Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Happy Juneteenth!

The Ladies’ Union Association of Philadelphia embodied the resilience and community spirit that Juneteenth celebrates. Largely excluded from white women’s groups involved in relief efforts, the Ladies’ Union Association organized independently in 1863, providing aid to Black soldiers wounded in the Civil War.

This broadside is from their 1865 fair, held on Chestnut Street. Rather than bidding on auctioned items, attendees instead paid for the opportunity to vote. The votes, 25 cents apiece, decided which of four Union generals would receive the gift of a “splendid black silk velvet wrapper, cap, and slippers.” General Benjamin Butler ultimately won the most votes. The individual or organization who purchased the most votes received a life-size painting of General Grant by the celebrated artist J.R. Lambdin.

This voting system gave attendees the opportunity to participate in a unique form of civic engagement at a time when African Americans were still denied fundamental political rights. This broadside also serves as a powerful reminder of the vital role that Black women played in advocating for their communities during and after the Civil War, highlighting the determination and achievement that this day celebrates.

How are you celebrating Juneteenth?

As Philly welcomes the World Cup, we're looking back at some of our city's soccer history ⚽

These photos show teams from the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (PRTC) soccer league. Throughout the 1930s, the PRTC hosted a league made up of company employees.

A predecessor of SEPTA, the PRTC helped build much of Philadelphia's modern rail system. It merged into the Philadelphia Transit Company in 1940, which was later acquired by SEPTA in 1968.

Who are you rooting for to win the World Cup? 🏆

Happy National Gardening Week 🌱

Here's a bit of an unconventional gardening scene 😅 This 19th-century political cartoon depicts President Andrew Johnson as ‘Andy the Gardener,’ wielding the hand saw of ‘executive authority’ as he prunes the budding branches of the ‘Tree of Liberty.’ At the tree's base lie the smoking embers of Reconstruction, surrounded by figures representing the Daily Times and the Constitutional Amendments.

Last night, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania hosted our annual Founder's Award dinner. We were absolutely delighted to honor Pulitzer Prize–winning author Ron Chernow with the Founder’s Award for exemplary service to the humanities. We also recognized Peter and Bonnie McCausland with the Heritage Award, celebrating their extraordinary leadership and longstanding philanthropic commitment to Philadelphia’s arts and culture community.

This special evening supports HSP’s mission to collect, preserve, and ensure access to the irreplaceable historical evidence found within our collections.

Photos courtesy of Dylan Eddinger Photography

It’s officially one month to July 4th! As Independence Day approaches, we're highlighting a historical figure who truly embodied the pursuit of freedom: Phillis Wheatley.

This document is an early manuscript of a poem written around 1766 by enslaved teenager Phillis Wheatley, titled 'To the King’s most excellent Majesty." After opening the poem with praise for King George III's repeal of the Stamp Act, Wheatley closes with the line, 'When kings do smile it sets their subjects free.' Throughout the piece, she appeals not only to colonial American ideals of freedom but also to the liberation of enslaved people.

Phillis Wheatley is considered the first African American woman to publish a book, "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral." Born in West Africa around 1753, she was enslaved and sold to the Wheatley family in Boston in 1761. After learning to read and write, she began composing poetry. Wheatley’s accomplishments challenged claims of African intellectual inferiority used to justify slavery, and abolitionists pointed to her work to highlight the hypocrisy of the American Revolution, as colonists fought for liberty while excluding enslaved African Americans from that conversation. Shortly after her book was published, Wheatley was manumitted by the Wheatley family.

You can see this document and more on view as part of our new exhibition, Paths to Independence: 1765-1787!

📅 Now through September 18
📍 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
🔗https://hsp.org/explore/exhibits/paths-independence-1765-1787

Memorial Day honors the sacrifice of those who died in military service. At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, we solemnly recognize the many names and stories preserved in our collections.

From the deaths of Civil War combatants that nurse Susan Ritter Trautwine McManus observed at Turner’s Lane Hospital (22nd & Oxford Sts, Philadelphia), to the lists of Pennsylvanians killed, wounded, or captured while serving in the United States Navy or Merchant Marine (1917–1918), compiled by William Bell Clark during his time as Assistant Secretary of the Pennsylvania War History Commission, these documents bear painful witness to the human cost of conflict.

As we honor those who served, suffered, and sacrificed—including those who returned home like WWII enlisted electrician Charles Clairbourne—we pause in solemn memory for those who did not.

Image credits: “Charles Claybourne, EM2C, veteran of 2 ½ years in a Japanese prison camp, shown as he spoke to the naval and civilian employees of the Naval Supply Depot, Mechanicsburg, VA, on Memorial Day 1945,” photograph, 1945. HSP Collection of WWII papers, Coll. 1479.

William Bell Clark, “Lists of Pennsylvanians killed, wounded, or captured while serving with the United States Navy or Merchant Marine, 1917-1918,” typed manuscript, Coll. 1685.

Susan Ritter Trautwine McManus, Diary entry, 22 June 1863, Am. 1002.

Do you love spending time in the woods? Are you a hiker, camper, hunter? After two centuries of industrial lumbering, Pennsylvania almost lost all of its treasured tree canopies. Fortunately, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association was founded 140 years at a meeting held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The list of earliest members and officers includes men and women concerned about deforestation across Pennsylvania. Dr. Joseph Rothrock, a botanist at Penn, served as the first president of the association, which advocated for the creation of a state Division of Forestry to begin preserving and restoring forested areas across the state. Learn more about Pennsylvania's environmental history on Wednesday, May 20 from historian Allan Dieterich-Ward, author of Cradle of Conservation. Register here: https://hsp.org/calendar/cradle-conservation-environmental-history-pennsylvania

On this day in 1876, the Centennial Exposition—the first world's fair held in the United States—opened in Philadelphia. Spread across hundreds of acres in Fairmount Park, the Centennial not only marked the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, it also recognized more than the nation's past. Evoking themes of agricultural, technological, and cultural progress, the Centennial celebrated American innovation and asserted the United States as a global power.

Read about some of the Centennial-related collections at HSP, recently highlighted in the Inquirer: https://www.inquirer.com/history/philadelphia-centennial-exposition-1876-3d-images-stereographs-20260508.html?query=centennial

#1876

Happy Mother's Day 🌹

Philadelphian Anna Jarvis is credited with founding Mother's Day in the United States. Hear from HSP's Programs and Communications Manager about her bittersweet story: https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/anna-jarvis-mothers-day-philadelphia-1908-history/