Category: previous years

BLIND PIGS AND BATHTUB GIN – October 13, 2015

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bathtub ginOctober 13, 2015 – 3:30pm Tour, 4:30pm pop-up exhibit at Heritage Center

The Heritage Center of The Union League of Philadelphia
140 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Free
Registration required; call Jes Rudderow at 215-587-5596 or foundations@unionleague.org

Prohibition-themed walking tour led by Bob Skiba and pop-up exhibit. Begin at City Hall, end at the Heritage Center of the Union League of Philadelphia. Free snacks, cash bar (no bathtub gin). Sponsors: Heritage Center, William Way LGBT Center, MARAC-PA, PACSCL.

Tour is limited to 25 people and will be approximately one hour. Heritage Center portion of the event open to 50 people. Registration is required. Please contact Jes Russerow at 215-587-5596 or foundations@unionleague.org to register or with any questions. More information (including the exact location to meet for the tour) will be emailed to attendees as the event approaches.

Sponsors: The Heritage Center of The Union League of Philadlephia; The John J. Wilcox, Jr., Archives at the William Way LGBT Community Center; The Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference Pennsylvania Caucus, and the Philadelphia Area Consortium for Special Collections Libraries.

Visit the Heritage Center website. Find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Visit The John J. Wilcox Jr. Archives at the William Way LGBT Community Center website. Find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Visit the Philadelphia Area Consortium for Special Collections Libraries website. Find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Visit the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference Pennsylvania Caucus website. Find them on Facebook.

Philadelphia Lantern Slide Salon – October 14, 2015

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 6:00-8:00PM

Wagner Free Institute of Science
1700 W. Montgomery Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19121
Free
Please REGISTER HERE

The 2015 Philadelphia Lantern Slide Salon will showcase glass lantern slides from the special collections of 7 Philadelphia institutions projected from an historic lantern projector in the Wagner’s Victorian-era lecture hall.

WagnerforAMPGlass lantern slides are wonderful artifacts in and of themselves, but they are most interesting when we discuss the context for which they were originally created. In the spirit of lantern exhibition culture, this year’s salon participants will present a narrative story with their slides. The American Philosophical Society, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the Franklin Institute, the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, the Scott Memorial Library of Thomas Jefferson University, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Wagner Free Institute of Science will present an exciting evening of education and entertainment. Sit back and relax as we travel to the American West and the Lesser Antilles, delve into the destruction and relief efforts of WWI, get early 20th century lessons in social studies and science, and learn the benefits of abstinence from alcohol.

Predating the motion picture, lantern slides were used for entertainment and to illustrate educational programs. The Philadelphia Lantern Slide Salon will be held in the Wagner’s Victorian-era lecture hall using an historic lantern projector. Please join us for a rare treat as we revive an old technology in order to see culturally significant lantern slide collections from the libraries and archives of Philadelphia’s most distinguished institutions.

More information: http://www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org/syllabi%202015-16/LanternSlideSalon2015.htm

The Paper Menagerie: Animals on the Page in the Kislak Center’s Special Collections – October 15, 2015

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Thursday, October 15, 5:30-7:30 PMarchives15_300

Class of 1978 Orrery Pavilion, 6th Floor
Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center
3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Free and open to the public (please show photo ID at entrance)
Registration for this talk is appreciated but not required. Please RSVP HERE or contact rbml@pobox.upenn.edu or 215.898.7088

Human fascination with animals has always inspired us to recreate their form in a variety of media; from cave paintings of prehistoric creatures to plush teddy bears, we surround ourselves with them. They are loyal companions and bloodthirsty predators, and they intrigue us with their strength and beauty. As part of Archives Month Philly, fearsome beasts and fluffy friends alike will leap from the pages of the Kislak Center’s collections. Join the cataloging staff for an evening safari that will include vicious lions, colorful fish, beautiful bugs, and perhaps even a few zoological mysteries!

Fresh Air Archives – October 16, 2015

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October 16, 2015 at 3:30 – 5pm

WHYY
150 N. 6th Street Philadelphia, PA 19106
Free

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, an award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is produced by WHYY in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by National Public Radio (NPR). The hour-long interview show is currently adding metadata to its archives to make it more widely available for research and scholarship. Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of WHYY studios, listen to selected “gems” from Fresh Air Archives, and talk to the producers of the program about their use of archives for research and production.

Philly History Quizzo – October 20, 2015

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quizzo2014Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 7:00 pm to approximately 9:00 pm

National Mechanics Philadelphia Bar & Restaurant
22 S 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Entry is free, pay-as-you-go for food and drink
No advance registration required, but arrive early to claim a table!

Think you know Philadelphia history? Test your knowledge of the City of Brotherly Love in this special pub quiz organized by the Delaware Valley Archivists Group. Questions plumbed from the annals of our city’s past by your friendly local archivists will challenge you to recall the people, places, and events that make Philadelphia unique.

