American Philosophical Society

American Philosophical Society This country's first learned society, the APS has played an important role in American cultural and intellectual life for over 250 years.

Library Hall Hours (by appointment)
Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 4:45 PM

Museum Hours
Thursday - Sunday 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Read about the APS's collaboration with the Papers of Thomas Jefferson and the Center for Digital Editing at the Univers...
01/24/2025

Read about the APS's collaboration with the Papers of Thomas Jefferson and the Center for Digital Editing at the University of Virginia, to make historical climate and weather data more accessible.

The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans' daily lives as farmers and enslavers

01/23/2025

Don’t miss a good, true-to-life story of espionage that could have changed our country. Dr. Patrick Spero, author of The Scientist Turned Spy and incoming CEO of the American Philosophical Society, presents "Science, Spies, And Jefferson" – tonight, Thursday, at The Union League of Philadelphia.

We’ll have a reception at 6:00pm followed by the program at 6:30pm. The presentation is free, but pre-registration is required: https://foundingforward.org/event/spies-science-and-thomas-jefferson/

Should you wish to view the program virtually, the program will be available through Founding Forward's YouTube (www.youtube.com//streams), tonight at 6:30pm.

Our Head of Education Programs Catherine Person has a background in Mediterranean archaeology and classical studies—so w...
01/23/2025

Our Head of Education Programs Catherine Person has a background in Mediterranean archaeology and classical studies—so what does she find relevant to those interests in the APS's collections? A fair amount, actually! Read this week's blog post to learn about references to the ancients in a 1778 letter to William Temple Franklin.

My academic training is in Mediterranean archaeology and classical studies. As a child I devoured Greek mythology and Roman history, repeatedly dragging various family members to an exhibition about the Etruscans. I declared a Classic major before my first day of college. I studied abroad in Rome an...

Author Evan Friss is here, in conversation with APS CEO Patrick Spero, about his best-selling book about the history of ...
01/22/2025

Author Evan Friss is here, in conversation with APS CEO Patrick Spero, about his best-selling book about the history of the book store, The Bookshop.

Tomorrow, January 23, APS CEO Patrick Spero will give a talk at The Union League of Philadelphia with Founding Forward a...
01/22/2025

Tomorrow, January 23, APS CEO Patrick Spero will give a talk at The Union League of Philadelphia with Founding Forward about his book The Scientist Turned Spy: André Michaux, Thomas Jefferson, and the Conspiracy of 1793. Register for the free program:

In 1793 the famed scientific explorer André Michaux found himself thrust into the middle of a vast international conspiracy. Hired by Jefferson and the American Philosophical Society to explore the West, prior to Lewis and Clark, Michaux was conscripted by the revolutionary French government to ser...

This evening at 6 pm, author Evan Friss will join us for a conversation with APS CEO Patrick Spero about his new book Th...
01/22/2025

This evening at 6 pm, author Evan Friss will join us for a conversation with APS CEO Patrick Spero about his new book The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore. Sign up to join us in person or virtually:

On January 22, 2025, we will celebrate Benjamin Franklin's 319th birthday (a few days late) by hearing about one of his earliest occupations—bookseller.

Join us for a lunch lecture featuring visual artist Holly Trostle Brigham whowill discuss the research and planning for ...
01/21/2025

Join us for a lunch lecture featuring visual artist Holly Trostle Brigham who
will discuss the research and planning for her upcoming exhibition inspired by two 19th-century women naturalist-artists:

Join us for a Lunch at the Library presentation from Holly Trostle Brigham, who will be discussing "Jemima Blackburn and Fidelia Bridges: Transatlantic Artists, Naturalists, and Conservationists."

01/21/2025

The exhibit, starting later this year, represents the first time the two iconic objects have been displayed side-by-side.

The deep freeze in Philadelphia has turned parts of the Delaware River into a scene resembling this one from 1856 (thoug...
01/21/2025

The deep freeze in Philadelphia has turned parts of the Delaware River into a scene resembling this one from 1856 (though we definitely don't recommend venturing onto any ice that forms!). This souvenir print by Philadelphia's most prominent lithographer of the 19th-century Peter Stephen Duval, was apparently of the coldest winter on record in the city of brotherly love.

