Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Join Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist Signe Wilkinson as she explores the role of satire in discussions of contemporary events.To mark its 200th Anniversary, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is delighted to host Pulitzer Prize - winning editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson. Ms. Wilkinson will deliver a talk entitled “Can She Say That? Signe Wilkinson Cartoons A Man’s World”, providing an overview of her own career and the history of political cartooning. This event serves as the celebratory reception to debut the exhibit Cartoons as Political Speech in Colonial and Contemporary America. Organized by Dr. David R. Brigham, HSP’s Librarian and

Join the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), in partnership with the Taller Puertorriqueño, as they host Juan González, the 200th Anniversary signature speaker for the theme America's Promise and Its Many Voices. In the talk, González explores the history of Puerto Rican migration from the island to Pennsylvania, delving into the economic, social, and political factors driving these migrations, highlighting personal stories and community impact, and examining Puerto Rico's complex role within the United States and its effects on migration. González is an award-winning journalist and investigative reporter who spent 29 years as a columnist for the New York Daily

Learn how to use archival materials to find your ancestors and how archives help preserve these histories.Shamele Jordon, genealogist and researcher, will lead participants through a demonstration of how to search for information in underutilized archival materials such as burial and land records. Ms. Jordan will connect the ways archival documents and publications like the Motorist Green Book offer a wider range of available places to find relatives and trace family histories, ultimately preserving Black communities.This virtual program is offered as a preview for HSP’s upcoming exhibit Voices of the Community: Local Black Preservation, on view June 12- September 26.Historical

Join Jonathan Square to explore how Black visual culture and archives reveal Philadelphia’s antebellum Black communities.Join Jonathan Michael Square, Assistant Professor of Black Visual Culture at Parsons School of Design, for an illustrated talk exploring the lives of free and enslaved Black communities in antebellum America. Drawing from visual culture—portraits, fashion, ephemera—and archival documents, Square will share how these materials help us better understand, reconstruct, and imagine the complex realities of Black life in Philadelphia and beyond during the 18th and 19th centuries. Through this lens, participants will consider both the known histories and the silences that remain—and how art

What happened at McGillin’s stayed at McGillin’s...until now! Explore the iconic bar's 165-year history.On National Beer Day, join us for a talk about the new book, Cheers to McGillin’s: Philly’s Oldest Tavern. Christopher Mullins, Jr., co-owner, & Irene Levy Baker, author, will share colorful tales about the bar’s 165-year history, including its survival through the Civil War, two World Wars, two pandemics, a fire, and even Prohibition. The book includes photos from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a foreword by former Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell, and food & drink recipes. Each attendee will receive a discount coupon for lunch at

Mary Beth Norton reveals how Philadelphia shaped the long road to revolution in 1774, rethinking the months before Lexington and Concord.In her talk, groundbreaking historian Mary Beth Norton will reveal the “back story” to her George Washington Book Prize-winning book, 1774: The Long Year of Revolution. She will explains the book's intellectual origins and why it differs so dramatically from any other book discussing the crucial eighteen-month period that preceded the battles at Lexington and Concord, paying particular attention to events in Philadelphia, in contrast to the usual emphasis on Boston.This talk will mark the opening of the new exhibit

The Pennsylvania Provincial Conference was held June 18–25, 1776, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. The Conference had a profound impact on American public opinion and facilitated the passing of the Declaration of Independence only a few days later. The 1776 Pennsylvania Constitution was radically innovative for its time, including a Declaration of Rights that predated the Bill of Rights and a provision that voters did not need to own property. Christopher Pearl, scholar and author of Conceived in Crisis: The Revolutionary Creation of an American State, will lead a discussion on the radical birth of the Keystone State. A number