Skip to Main Content

HIST 245: Making Public Queer History (BMC)

HIST 245: Making Public Queer History (Vider) Fall 2017

Locating Primary Sources

Major Philadelphia Collections

Philadelphia has many historical libraries, many of them founded in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and they have extensive collections documenting life in the Americas.  The libraries most likely to be useful for this course are:

The Library Company of Philadelphia is an independent research library concentrating on American society and culture from the 17th to the 19th centuries.  The online LCP exhibition That's So Gay: Outing Early America  provides a good introduction to its holdings on LGBT life in the 19th century.   It is located at 1314 Locust Street, and is free and open to the public.   Hours:  9:00 am - 4:45 pm Monday-Friday.

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street (next to the Library Company).  Extensive holdings of manuscripts, books, pamphlets and newspapers on the Philadelphia region and US history.  Hours: Limited,

Special Collections Research Center, Paley Library, Temple University.  Includes the Temple Urban Archives, a critical source for research on 20th century Philadelphia history, and the Contemporary Culture Collections which include a large number of underground newspapers and publications, including LGBT publications.  Hours: 8:30 am - 5:30 pm Monday-Friday.

John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center: 1315 Spruce Street.  The John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives is Philadelphia's most extensive collection of personal papers, organizations records, periodicals, audiovisual material, and ephemera documenting the rich history of our LGBT community. Hours: by appointment.

For a listing of other major historical research libraries in the region, see the website for the Philadelphia Area Consortium for Special Collections Libraries.   Finding aids for many archives and manuscript collections can be found at the PACSCL Finding Aids Database