Media Library

Browse HSP's media library to view photographs from past events and exhibits, audio and video recordings, and documents.

Recent Posts

Ales of the Revolution
6/10/13
Ales of the Revolution

The Young Friends of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania partnered with the Chemical Heritage Foundation and Yards Brewery to present First Friday: Ales of the Revolution on June 7, 2013.

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Young Friends, First Friday: Ales of the Revolution
ArkHIVE
4/15/13
ArkHIVE

As part of the 2013 Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts , HSP partnered with Sebastienne Mundheim of White Box Theatre to create a piece to incorporate the collection with performance art. The result was ArkHIVE, a lyrical foray into history that integrated puppetry, dance, and storytelling.

 

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ArkHIVE
Thrift Week Teacher Workshop and Luncheon
1/31/13
Thrift Week Teacher Workshop and Luncheon

On January 26, 2013, the Historical Society hosted the Thrift Week: Engaging Students in Thrift Teacher Workshop and Luncheon. The workshop, taught by Philadelphia schoolteacher Bernadette McHenry, helped educators incorporate thrift into their curriculum. This was followed by a luncheon and keynote lecture by Dr. Andrew T. Hill, economic education advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Related Content:
Celebrate Thrift Week at HSP, Thrift Week
Franklin's Thrift: A Summer Teacher Institute 2012
12/3/12
Teachers get their first chance to see original documents from the School Savings Banks movement.

Is Thrift an idea that defines American qualities, or just an old fashioned concept that has no place in modern America?  

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Stories From the Archives: "The Wages of Sin" Theater Posters
3/29/13
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There is an old saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words." Rights and Reproductions Associate Hillary Kativa discusses theater posters for a production titled The Wages of Sin. The posters depict a morality tale that gives a glimpse of late 19th-century performance art and convey a broader sense of social values of the period. For more information on these posters, please visit the Digital Library.

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Stories From the Archives: John Keats Love Letter
2/28/13
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There are few things more romantic than a love letter penned by 19th-century poet John Keats. Digital Imaging Technician Ashley Harper discusses a letter from Keats to his sweetheart, Ms. Fanny Brawne, and how it symbolizes the pure love that he felt for her. For more information, please view this letter in our Digital Library. In the Stories From the Archives video series, HSP staff members highlight their favorite items from the collection.

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Stories from the Archives: The Thrift Movement
1/16/13
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Senior Director of Programs and Services Beth Twiss Houting discusses documents relating to the thrift movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement produced a number of programs, such as the School Savings Bank, which taught schoolchildren the value of saving money. For more information on these images, please visit the Digital Library.

In the Stories From the Archives video series, an HSP staff member highlights one of his or her favorite items from the collection.

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Related Content:
Thrift Week: Engaging Students in Thrift, Thrift Week Luncheon, Teaching Thrift, Resources for Teaching Thrift, Use HSP Video in the Classroom
Stories from the Archives: George Washington Treasures Case
12/19/12
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Senior Director of the Library Lee Arnold discusses the George Washington Treasures Case. The 19th-century case contains images, letters, and a lock of George Washington's hair. Stories From the Archives is a video series in which an HSP staff member highlights one of his or her favorite items from the collection.

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Samuel Powel: Patriot, Tory, or Neither?
6/10/13

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Samuel Powel has the distinction of being the last mayor of Philadelphia under British rule and the first after American Independence. Often referred to as Philadelphia’s “Patriot Mayor,” he is depicted as an early ardent supporter of the American cause. In a lecture given on May 30, 2013, author David Maxey journeys back to the early years of the Revolution to take a closer look at Powel and his allegiance. Was Powel always a patriot, or did he only gradually adopt the cause of liberty?

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Samuel Powel: Patriot, Tory, or Neither?
Capital of the World: Philadelphia's Race to Host the United Nations
3/4/13

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From the ashes of the Second World War came the idea of the United Nations—an organization that would serve as a center for international diplomacy. In this lecture given at the Philadelphia History Museum on April 3, 2013,  Charlene Mires, author of Capital of the World, discusses the dramatic, surprising, and at times comic story of the hometown promoters in pursuit of an extraordinary prize and the diplomats who struggled with the balance of power at a pivotal moment in history.

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Capital of the World: Philadelphia's Race to Host the United Nations
Chinatown: Past & Present
11/8/12

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Philadelphia’s Chinatown is a small but resilient community that has consistently overcome outside threats and remains an important cultural center for Asians around the region. This discussion about Chinatown’s history and the legacies of its activism and redevelopment took place on November 8, 2012, at the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School in Philadelphia.

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Related Content:
Chinatown: Past & Present, Philadelphia, China, and Chinatown
Is Thrift Good for America?
8/22/12

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In a debate held at HSP on August 1, 2012, Princeton historian Sheldon Garon, author of Beyond Our Means: Why America Spends While the World Saves, and Rutgers historian James Livingston, author of Against Thrift: Why Consumer Culture Is Good for the Economy, the Environment and Your Soul, argue their respective cases for and against thrift. This conversation was moderated by David Blankenhorn, president of the Institute for American Values.

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Related Content:
Is Thrift Good for America?, Franklin’s Thrift Teacher Institute, Savings and Thrift
Maps of Early America 6/14/12
6/20/12

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Joseph Garver, Librarian for Research Services of the Harvard Map Collection, discusses American history through maps. Mr. Garver spoke at the Maps of Early America event on June 14, 2012.

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Maps of Early America
The Accidental Slaveowner: Revisiting a Myth of Race and Finding an American Family
9/7/11

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Mark Auslander's book, The Accidental Slaveowner: Revisiting a Myth of Race and Finding an American Family (University of Georgia Press, 2011), examines the relationship between one enslaved woman, Miss Kitty, and her owner, prominent Methodist Bishop James Osgood Andrew. What can one contested account of an enslaved woman tell us about our difficult racial past?

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A Brief History of Bankers Trust Company
3/27/13
Reports/Articles
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History Affiliates - PowerPoint Presentation Summer 2012
9/4/12
Presentations
Primary Sources and Games for History Education 2012 Presentation

Presentation covering the use of primary sources with board games for history education given at Gencon's 2012 Trade Day conference.  It provides methods for educators and students to create their own scenarios using primary sources and existing boardgames to better understand history through simulation.

The four scenarios covered within the presentation for use with Settlers of America: Trails to Rails can be downloaded here.

8/13/12
Presentations
Settlers of America Game Scenarios for Education

These five word documents make up the four scenarios and a list of core standards to use an example of using the scenarios for teaching in a lesson or unit plan.  The scenarios go with the game Settlers of America: Trails to Rails and match up with primary sources from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

8/13/12
Other
An Introduction and Explanation of the Teacher Component

Teacher Tools

 

Preserving American Freedom is a selection of fifty treasured documents and manuscripts illustrating the exercise and denial of freedom throughout our nation’s history. All of the primary sources focus on the issue of freedom. Freedom as an over- arching theme allows teachers, K -12, great leeway to incorporate these documents into the curriculums of United States History, World History, and several other academic fields.

7/27/12
Establishing a History Affiliates Program Final Report
7/26/12
Reports/Articles
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