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The history of Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building
The facade of the Pennsylvania Hospital.

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The history of Pennsylvania Hospital’s Pine Building

The original structure of the nation’s first chartered hospital—home to early mental health and maternity care—is a living symbol of innovation.

From Penn Medicine News

3 min. read

Exploring revolutions through writing
Students at a table in a class in the Lea Library

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Exploring revolutions through writing

A course taught by Professor of History Roger Chartier and Kislak Center curator John Pollack took students on a journey through revolutions as told through writing, tackling issues of both political and societal change.

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

Showcasing history

Showcasing history

Many Penn Arts & Sciences students and alums have worked on the Philadelphia Trans Oral History Project, recording interviews with transgender Philadelphians, highlighting everything from childhood memories to recollections of the City’s past nightlife. This summer, the public will have access to zines highlighting the stories they’ve helped uncover.

From Omnia

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

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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