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How American English has evolved since the country’s founding
An open dictionary with a pair of glasses on an open page.

Image: orava via Getty Images

How American English has evolved since the country’s founding

In honor of the 250th anniversary of America, Penn Today spoke with linguist Gareth Roberts about some of the ways that accents have emerged and word meanings have shifted since colonial times.

3 min. read

Arthur Ross Gallery to launch America 250 exhibition this fall
A painting depicting The City of Philadelphia as it appeared in the Year 1800. The scene shows a green field with trees to the right; red brick buildings to the left and in the background; and citizens walking and socializing together throughout the piece.

“Back of the State House, Philadelphia”. Plate 22 from “The City of Philadelphia as it appeared in the Year 1800”. Published by W. Birch, Springland Cot. near Neshaminy Bridge on the Bristol Road; Pennsylvania. Decr. 31st 1800. University of Pennsylvania Art Collection, Philadelphia.

(Image: Courtesy of the Arthur Ross Gallery)

Arthur Ross Gallery to launch America 250 exhibition this fall

‘At Liberty: Life in the City of Brotherly Love During the Early Republic’ will be on view Aug. 28 through Dec. 13. The fall exhibition, located in the Arthur Ross Gallery, will consider the role of visual culture and perceptions of Philadelphia during the era of the Revolution.

1 min. read

France, Haiti, and Philadelphia in a Revolutionary Age
A map of Revolutionary Paris

Image: Courtesy of the Kislak Center

France, Haiti, and Philadelphia in a Revolutionary Age

American independence from Great Britain in 1776 set the stage for the first in a series of 18th century state constitutions; the United States Constitution was drafted in 1787, France followed in 1791, and Haiti’s constitution was established in 1801 following ten years of rebellion by enslaved Africans under French colonial rule.

Video

A historic ode to the Fourth of July—in the Penn Libraries
A two-page spread of an aged printed broadside poem titled “An Ode for the 4th of July 1788,” with the left page featuring decorative vine-like borders framing the poem’s text and the right page mostly blank with faint, reversed text showing through the paper.

A broadside of “An Ode for the Fourth of July, 1788,” written by Francis Hopkinson. The copy, which previously belonged to Benjamin Franklin, is part of the Francis Hopkinson Collections at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. 

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Libraries)

A historic ode to the Fourth of July—in the Penn Libraries

“An Ode for the Fourth of July, 1788” is a songsheet by 1757 graduate and Declaration of Independence signer Francis Hopkinson held in the Kislak Center. It represents an early celebration of a new nation and a reckoning with what patriotism in a burgeoning democracy should look like.

3 min. read

Recreating the Declaration using 250-year-old techniques
adding ink to letterpress

nocred

Recreating the Declaration using 250-year-old techniques

From papermaking to typesetting, Penn’s Common Press has been working to print the Declaration of Independence using the same methods as in 1776. Members of the public can sign up through December to print their own copies.

4 min. read

A ‘second sight’ on American history
The cast of Sinners on stage at the Oscars receiving an award.

Image: Matt Winkelmeyer via Getty Images

A ‘second sight’ on American history

In her new book, Annenberg School for Communication professor Sarah J. Jackson traces how historical and contemporary writers, journalists, and filmmakers have strengthened the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

4 min. read