Tagged Philadelphia History
City Planning Discussion Group
Join us for our monthly City Planning discussion group. Discussion topics cover the greater Philadelphia region. This month covers the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's 2050 plan. December 9, 2022 |…
The First District of Pennsylvania: The Early Years of Philadelphia Public Schools
The School District of Philadelphia was named the first school district in Pennsylvania, when it was organized by law in 1818. The Controllers of the Public Schools of the First School District of Pennsylvania was established in 1845 to…
City Planning Discussion Group
Join us for our monthly City Planning discussion group. Discussion topics cover the greater Philadelphia region. his month covers the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's 2050 plan. November 16, 2022 |…
IN-PERSON - Andrew K. Diemer | Vigilance: The Life of William Still, Father of the Underground Railroad
TICKETS Andrew K. Diemer is the author of The Politics of Black Citizenship: Free African Americans in the Mid-Atlantic Borderland, 1817–1863 , an examination of the ways in which free Black Philadelphians and…
Historic Germantown: Research in Reference
Interact with our Historic Germantown Reference Collection. This special collection contains rare materials on Frances Daniel Pastorius, the First Presbyterian Church of Germantown, the Germantown Settlement School, and other…
City Planning Discussion Group
Join us for our monthly City Planning discussion group. Discussion topics cover the greater Philadelphia region. This month covers the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's 2045 plan. October 12, 2022 |…
VIRTUAL - Historic Preservation in Philadelphia: Past, Present and Future
REGISTER What is historic preservation? Why is it important to Philadelphia? Come and hear Paul Steinke discuss our city's incomparable built environment and historic architecture, streetscapes and neighborhoods. He will…
Sanborn Maps, 1867–1970 (Formerly Sanborn Maps Geo Edition)
Explore America’s building history through over 660,000 black-and-white, large-scale maps, which chart the growth of more than 12,000 towns and cities. Read this blog post to learn more.
Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001)
Full access to the oldest continuously published daily Black newspaper in the United States.
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.
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.
Jennifer Lin | Beethoven in Beijing: Stories from the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Historic Journey to China
In conversation with Nydia Han, Consumer Investigative Reporter and co-anchor of 6ABC Action News Sunday mornings A reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer for 31 years, Jennifer Lin worked as an international correspondent in China, a…
Erika M. Kitzmiller | The Roots of Educational Inequality: Philadelphia's Germantown High School, 1907–2014
Education historian Erika M. Kitzmiller has conducted research in the city of Philadelphia, its public schools, and the Free Library for nearly two decades. The result of her investigation is The Roots of Educational Inequality , a…
Mike Sielski | The Rise: Kobe Bryant and the Pursuit of Immortality
In conversation with Michael Days A sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer since 2013, Mike Sielski is the author of Fading Echoes , the true story of two Pennsylvania high school football rivals who later found brotherhood while…
Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague | The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped It
In conversation with Tracey Matisak , award-winning journalist and broadcaster Renowned for his “signature blend of deep reportage and character-driven storytelling ( The New York Times Book Review ),” Mark Bowden is a national…
Woody Holton | Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution
In conversation with Adam McNeil, host of the New Books in African American Studies podcast The McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, Woody Holton teaches early U.S. history, specializing in economics,…
Sheryll Cashin | White Space, Black Hood: Opportunity Hoarding and Segregation in the Age of Inequality
In conversation with Richard Rothstein Sheryll Cashin’s NAACP Image Award–nominated books on racism and inequality include The Failures of Integration , The Agitator’s Daughter , and Place, Not Race . The Carmack Waterhouse Professor…
Joe Posnanski | The Baseball 100
In conversation with Tyler Kepner “Arguably the best pure long-form sportswriter in the land” ( Chicago Sun-Times ), Joe Posnanski is the bestselling author of six books, including in-depth accounts of golf legends Tom Watson and Jack…
Joshua Cohen | The Netanyahus with Rivka Galchen | Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch
Joshua Cohen ’s acclaimed novels include Moving Kings , Witz , and Book of Numbers , “a fascinating look at the dark heart of the Web” and “one of the best novels ever written about the Internet” ( Rolling Stone ). One of Granta ’s Best…
Joshua Coombes | Do Something for Nothing: Seeing Beneath the Surface of Homelessness, through the Simple Act of a Haircut
In conversation with Britt James, founder of Philly Unknown In 2015, British hairstylist Joshua Coombes hit the streets of London with a pair of scissors and an extraordinary idea—that giving free haircuts to those who are experiencing…
Ray Didinger | Finished Business: My Fifty Years of Headlines, Heroes, and Heartaches
In conversation with Michael Smerconish Five-time Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year, Ray Didinger covered the NFL for The Philadelphia Bulletin and the Philadelphia Daily News for over 25 years. He has authored or coauthored 11…
Larry Krasner | For the People: A Story of Justice and Power
In conversation with Chris Jackson, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, One World; and Khadijah Costley White, Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University Winning on a platform of prison reform…
Sonia Sanchez | Collected Poems
In conversation with M. Nzadi Keita, Poet-in-Residence, Associate Professor; co-coordinator, African-American/Africana Studies at Ursinus College, and author of Brief Evidence of Heaven: Poems from the life of Anna Murray Douglass…
Quiara Alegría Hudes | My Broken Language
In conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel Introduced by Virginia Sanchez Quiara Alegría Hudes won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Water by the Spoonful , a story of “shimmering, sustaining…
John Ghazvinian | America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present
In conversation with Ambassador John Limbert, US Deputy Secretary of State for Iran (2009-10); former hostage in the US Embassy in Tehran (1979-81) An author, historian, and former journalist, John Ghazvinian is the Executive Director…
An Evening with Signe Wilkinson
In celebration of thirty-five years of cartooning at the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer . The first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, Signe Wilkinson is acclaimed for her distinctive and irreverent art. A…
André Gregory | This is Not My Memoir
In conversation with co-author Todd London, Head of the MFA Playwriting Program at the New School, School of Drama A theater director in New York for more than 50 years, the legendary André Gregory has collaborated on film adaptations…
Antonio M. Johnson | You Next: Reflections in Black Barber Shops
The nephew of a beloved neighborhood barber, West Philadelphian Antonio M. Johnson is the creator of You Next , a pictorial dive into one of African American men’s most valued institutions. Part sanctuary, part cultural space, barber…
Inga Saffron | Becoming Philadelphia: How an Old American City Made Itself New Again
Architectural critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 20 years, Inga Saffron won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for her sagacious critiques of urbanism, planning, and Philly’s hyper-rapid transformation after a half-century slump.…
John Feinstein | The Back Roads to March: The Unsung, Unheralded, and Unknown Heroes of a College Basketball Season
“One of the best sportswriters alive” ( USA Today ), John Feinstein is the author of the bestselling A Good Walk Spoiled , A Season on the Brink , and Where Nobody Knows Your Name , among almost two dozen other books. He has been a…
Erica Armstrong Dunbar | She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman
In conversation with Lorene Cary , author of Black Ice , The Price of a Child , Ladysitting and the forthcoming Arden Theatre production of My General Tubman Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the author of the National Book Award finalist Never…
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…