![J. W. Wheeler’s “White Elephant March” of 1884](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/sheetmusic-elephant-13180-f-ps-1-495x400.jpg)
![Camera Obscura! [United States, ca. 1853]. Printed handbill. 11.5 x 5 in. Picture shows a handbill illustrated with a decorative border. The document will be described from the top of the page to the bottom. Text reads: Camera Obscura! [new line] There will be an Exhibition [new line] of [new line] Paintings! [new line] Given this [blank] Even[in]g, [new line] at 7 o’clock, [blank] 185[blank] [new line]. In the [blank] [new line] at [blank]. [new line] At which [new line] Prof. W. F. Johnson, [new line] A Colored Gentleman, of the N. Y. In-[new line] stitute for the Blind, will introduce to the citizens [new line] of this vicinity, and the public generally, without [new line] reference to Party or Politics, Fifteen Scenes, illus-[new line] trative of some of the features of the American In- [new line] stitution of Slavery, accompanied by some ap- [new line]propriate odes, “The Slave Mothers’s La-[new line] ment,” “Appeal to Christina,” “Un- [new line] cle Tom’s Religion.” To conclude with ten interesting Changing [new line] Views, magnified, active, and as large as life. [new line] Admission One Shilling. [new line] Children Under 10 years of age sixpence. [new line] [picture of pointed finger] Complimentary to Press and Clergy. [new line] Opinion of the Press.- Mr. Johnson, has been a re- [new line] sident of our village, when at home, for some 20 years, during much of [new line] which time we have been acquainted with him. Blind since his youth, [new line] he has, with untiring perseverance [sic], educated himself. During three [new line] years’ residence in New York Institute for the blind, he made him [new line] self acquainted with the science of Phrenology, under the instruction of [new line] Prof. Fowler. The independence and strength of character exhibited by [new line] Mr. J. in procuring an education, with the privilege of sight denied him, [new line] is worthy of admirati[o]n; and those who know him, stand ready at all [new line] times to attend his lectures and exhibitions. He has an instructive and [new line] entertaining exhibition. – Ithaca Journal. [End of description]](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/smxam1853john-5741-f-2-3-495x400.jpg)
Rev. W.F. Johnson: Blind Phrenologist, Abolitionist, and Picture Show Lecturer
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, VCP News![From Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Statistics of the Colored People of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, 1856).](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/am1856PennSocForProm-52676-o-14-p8-2-495x400.jpg)
The LCP Abolitionist Walking Tour: A Digital Humanities Intern Project
All News, Beyond the Reading Room![Examples of craftsmanship of the Library Company of Philadelphia McLean Conservation Department.](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/med_Conservation_Instance104.jpg)
![Catalogue of the Museo Torlonia (1876) and detail from p. 78.](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/is4-40920-d-c-p78-d-1-495x400.jpg)
![Trade card showing influence of Oscar Wilde’s 1882 tour of North America.](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/5c-1-p-9828-6476-r-495x400.jpg)
![Picture shows one woman and three men, seated next to each other, and holding instruments. The woman holds an accordion in her lap and she looks slightly down. To her left is a man, his eyes closed, who holds a viola perpendicular to his lap with one hand and a bow in his other. To his left is a man resting a cello between his legs. He holds a bow across the base of the cello with his right hand. To his left is the last man, his eyes closed, who holds a violin by his left shoulder and a raised bow in in his right hand. The woman, as well as the man who holds a cello, wear glasses. The woman wears a dark dash colored corseted dress with long sleeves and a long skirt. The men, who look toward the viewer, are bearded and wear dark dash colored suits. [End of description]](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/hostetler-music-p-2014-60-1-cdv-1-495x400.jpg)
From Common Touch : The Hostetler Family of Blind Musicians
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, VCP News![Woman and dog in boat, Sea Girt Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.2013.13.142]](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/mcm-p-2013-13-142-2-495x400.jpg)
Musings on Time and Place: The Marriott C. Morris Collection
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, Graphic Art Department News, Marriott C. Morris Collection, The Living Book![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Mellon Scholars Program: An Intense Week of Professional Growth and Nurturing
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, Mellon Scholars Program![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Mellon Scholars Program: “A life changing and motivating experience”
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, Mellon Scholars Program![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Mellon Scholars Program: The Final Verdict
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, Mellon Scholars Program![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Fashioning Philadelphia – The Style of the City, 1720-1940
All News, LCP News
The Library Company of Philadelphia presents over 200 years of fashion history in its newest exhibition, which opened July 20. Fashioning Philadelphia – The Style of the City, 1720-1940 tells the largely unheralded story of Philadelphia’s…
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
2015 Juneteenth Freedom Symposium with Dr. Danielle Allen
All News, LCP News
The Program in African American History (PAAH) welcomed political theorist Dr. Danielle Allen for our annual Juneteenth Freedom Symposium on June 18. PAAH hosts an annual symposium to recognize Juneteenth, one of the oldest known celebrations…
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Mellon Scholars Summer Programs
All News, LCP News
In June, the Program in African American History (PAAH) held its second annual Mellon Scholars Internship and Workshop under the direction of Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar, PAAH Director, and Krystal Appiah, Curator of African American History.…
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
New Collections Uploaded to Our Digital Collections Catalog
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Several collections were recently uploaded to ImPAC, the Library Company’s digital collections catalog. Peter Collinson’s annotated first edition of William Maitland’s 1739 History of London, Frederick Gutekunt’s Scenery on the Pennsylvania…
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
My First SDS Conference
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, VCP News
A few weeks ago, hundreds of disability studies scholars, advocates, and activists gathered for the 28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Disability Studies, June 10-13, 2015. I was fortunate to be one of the attendees on…
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
The Female Physician: A Deviation from 19th-Century Gender Roles?
All News, Beyond the Reading RoomThis is the tenth anniversary of the Library Company first working with an intern from Haverford College’s Hurford Center for the Arts and Humanities. In their summers at the Library Company, each one has helped increase the digital resources…
![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Mellon Scholars Program: Restoring Our Historical Memory
All News, Beyond the Reading Room, Mellon Scholars Program![Mellon Scholars Jalyn Gordon and Shayne McGregor](https://librarycompany.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_1944-2-495x400.jpg)
Riddle of Independence: Independent but not Free
All News, Beyond the Reading Room
Danielle Allen will give the Program in African American History’s 2015 Juneteenth Freedom Symposium talk at the Library Company. While in residence, our Mellon Scholars interns read Dr. Allen’s Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration…