Program in African American History, Library Company of Philadelphia

On this Memorial Day, let us remember to honor those service women and men who have lost their lives while serving in the United States military. In 1934, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania erected a memorial monument in West Fairmont Park in memory of all the African American military men who have served in war. This monument displays the Torch of Life, four American eagles, a female figure holding wreaths symbolic of honor and reward and five African American military personnel to represent each branch in the military. In 1994, the monument moved to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Come visit us! On Tuesday, June 1, we will officially open to the public. Admission is free and masks are required. Our hours are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For questions or updates, call 215-546-3181 or visit www.librarycompany.org

It isn't too late to register for tomorrow's event, In Pursuit of Knowledge with Kabria Baumgartner! This event will take place at 5:30 p.m. EST. To learn more and register, click the link! http://ow.ly/kppS50EOH1s

On Tuesday, May 18 at 5:30 p.m. EST, join Kabria Baumgartner as she discusses her book, In Pursuit of Knowledge. Spots are limited, so reserve yours today! http://ow.ly/GepI50EM05q

Seats are filling up fast for In Pursuit of Knowledge: Black Women and Educational Activism in Antebellum America with Kabria Baumgartner! This event will take place on May 18 at 5:30 p.m. EST. You don't want to miss it! http://ow.ly/OSZp50EDr42

Tonight, join us for Body and Soul: A Conversation with Jessica Johnson about Slavery, Gender and the Atlantic World. Seats are limited! Click the link to register. http://ow.ly/TXA150Dznwg

On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed all those enslaved. This woodcut image on the cover of Negro’s Friend: On the Ease, Safety, and Advantages of Liberating the Enslaved Negroes depicts an emancipated Black family with work tools in the background and accompanying text that reads Such is the great Author of our nature’s pleasure, who has made man free, and assigned to him the earth, that he might cultivate his poss...ession with the sweat of his brow; but still should possess his liberty. -Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist and Reference Librarian. [An emancipated family. London: s.n, 1830?]. http://ow.ly/lhzu50DBVJ6 #BlackHistoryMonth #ASALHfamily #blackfamilies #emancipation #paah

Our very own, Dr. Deirdre Cooper Owens, wrote an article for the Washington Post! To read Dr. Owens' perspective on medical racism and how it has shaped U.S. policies, click the link below: https://www.washingtonpost.com//medical-racism-has-shaped/

Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., join us for our collection review, Marronage, Medicine, Mythology: Narrating Obeah in the 19th-Century with Ainsley Wynn Eakins! To register, click the link http://ow.ly/svkP50Dsmgf

Here’s the story of Old Joseph, the Patriarch. On Christmas Eve in the 1850s, Joseph, an enslaved man, learned that he would soon be sold, leaving his wife and child behind. This image depicts his family and others trying to comfort one another offering words of wisdom. While this particular image depicts a fictional story, stories like this transpired all the time during slavery! -Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist and Reference Librarian This engr...aving is the frontispiece from Pearson, Emily Clemens. Cousin Franck's household. Boston: Upham, Ford and Olmstead, 1853. http://ow.ly/q6hi50DvDGQ #BlackHistoryMonth #ASALHfamily #PAAH

Session 2 of the Racism & Infectious Disease seminar, is on July 1 at 5:00 p.m.! Register today! https://us02web.zoom.us//register/WN_iuBavab6QGG0Li6tXQDL1Q

It isn't too late to register for Unfreedom with Dr. Walter Greason! This is a virtual event taking place on Thursday, June 18th at 5 p.m. Click the link to register! http://ow.ly/Snfx50A8kp9

On Wednesday, June 17th at 5:30 p.m., join us for the first session of our virtual seminar, Racism & Infectious Disease! To learn more and to register, click the link! http://ow.ly/TkFN50A8jXP

It isn't too late to register for Unfreedom: The Limits of the Fourteenth Amendment after Reconstruction with Dr. Walter Greason! Click the link to learn more and to register! http://ow.ly/7kG550A28mp

On June 18th at 5 p.m., join us for our Juneteenth event, Unfreedom: The Limits of the Fourteenth Amendment After Reconstruction with Dr. Walter Greason! Click the link to register: http://ow.ly/JOVB50zVw66

New Blog Posts Alert!! Although the Library Company is currently closed to the public, the staff has been diligently creating new content for our website! Check out LCP News for blogs about the Yellow Fever, at home projects, Sir William Hamilton, Shareholder Spotlights, and so much more on our web site! https://librarycompany.org/news/

