with Ephemera

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Ephemera!, a mini exhibition showing original work inspired by Remnants of Everyday Life: Historical Ephemera in the Workplace, Street, and Home, will be on view at the Library Company through December 2013. Curators Concetta Barbera, who…

These Are a Few of Our Favorite Things

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Library Company staff are often asked to name their favorite things in the collection, and their answers frequently include the kinds of delightful surprises from deep within the stacks that only those with decades of experience can provide.…

GlobalPhilly 2013

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The Library Company is participating in GlobalPhilly 2013, an exposition celebrating Philadelphia as a world city from September 15 through November 1. A project of the Global Philadelphia Association, the exposition includes more than 100…

Glimpses of Black Women’s Work

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Although women’s work is often invisible or overlooked, our mini-exhibition Glimpses of Black Women’s Work, curated by Krystal Appiah, uncovers the working lives of a few 19th-century black women. The section Laboring for a Living examines…

Library Company Events Online

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If you were not able to attend our 2013 spring events in person, you can find podcasts and exhibitions on our website!   The mini exhibition on view through February, The Emancipation Proclamation: One Step Toward Freedom, is now accessible…

Philadelphia on Stone Wins Newman Award

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The Library Company’s Philadelphia on Stone: Commercial Lithography in Philadelphia, 1828-1878, published in 2012, received the Ewell L. Newman Book Award at the May annual meeting of the American Historical Print Collectors Society. This…

19th-Century Views of Philadelphia Now in World Digital Library

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The Library Company has contributed the collection of graphic materials digitized for the recent Philadelphia on Stone lithography history project to the World Digital Library (WDL). This rich collection showcases 19th-century Philadelphia…

John Van Horne to Step Down in 2014

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Library Company Director John Van Horne has announced that he will retire in May 2014 after almost thirty years at the helm. When he took over leadership of the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1985, special collections libraries operated…

Made for a Day, Yesterday—Historical Ephemera at the Library Company

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Remnants of Everyday Life: Historical Ephemera in the Workplace, Street, and Home, on display through December 13, 2013, showcases the Library Company’s unique collections of early American ephemera which range from small fragments…

2013 Juneteenth Freedom Seminar

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On June 19th, 1865—two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was issued—Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. The anniversary…

Rare Book Expert Michael Suarez to Speak at 2013 Annual Dinner

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Dr. Michael Suarez, Director of the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School, will be this year’s Annual Dinner speaker on Tuesday, November 19. A preeminent scholar on the history of the book and eighteenth-century literature, he co-edited…

Announcing the Mellon Scholars in Early African American History

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This June, the Library Company will launch its Mellon Scholars Program, a four-year initiative designed to strengthen the field of Early African American History by promoting scholarship in this area and helping to diversify the ranks of academic…