From the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, artists working for the Federal Art Project’s Poster Division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA, later renamed Work Projects Administration) created thousands of designs for posters in workshops across the United States. You may be familiar with iconic WPA poster images promoting United… continue reading Spotlight on Special Collections: WPA Posters in the Print and Picture Collection

By written by Laura S.    December 2, 2019   

• Holidays
• Printmaking
• History
• Print and Picture Collection

While reading There There — Tommy Orange ’s award-winning novel and the 2020 One Book, One Philadelphia featured selection—I was repeatedly struck by how many references Orange was able to weave into a single, cohesive story. Wars, movements, treaties, bands, brands, places, people, concepts, books, actors, artists, songs: all… continue reading #OneBookWednesday | Some History and Terms from There There

By written by Clare F.    November 13, 2019   

• One Book, One Philadelphia
• History
• Native American

Parkway Central Library Senior Services will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Awards for excellence in African American children’s literature with a five-part discussion series called Conversations In Color . These conversations take place throughout the month of June and center around the influence that images… continue reading Conversations in Color: The Coretta Scott King Awards Celebrate 50 Years of Excellence

By written by Lisa-Jane E.    May 29, 2019    2  

• Awards
• Events at the Library
• Central Senior Services
• Community Events
• Parkway Central
• Seniors
• Teens
• African American
• Childrens Books
• History
• Lecture Series
• Diversity Equity and Inclusion

Update: The Free Library’s At These Crossroads exhibition was honored as an Adobe Government Creativity Awards finalist in the ‘Multichannel Campaign – Museum of Park Exhibit’ category! Come see this exhibition at the Parkway Central Library before it closes this fall! Born in 1868, just shortly after the Union’s… continue reading At These Crossroads: The Legacies of Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. Du Bois Exhibition

By written by Administrator    December 20, 2018    3  

• Exhibitions
• African American
• History
• Rosenbach

October 10 marks the opening of an exhibition that analyzes Philadelphia's growth across more than three centuries, presenting more than 80 rare and revelatory prints, photographs, documents, and maps from the Free Library's Special Collections and Research Departments .  Philadelphia:The Changing City will be on view in the… continue reading Philadelphia: The Changing City - An Exhibition from Special Collections

By written by Janine P.    October 9, 2018   

• Exhibitions
• Maps
• Rare Book Department
• Theatre
• History
• Print and Picture Collection
• Special Collections

In our ongoing series of historical posts about Philadelphia neighborhoods, today we bring you our neighbors to the northwest, Germantown...   Germantown was the first permanent German settlement in America. Thirteen families from the town of Crefeld in the lower Rhine Valley arrived on October 6, 1683 and were greeted by William Penn… continue reading A History Minute: 11 Things You Should Know About Germantown

By written by Administrator    June 5, 2018    6  

• History
• History of Philadelphia

The Print and Picture Collection recently added a group of photos to the Historical Images of Philadelphia Digital Collection  featuring intrepid reporter Vivian Shirley climbing three Philadelphia landmarks between 1929 and 1930: the Drake Hotel , Tacony-Palmyra Bridge , and Federal Reserve Bank . The photos live in a folder labeled… continue reading Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Reporter Vivian Shirley Climbs Philadelphia Landmarks!

By written by Laura S.    May 31, 2018    2  

• History
• Print and Picture Collection
• Photography
• Newspapers

As Head Designer of Horace Trumbauer’s architecture firm, Julian Abele designed the Free Library and the Philadelphia Art Museum and set the tone for the entire parkway. He designed buildings and palatial estates throughout the Philadelphia region as well as in New York City, Boston, and Newport, R.I.  But there was more to this… continue reading A History Minute: 11 Things You Didn't Know About Julian Abele, Architect of the Parkway

By written by Administrator    February 7, 2018    10  

• Parkway Central
• History
• Black History Month
• Black Histories of Philadelphia

Gladys Jamison couldn’t know this, but she was a girl coming of age in an exodus. Thirteen years old when her father moved her and her siblings to Brooklyn, she’d lost her mother five years before, in 1932. She was still reeling from her death. The daughter of farmers, Gladys grew up in Bowman, South Carolina, the nexus of a failed… continue reading #OneBookWednesday: Brooklyn, Black Girlhood, and the Great Migration

By written by Administrator    November 22, 2017    3  

• One Book, One Philadelphia
• African American
• History

The Philadelphia Colored Directory , a handbook of religious, social, political, professional, business activities of the Negroes of Philadelphia, was compiled by R. (Richard) R. (Robert) Wright, Jr.; assisted by Ernest Smith. This archival resource, recentlly scanned and added to our Digital Collections (viewable online or as a downloadable… continue reading The Philadelphia Colored Directory of 1910 Recently Scanned and Available for Download in Our Digital Collections

By written by Renee G.    October 6, 2017    5  

• Digital Collections
• Genealogy
• African American
• History

It has been more than 150 years since Octavius Catto may have slipped on a sack overcoat that hung by his front door, pushed a well-worn felt pocket hat over his parted hair, stepped out into the fall chill, and walked a few blocks down South Street to work, as horse-drawn traffic rattled past him. Born in 1839 in Charleston, South Carolina to… continue reading Following Octavius V. Catto’s Footsteps

By written by Administrator    September 25, 2017    13  

• African American
• History
• Black Histories of Philadelphia

On Sept. 26, 2017, the fence will come down and a new statue will be unveiled: the first new City Hall statue since 1923 and the first of an African American on any city-owned public property. It’s a lot of fuss over a man most Philadelphians have never heard of, and it’s about time. When we speak of the Civil Rights Movement,… continue reading A History Minute: Octavius V. Catto - Philadelphia's Forgotten Freedom Fighter

By written by Administrator    September 22, 2017   

• African American
• History
• Racism
• History of Philadelphia
• Black Histories of Philadelphia

In the autumn of 2016, we were tasked with a fascinating challenge: create a bold and welcoming exhibition that would discuss the history of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. On the surface, this isn’t that difficult. As curators in the Special Collections division, we’ve created exhibitions in the past—that’s one of the… continue reading Corridor of Culture: 100 Years of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway

By written by Laura S.    September 8, 2017   

• Exhibitions
• Parkway Central
• Children's Literature Research Collection
• History
• Print and Picture Collection
• Special Collections

Almost 100 years before Ellis Island, Philadelphia established The Lazaretto Station. It became the point of entry for all ships and passengers arriving during the quarantine season of June through October. The Lazaretto is the oldest surviving quarantine hospital in the western hemisphere.   Maritime quarantine stations were first… continue reading A History Minute: What is The Lazaretto?

By written by Administrator    August 7, 2017    5  

• History

For the members of our Military History Club, each monthly meeting leads to a passionate and well-informed discussion about the major personalities and battles of World War II. The group is led by John Hemphill, a staff member of Central Senior Services , and takes place at Parkway Central Library . While still in his 30's, John has learned… continue reading Monthly Military History Club Discusses Major Personalities and Battles of World War II

By written by Richard L.    July 17, 2017    1  

• Seniors
• History

In the spring of 1776 , the British began a blockade of American ports, throwing coastal shipping into disarray and sending many captains back to the more secure European routes. But a young French captain, Stephan Girard, saw an opportunity . He slipped up the Delaware River into Philadelphia on the eve of revolution and spent the next few… continue reading The Richest Man in America

By written by Administrator    April 27, 2017   

• History