Tagged Philadelphia History
Invisible Warriors, African American Women in World War II
Join us for a screening of the documentary, Invisible Warriors, featuring a diverse group of African American “Rosie the Riveters” who recount what life was during the war. Followed by a conversation with Gregory S.…
Friends Speaker Series | Beyond Chestnut Hill's Water Tower
Philadelphia's Bureau of Water completed mains that reached Northwest Philadelphia in the 1890s. For hundreds of years before that engineering feat, folks in the borough of Germantown, and the Townships of Mt. Airy and…
Author Talk: Nathaniel Popkin
Nathaniel Popkin’s book summons the electric dimensions of racial conflict, sexual liberty, and economic collapse during America’s post-Vietnam urban meltdown. Set against the backdrop of 1976 Philadelphia, The Year of…
Friends Speaker Series | Railroads: Defining our communities
Ed Duffy will discuss the rise and evolution of Philadelphia's railroad industry and its impact on the City's neighborhoods, economy and physical form. An avid student of Philadelphia's industrial history, Ed Duffy, of Mount…
Design in the Archives
Join us for a fun-filled, educational evening on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 from 6-8 pm for Design in the Archives at Parkway Central. Come and check out the newly designed spaces at the Free Library and experience over 20 unique…
Joey Baldino and Adam Erace | Dinner at the Club: 100 Years of Stories and Recipes from South Philly's Palizzi Social Club
In conversation with Michael Klein, editor/producer of inquirer.com/food and @phillyinsider Originally a meeting place for South Philly’s Abruzzi-American community, the members-only Palizzi Social Club is now one of…
Author Talk: Thomas H. Keels
In Designing for the Dead: Art and Architecture at Philadelphia Cemeteries , Thomas H. Keels explores how the birth of the rural cemetery in Philadelphia provided local designers with a novel outdoor laboratory where they could exhibit…
Author Talk: David Young
Germantown's historic sites use public history, and provide leadership to motivate residents in an area challenged by job loss, population change, and institutional inertia. "The Battles of Germantown" illustrates…
Moviehouse
...Remember the Northeast Philly’s "Crest"? ...North Philly's "Carman"? ...Kensington's "Midway"? ...Mt. Airy's "Erlen? ...South Philly's "Ideal"? ...return with us to…
William Penn's 375th Birthday
Come and enjoy an inspiring and interactive slide presentation on William Penn's life, contributions and legacy. William Penn, a non-violent Quaker revolutionary, founded Pennsylvania in 1682 without firing a single shot…
Ardrossan : the last great estate on the Philadelphia Main Line
Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 6:00-8:00 PM Independent scholar David Nelson Wren will bring to life Ardrossan, the last great estate on the Main Line in this presentation on his sumptuous book on the estate and the Montgomery…
Sanborn Maps Geo Edition (1867-1970)
(1867-1970) provides digital access to thousands of large-scale maps of American towns and cities, searchable by address and GPS coordinates.
Philadelphia Press Index
The Philadelphia Press (1857-1920) was one of Philadelphia's oldest major newpapers. This index is an electronic version of a paper index kept by Free Library staff from 1898 through 1912. It directs you to citations for specific…
Philadelphia Inquirer Digital Archive 1860-2001
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph
Philadelphia Evening Telegraph was a daily afternoon newspaper started on January 4, 1864. Search, browse, and read it online here.
Pennsylvania Historical Newspapers
174 full-text historical Pennsylvania newspapers from 1790-1922.
Evening Public Ledger
Evening Public Ledger was one of the most widely read dailies in Philadelphia between 1914 and 1942. Read, search, and browse the full text of the paper here.
