As of July 6th, APS offices are open to staff and invited visitors. The Society will remain closed to the public for at least the rest of the summer. Library & Museum staff now have access to our collections and will respond to reference and photoduplication requests as soon as possible. However, please note that response times may be delayed due to increased demand. The Society will continue a robust slate of virtual programs throughout the summer and fall. Read more about virtual programming and resources that can be accessed remotely. For further information on the APS reopening and its COVID response, please click here.

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aerostation

Running A-fowl of Franklin: A Bounty of Birds in the Benjamin Franklin Papers

American Philosophical Society
July 28, 2020
By Rosemarie Fettig, Bryn Mawr College 2019 Curatorial Research Intern In my research for Dr. Franklin, Citizen Scientist, I learned that birds crop up with...
APS Library
APS Museum
Wistar Portrait

The Venerated Doctor’s Portrait

Janine Boldt
July 21, 2020
Above image: Thomas Sully after Bass Otis, Caspar Wistar, 1830 (original 1817). Oil on canvas. APS. If you have spent time in the second-floor conference...
APS Library
APS Museum
Three Patterson Portraits

The Many Portraits of Robert Patterson (continued)

Janine Boldt
July 16, 2020
This is the second post of a two-part blog. Read part one here. In 1896, the American Philosophical Society acquired its second portrait of Robert...
APS Library
APS Museum
Philosophical Hall

Reopening Policies

American Philosophical Society
July 9, 2020
While the Society will remain closed to the public for at least the rest of the summer, staff have already developed a number of policies...
APS Library
APS Museum

Statement Regarding the Murder of George Floyd

American Philosophical Society
July 9, 2020
The American Philosophical Society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, proudly bears the title of the nation's oldest learned society. Our founders participated in the...
APS Library
APS Museum
Sully_Patterson

The Many Portraits of Robert Patterson

Janine Boldt
July 9, 2020
The American Philosophical Society recently acquired its third portrait of Robert Maskell Patterson (1787-1854); this one by the renowned artist Thomas Sully painted in 1866...
APS Library
APS Museum
The Projection of the Transit of Venus over the Sun. June 3d 1769. Published in Transactions, Vol. 1, 1771.

The Material History of a Printed Landmark of American Science

David Gary
June 30, 2020
The Transactions of the American Philosophical Society is the nation’s oldest scientific periodical, and the publication of its first volume in early March 1771 proved...
APS Library
APS Museum
Benjamin Franklin and the Art of Eating

Revisiting Benjamin Franklin and the Art of Eating: Caroline Sloat

Kyle Roberts
June 25, 2020
Over the past few weeks, we have explored a series of cooking recipes found in the American Philosophical Society’s collection of Benjamin Franklin’s manuscripts. Nearly...