Fondly, Pennsylvania

Fondly, Pennsylvania is a joint blog of HSP's archives, conservation, and digitization departments.  Here you will find posts on our latest projects and newest discoveries, as well as how we care for, describe, and preserve our collections.  Whether you are doing research or just curious to know more about the behind-the-scenes work that goes on at HSP, please read, explore, and join the conversation!

A Day in the Life, or, what is Rights and Reproductions anyway?
1/23/12
Author: Hillary Kativa

 

Since becoming HSP’s Rights and Reproductions Associate in July 2011, I’ve fielded countless questions about what exactly “R&R” entails. I often tell curious folk that I handle orders for digital copies of HSP materials and the rights to publish these materials in books, exhibitions, and other media, but this description only skims the surface of how a reproduction request goes from first contact to completed order. Inspired by my colleague Cary Majewicz’s fabulous blog entry on a day in the life of an archivist, what follows is an insider’s look at a day in MY life as HSP's Rights and Reproductions Associate.

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Tis the season to remember Wanamaker’s, Strawbridge and Clothier, Lit Brothers, and Gimbels
12/29/11
Author: Cary Hutto

 

At the end of every holiday season, I, along with millions of others exasperated celebrators begin to take stock of all the spending.  Where did you let loose your holiday funds this year?  If recent trends are any indication, most people did their shopping online.  Though brick-and-mortar stores saw many spenders as well, it seems likely that online shopping will continue to be a very viable (and preferred) choice for most shoppers.

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Revisiting U.S. Indian Schools with the Indian Rights Association
12/21/11
Author: Willhem Echevarria

 

I’m posting this on behalf of Jenna Marrone, intern for the processing of the Indian Rights Association records.

The story of Native Americans in the United States is not an unfamiliar one.  Most of us are at least somewhat aware of the complicated and tragic relationship between the U.S. government and Indian tribes throughout the country’s history.  For contemporary audiences, well-known phrases like “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” and “Kill the Indian…and save the man” sound like bad dialogue from an old Western film.

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Images of “by-gone days:” Visualizing the Manayunk of yesteryear
12/16/11
Author: Hillary Kativa

Oftentimes, history can seem like an accumulation of paper trails, a collection of stories told through the letters, diaries, and other written records that our ancestors leave behind.  However, graphic materials are also compelling historical artifacts, as I’m continually reminded while working on rights and reproductions orders at HSP.

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Memories of the 1940s: World War II collections at HSP
12/9/11
Author: Cary Hutto
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Surveying Microforms
12/7/11
Author: Mary Crauderueff

In July of this year, HSP undertook a project to survey its microform holdings.  Microform includes both microfilm and microfiche.  Microfilm is like 35mm film, while microfiche is tiny images on a sheet of paper.  HSP holds approximately 23,000 microfilm reels and 10,000 microfiche leaves, including facsimiles of serials, vital records, manuscript collections, and other materials.

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Bankers Trust Company becomes entangled in a "publishers' war"
11/30/11
Author: Faith Charlton

Several years after its failure, Bankers Trust Company became entangled in a ‘publishers' war’ which pitted two of Philadelphia’s most prominent newspapers against each other: The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Record. The larger backdrop for this conflict was the vicious political battle raging in the city as well as the rest of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as Democrats, for the first time in years, began to wrest control of government from the Republican Party.

Topics: 20th century, Business, Depression, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Politics
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Animals + archived images = Pets-In-Collections!
11/28/11
Author: Cary Hutto

If you like animals and old pictures, then Pets-In-Collections might be the site for you!

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Ellen Emlen's Cookbook - the big day
11/22/11
Author: Tara O'Brien

Last Wednesday Nov 16th, HSP celebrated the publishing of Ellen Emlen's Cookbook. Sound familiar? That's because we posted about it here.

 The event included a display of  our historical cookbooks from the collection, including Martha Washington's cookbook, both of the Mrs. Penn's cookbooks, a 2nd edition of Amelia Simmons' book printed 1808 as well as the original manuscript cookbook from Ellen Emlen.

Topics: 19th century, Arts and Culture, Civil War, Education, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Women
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Conrad Weiser, Indian Affairs Agent (1696-1760)
11/10/11
Author: Sarah Newhouse

 

Johann Conrad Weiser lived in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s and is mostly known for his role in shaping the history of colonial America through his work as an "Indian affairs agent." He lived quite a busy and remarkable life, although perhaps everyone who crossed an ocean to live on a continent entirely unknown for most of their culture’s history is worth marking more than once.

Topics: 18th century, American Revolution, Colonial period, Ethnic history, French and Indian War, Government and civics, Immigration, Native American, Pennsylvania
Comments: 3