Ta-Nehisi Coates | The Water Dancer
SPOILER ALERT. A number of critical plot points are exposed during the discussion. In conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Blight, author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom Ta-Nehisi Coates won the 2015…
Mary Pope Osborne | Magic Tree House: To the Future, Ben Franklin! with Natalie Pope Boyce
Mary Pope Osborne is the prolific author of the beloved Magic Tree House series of children’s books. Featuring time-traveling brother and sister Jack and Annie, the wildly popular books have been translated into nearly three dozen…
Jason Baumann | The Stonewall Reader with Mark Segal, Karla Jay and Joel Hall
On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the riots that started the fight for American LGBTQ+ rights, The Stonewall Reader highlights some of the movement’s most iconic moments and figures in the years before and after those tumultuous…
Mark Kram Jr. | Smokin’ Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier
In conversation with longtime radio host Steve Ross Mark Kram Jr. won the 2013 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing for Like Any Normal Day , the tragic story of two brothers bonded but separated by a devastating sports injury. He…
Rick Atkinson | The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775–1777
Rick Atkinson won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for An Army at Dawn , the first volume in his Liberation trilogy, a “densely researched but supremely readable” ( New York Times Book Review ) history of the Allied victory in World War II. His…
Lorene Cary | Ladysitting: My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century
“A powerful storyteller, frankly sensual [and] mortally funny" ( New York Times ), Lorene Cary is the author of the novels Pride , The Price of a Child , If Sons, Then Heirs , and the memoir Black Ice . A senior lecturer in creative…
Nicole Weisensee Egan | Chasing Cosby: The Downfall of America’s Dad
In conversation with Annette John-Hall, cohost and producer of The Why on WHYY A 14-year veteran crime reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News , Nicole Weisensee Egan was the first journalist to delve into Andrea Constand’s 2005 sexual…
Tyler Kepner | K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches
The national baseball writer for the New York Times since 2010, Tyler Kepner began his career as a teenager, interviewing players for a homemade magazine that garnered him national attention. His first book, The Phillies Experience: A…
Janny Scott | The Beneficiary: Fortune, Misfortune, and the Story of My Father
In conversation with Bruce Weber, former obituary writer for the New York Times and author of the books As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires and Life is A Wheel: Memoirs of a Bike-Riding Obituarist . Janny Scott, a…
Emily Bazelon | Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration
In conversation with State Representative Christopher M. Raab Emily Bazelon is the author of Sticks and Stones , “a humane and closely reported exploration” ( Wall Street Journal ) of school bullying and the empathetic steps students,…
Steve Luxenberg | Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation
A 30-year writer and senior editor at The Washington Post , Steve Luxenberg has overseen reportage that has won a host of awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes for explanatory journalism. He is the author of Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey in…
Howard Schultz | From the Ground Up: My Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America
In conversation with William Kristol, founder and former editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard . The former chairman and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz led the java giant from eleven cafes in the Seattle area to more than 28,000…
Jane Brox | Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives
Penning “nonfiction literature of a high and lasting order” ( Chicago Tribune ), Jane Brox is the author of, among other books, Five Thousand Days Like This One , a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Brilliant: The…
Andrew Delbanco | The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War
“America’s best social critic” ( Time ), Andrew Delbanco is the author of numerous books that explore American history, character, and ideals, including The Real American Dream: A Meditation on Hope , The Puritan Ordeal , and Required…
Nathaniel Philbrick | In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
“One of America's foremost practitioners of narrative nonfiction” ( The Wall Street Journal ), Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of the National Book Award-winning In The Heart of the Sea , an account of the nearly mythic 19th-century…
Joseph Ellis | American Dialogue: The Founders and Us
In conversation with Jason Freeman, author events producer and editor A “sure-handed and entertaining guide through the thickets of argument, personality and ideology out of which the American nation emerged” ( The Economist ),…
Ray Didinger | The Eagles Encyclopedia: Champions Edition with Mark Leibovich | Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times
Fly Eagles fly! Five-time Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year Ray Didinger updated his and late co-writer Robert S. Lyons’s bestselling The Eagles Encyclopedia —“the definitive book for any Eagles fan” ( Philadelphia Daily News )—to…
Nelson Díaz | Not from Here, Not from There/No Soy de Aquí ni de Allá: The Autobiography of Nelson Díaz
In conversation with Sabrina Vourvoulias, journalist, short story author and novelist Introduced by Henry Cisneros A 1972 Temple University Law School graduate, Nelson Díaz was the first Puerto Rican lawyer admitted to the Pennsylvania…
David Levering Lewis | The Improbable Wendell Willkie: The Businessman Who Saved the Republican Party and His Country, and Conceived a New World Order
In conversation with Sam Katz, civic entrepreneur and executive producer of History Making Productions Professor emeritus of history at New York University, David Levering Lewis won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994 and 2001 for his “superb” (…
Jamie Bernstein | Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein
In conversation with Peter Dobrin, classical music critic and culture writer, The Philadelphia Inquirer . Jamie Bernstein is the oldest daughter of Leonard Bernstein, one of the 20th century’s best known musicians. Chief conductor of…
Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade
The oldest Thanksgiving Day parade in the country takes place right here in Philadelphia!
National Parks Center – Valley Forge
Valley Forge was the site of the 1777-1778 winter encampment of the Continental Army. The park commemorates the sacrifices and perseverance of the Revolutionary War generation and honors the ability of citizens to pull together and…
National Constitution Center
The National Constitution Center is the first and only institution in America established by Congress to “disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and…