What is quizzo? 

Bring your buddies – or make some new friends! – and form a team of up to six players. While the program starts at 7:00 pm, we advise you to arrive early in order to claim your table. The night’s Quizmaster, a local archivist, will ask three rounds of ten questions each about Philadelphia history. You’ll write your answers on response sheets that will be collected after each round. Prizes will be awarded to the highest scoring teams and to the team with the Quizmaster’s favorite team name.

Big thanks to our prize sponsors!
Chemical Heritage Foundation
Heritage Center at the Union League
National Mechanics
Philadelphia History Museum
Bob Skiba and Ed Mauger

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Celebrating PhillyHistory’s 10th Birthday! – October 21, 2015

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FeaturedAssetStreamWednesday, October 21, 2015 | 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM

Philadelphia City Hall, Broad and Market Street
Enter at the northeast corner of City Hall. You will need a picture ID to sign in. Guard will direct you to Conversation Hall, Room 201
Free
RSVP to jill.rawnsley@phila.gov

Celebrate ten years of PhillyHistory.org by joining us for a panel discussion featuring PhillyHistory staff, bloggers, and public users. We’ll discuss PhillyHistory’s creation and development, lessons learned from ten years of maintaining a digital history project, and our plans for making historic images available online for years to come.

In 2005, the City of Philadelphia Department of Records launched the Photo Archives Website to support public viewing and geographic search of over 1,000 historic photographs taken throughout Philadelphia. Ten years later, PhillyHistory.org features over 130,000 historic photographs and maps from five organizations, includes almost thousands of data edits submitted by members of the public, maintains a regularly updated blog with over eight years of entries, and has received several large grants.

Othmer Library Open House – October 22, 2015

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dow_teaser_croppedOctober 22, 2015, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Free
Registration required. RSVP here

For one night only, discover hidden treasures from the Othmer Library of Chemical History as we open our vaults in celebration of American Archives Month! Visitors will have the opportunity to browse a selection of our most unique and interesting materials, from alchemical manuscripts and alternative versions of the periodic table, to vintage chemistry notebooks and advertisements from the Dow Chemical Company. Enjoy light refreshments while chatting with our archivists and librarians about these remarkable collections. You won’t want to miss this exclusive peek at everything you never knew about the history of chemistry – RSVP today!

About the Othmer Library of Chemical History
The Othmer Library of Chemical History, part of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, collects, preserves, and makes accessible materials relating to the history of science, technology, and medicine, with an emphasis on chemistry and chemical engineering from ancient to modern times. The Library houses approximately 160,000 printed volumes, rare books and manuscripts, significant archival materials, and a rich collection of historical photographs. Together, these collections span nearly six miles of shelves and form an unrivaled resource for the history of chemistry and related sciences, technologies, and industries.

Follow the Chemical Heritage Foundation on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Personal Digital Archiving Workshop at Haverford College, October 26, 2015

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October 26th 4:30-6:00

Haverford College, Magill Library Phillips Wing
370 Lancaster Avenue Haverford, PA 19041
Free

Our personal and professional records are now primarily digital, and our lives are geared toward constant sharing of these works ­­ from our own scholarly output to family photos. The complexity of these growing collections in every sphere of our lives cannot be overstated. The Quaker and Special Collection’s Personal Digital Archiving Day Workshop welcomes anyone that is interested in ensuring long-term access to these personal collections and archives. The workshop will share best practices for creating, managing, and preserving your personal digital records, discuss issues affecting personal digital archiving practices such as copyright, privacy, and security as well as provide some hands-on activities.

The workshop will take place in the Phillips Wing in Magill Library

Meet the Free Library of Philadelphia Special Collections – October 27, 2015

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October 27, 2015 at 6pm

burt00515Free Library of Philadelphia
1901 Vine Street, 4th floor
Free
Space is limited, so please RSVP here

The Free Library of Philadelphia invites you to learn more about the seven fantastic special collections at Parkway Central: the Automobile Reference Collection, the Children’s Literature Research Collection, the Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music, the Map Collection, the Print and Picture Collection, the Rare Book Department, and the Theatre Collection.

Treasures from each collection will be on view, and the collections’ curators will lead a special show-and-tell. A reception with light refreshments and drinks will follow.

Archives Month Philly Film Screening – October 28, 2015

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screening01screening02October 28, 2015 at 7pm

PhilaMOCA
531 N 12th St, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Free

A screening of 8 or 9 works, originally on film, that are housed in local Philadelphia repositories. Thanks to the generosity of NFL Films, five of these works were transferred to digital files and are now accessible to the public. They include home movie footage, documentaries and even Muppets! Representatives from all the organizations involved will be on hand to discuss the films and answer questions.

Films contributed by:
University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center
Hagley Museum and Library
Penn Museum
History Making Productions
Philadelphia City Archives
German Society of Pennsylvania
Fairmount Park Historic Resource Archives