The APS will loan Thomas Jefferson's writing chair to the Museum of the American Revolution forthcoming exhibition, wher...
01/20/2025

The APS will loan Thomas Jefferson's writing chair to the Museum of the American Revolution forthcoming exhibition, where it will be placed next to the bench where Martin Luther King Jr wrote "Letter from a Birmingham Jail, " on loan from Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The chair returns to the APS in time for our 2026 exhibition:

The exhibit, starting later this year, represents the first time the two iconic objects have been displayed side-by-side.

APS buildings are closed on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
01/20/2025

APS buildings are closed on Monday, January 20, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

John Mather accepts the Franklin Founder Award with some remarks about his favorite scientist, Ben Franklin. An APS memb...
01/17/2025

John Mather accepts the Franklin Founder Award with some remarks about his favorite scientist, Ben Franklin.

An APS member, John C. Mather is Senior Scientist, cosmology, at NASA.  Dr. Mather was awarded the 1999 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006, and has been Senior Project Scientist for the Webb Space Telescope.

Today's Franklin birthday celebration kicks off with a program on "Exploring New Worlds" moderated by The Franklin Insti...
01/17/2025

Today's Franklin birthday celebration kicks off with a program on "Exploring New Worlds" moderated by The Franklin Institute Chief Astronomer Derek Pitts. Panelists Emily Margolis (National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution), Mariangela Bernardi (University of Pennsylvania), and Tess Lavezzi Light (Los Alamos National Laboratory) will discuss private spaceflight, the history of human understanding of galaxies, and lightning. A recording will be available at franklincelebration.org.

A new issue of the revamped APS Press quarterly journal Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society is now availab...
01/16/2025

A new issue of the revamped APS Press quarterly journal Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society is now available. Volume 165, no. 1 includes essays on the meaning of annuities to the Seneca Indians, memory, religion and the rise of capitalism, Greco-Egyptian magical handbooks, and biographical memoirs of APS Members. For a limited time, get $10 off a Proceedings print subscription with the code PROCEEDINGS10. https://www.pennpress.org/journals/journal/proceedings-of-the-american-philosophical-society/

This Friday's Benjamin Franklin Birthday celebration will honor Dr. John C. Mather, Senior Scientist, cosmology, at NASA...
01/15/2025

This Friday's Benjamin Franklin Birthday celebration will honor Dr. John C. Mather, Senior Scientist, cosmology, at NASA. Dr. Mather was awarded the 1999 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics, a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006, and has been Senior Project Scientist for the Webb Space Telescope. He will give a talk, "Opening New Worlds with the James Webb Space Telescope", and will receive 2025 Franklin Founder Award. https://www.franklincelebration.org/

On January 22, 2025, we will celebrate Benjamin Franklin's 319th birthday by hearing about one of his earliest occupatio...
01/15/2025

On January 22, 2025, we will celebrate Benjamin Franklin's 319th birthday by hearing about one of his earliest occupations—bookseller.

Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including the Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, the Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus.

On January 22, 2025, we will celebrate Benjamin Franklin's 319th birthday (a few days late) by hearing about one of his earliest occupations—bookseller.

During her residency this past summer as a William S. Willis, Jr. Short-Term Fellow, Charlotte Williams conducted resear...
01/14/2025

During her residency this past summer as a William S. Willis, Jr. Short-Term Fellow, Charlotte Williams conducted research on the role of the United Fruit Company in Maya archaeological excavations in the 20th century. Read this week's blog post to learn more about Charlotte's project and some of the unexpected turns her research took.

The Library & Museum at the American Philosophical Society supports a diverse community of scholars working on a wide-range of projects in fields including early American history, history of science and technology, and Native American and Indigenous Studies, among others. Read on to learn more about...

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104 South Fifth Street
Philadelphia, PA
19106

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 4:45pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:45pm
Thursday 9am - 4:45pm
Friday 10am - 4:45pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

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+12154403400

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