UPDATE: The Library Company of Philadelphia, following the decision of the School District of Philadelphia, will be closed for two weeks starting Monday, March 16- Friday, March 27. Please refer to www.librarycompany.org for updates

By the late 19th century, many African Americans had been elected to public offices in the United States and become community activists. This print commemorates the prominent men who were representatives of the advancement of African American civil rights, including Frederick Douglass, senators Blance Kelso Bruce and Hiram Revels from Mississippi, John Brown, and Charles Edmund Nash. -Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist. Image: Heroes of the colored ra...ce [graphic]. Philadelphia: Published by J. Hoover, c1881. Chromolithograph, hand-colored; 56 x 77 cm. http://ow.ly/leNw50yfpYe #BensLibrary #LCPprints #BHM #LibraryBlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #LibrariesofInstagram #ig_libraries #vote See more

NEW FELLOWSHIP Application deadline March 1, 2020 The Davida T. Deutsch / American Trust for the British Library/ Library Company of Philadelphia fellowship supports a research project drawing on the collections of both the British Library (in any of its departments) and the Library Company. The fellow will be in residence at each library for at least two weeks (not necessarily consecutive) and will receive a stipend of $5,000, which may be applied to transportation and lodging expenses. Applicants must be US citizens and graduate students or recipients of a doctoral degree within the previous year. Preference will be given to women who are members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and working in the fields of women’s history or African American history. For details and application instructions, see http://ow.ly/uiXQ50yrtL6.

Soon after the ratification of the #15thAmendment gave African American men the right to vote, several southern states took extreme measures to legalize poll taxes and literacy tests to discourage them from doing so. In response, broadsides such as this one were published to express the importance of exercising the right to vote. This broadside from L. W. West reassures African American men that their votes matter and that voting will help them gain respect in the United St...ates and abroad. "Colored voters of Savannah; the time has come when we as voters and property owners must assert our manhood, if we have any, if not close your mouths and stop clamoring about your Rights...Go and perform that important duty at once and then don't allow yourselves to be bought and sold as cattle or as you were once when under the yoke of bondage." -Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist Image: West, L. W. Address to the colored men! of Savannah, Georgia. Savannah: Savannah Echo Print, [1880?]. 1 sheet; 23 x 15 cm. #BensLibrary #LibraryBlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #Vote #LibrariesofInstagram #IG_Libraries

Thomas Peterson-Mundy became the first African American to cast a ballot in the United States, one day after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, in Perth Amboy, N.J. On May 30, 1884, he received a medal in commemoration of his courage to exercise his right of suffrage. The two-sided medal had an image of Abraham Lincoln and an inscription that read: Presented by citizens of Perth Amboy, N. J., to Thomas Peterson, the first colored voter in the United States under the Fi...fteenth Amendment, at an Election held in that city, March 31st, 1870. - Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist History and proceedings attending the presentation of a medal to Thomas Peterson-Mundy, Decoration Day, May 30th, 1884, in the city of Perth Amboy, N.J. : in commemoration of his having been the first colored citizen in the United States to cast a vote under the Fifteenth Amendment. Perth Amboy, N.J.: The Middlesex County Democrat Print., 1884. #BlackHistoryMonth #BHM #BlackLibraryHistory #FifteenthAmendment #Vote #BensLibrary #LCPrarebooks #LibrariesofInstagram #IG_Libraries

Stolen by Richard Bell will take place at 6:00 p.m. on February 21st at the African American Museum of Philadelphia. Reserve your spot today! http://ow.ly/IZSZ50y4ecB

2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the #FifteenthAmendment which granted African American men the right to vote. This commemorative print celebrates the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, depicting a large central scene of the celebratory parade held in Baltimore in May of 1870 surrounded by several bust portraits of important figures. Among those pictured are Abraham Lincoln, abolitionist John Brown, and Frederic Douglass, alongside vignettes of African American troops, a... classroom, congregations, and parade. -Jasmine Smith, African American History Subject Specialist Image: The result of the Fifteenth Amendment, and the rise and progress of the African race in America and its final accomplishment, and celebration on May 19th A.D. 1870. [graphic]. Baltimore: Published by Metcalf & Clark, ca. 1870. 1 print: lithograph, hand colored; 54 x 69 cm. #LibraryBlackHistory #BHM #BlackHistoryMonth #LCPprints #CivilRights #Vote #BensLibrary #LibrariesofInstagram #IG_Libraries