The David Center is launching its new Seminar on the American Revolution on March 24 2021 with Jonathan D. Sassi (College of Staten Island and the Graduate Center, City University of New York) speaking on “The New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery: A Reappraisal." To register and to see the Spring 2021 schedule, click here.

As the United States nears the 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society is organizing an international conference on “The Meanings of Independence,” to be held in Philadelphia in October 2021. The conference aims to convene leading and emerging scholars of the era, museum and library professionals, leaders of cultural institutions, teachers at all levels, public intellectuals, and engaged members of the public for two days of discussion about the meaning and import of the American Revolution in the twenty-first century. Learn more here.

If you missed the January 14 virtual discussion with Carla J. Mulford on Benjamin Franklin's Political Science, you can watch the video here. The recording of the January 27 virtual discussion with Michael Hattem on Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution, along with extended Q&A, is available via the event page.

The application window is now closed for David Center Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships and the Swan Foundation Short-Term Resident Research Fellowship for Revolutionary-Era Material Culture for 2021-2022. Long and short-term David Center Fellowships will be announced later in the spring. Scroll down on this page for more information.

On August 10th, the David Library announced its intention to sell Buckstone Farm, the 118-acre property in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania that has been home to the David Library since 1974 to the Heritage Conservancy, a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and protect the natural and historic heritage of Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). You can read more about this development here and download the announcement in the right hand column.

Learn more here about the major NEH CARES grant received in June 2020 for the project Benjamin Franklin’s American Enlightenment: Documenting Early American Science at the American Philosophical Society. The project involves the creation or completion of several digital projects related to eighteenth-century Philadelphia.

On Thursday, July 9th, Gaye Wilson, author of Jefferson on Display: Attire, Etiquette, and the Art of Presentation, gave a talk on her new book: "A Final Image: The Thomas Sully Portrait of Thomas Jefferson." A recording of Gaye's talk and extended Q&A can be found here.

If you missed our virtual program on May 13 on Spain's involvement in the American Revolution with Gabriel Paquette and Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia, you can watch the recorded version by clicking the right hand link on the page here.

The Sol Feinstone Manuscript Collection, the Sol Feinstone Slavery Collection, and the rare books collection from the David Library are now accessible at the APS. The finding aid for the Manuscript collection can be found here and the Slavery collection here. You can search through the rare books in the APS online catalogue here and can be requested through the AEON paging system. The extensive microfilm collection will be available for search very shortly.

Congratulations to the inaugural awardees of the David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships has just been announced. These grants continue the 30-year tradition of the David Library supporting new scholarship on the American Revolution and the Founding Era. We look forward to welcoming Ben Bankhurst (Shepherd University), Christopher Pearl (Lycoming University), Meg Roberts (University of Cambridge), and Robert Wright (Augustana University) once the Library reopens!

Read recent articles in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Metro Weekly about the partnership between the American Philosophical Society and the David Library of the American Revolution.

Read the letter that recently went out to the David Library community about the transition to the new David Center at the APS to the right.

Read about the partnership between the David Library of the American Revolution and the APS: "Unparalleled Research Center on the American Revolution Coming to the APS"

The David Center for the American Revolution integrates the collections of the David Library with that of the APS to create a one-stop-shop for the study of the American Revolution.

The David Library collections consist of approximately 8,000 volumes, 9,000 reels of microfilm, and the large Sol Feinstone manuscript collection. The Sol Feinstone Collection, a rich collection of letters and documents, was assembled by DLAR Founder Sol Feinstone (1888-1980) over a period of fifty years. It includes material on almost all notable Americans from before the Revolution to the 1850s, as well as prominent Europeans and documents relating to military affairs. There are substantial groups of letters from: John Adams, Henry Dearborn, Alexander Hamilton, Jedidiah Huntington, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, George Washington, and a long run of letters from a Massachusetts military surgeon named Samuel Adams. Many letters, though written by revolutionary figures, relate to events that occurred before or after the War.

This adds to the APS Library's Early American History Collections, which are particularly strong for the period from 1750 to 1840. In addition to the Benjamin Franklin Papers and the Thomas Paine Collection, the APS has a wide assortment of documents from the revolutionary era. Among these are official government documents and correspondence, military records that range from the Continental Army to Pennsylvania county records, and personal correspondence from various historical actors. Notable collections of correspondence include the Nathanael Greene Papers, the Peale-Sellers Family Collection, the Richard Henry Lee Papers, and the William Temple Franklin Papers. 

Of particular note is the record of the American missions to Europe during the American Revolution. The William Temple Franklin Papers, the Arthur Lee Collection, the Benjamin Franklin Papers, and the Benjamin Franklin Bache collections provide a nearly complete window into America’s diplomatic maneuverings in Europe during the American Revolution. 

Finding aids that were previously available on the David Library website can be found to the right. Please check "Latest Updates" above for when the materials they list will be accessible.

The David Center aims to build a community of scholars through a program of long- and short-term fellowships:

David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships

Deadline: March 5, 2021

These fellowships continue the 30-year tradition of the David Library awarding over 200 fellowships to scholars working on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. These opportunities provide one month of support for researchers in residence and are open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.

2020-2021 Fellows:

• Benjamin Bankhurst
• Christopher R. Pearl
• Meg Roberts
• Robert E. Wright

David Center for the American Revolution Postdoctoral Fellowship

Deadline: January 29, 2021

This 24-month fellowship is intended for a recent Ph.D., professor at any level seeking sabbatical support for a research project, or an independent scholar working on a project. Applicants will receive a stipend of $50,000 per year to support twenty-four months of work on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. 

David Center for the American Revolution Predoctoral Fellowship

Deadline: January 29, 2021

This 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation. Applicants will receive a stipend of $25,000 to support twelve months of work on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. 

Friends of the APS Predoctoral Fellowship in Early American History (to 1840)

Deadline: January 29, 2021

The APS Library offers long-term residential predoctoral fellowships for graduate students working on topics in early American History (to 1840). The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation.

Swan Foundation Short-Term Resident Research Fellowship for Revolutionary-Era Material Culture

Deadline: March 5, 2021

This funding opportunity provides one month of support for researchers to work in the artifact collections of the Swan Historical Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and other repositories in the Greater Philadelphia Region. The fellowship is open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.

Library & Museum Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships

Not offered in 2021-2022

Short-term Fellowships generally support scholars working toward the completion of a dissertation or book. The grant is also open to independent or community-based scholars as well as academic scholars. The grant provides a stipend of $3,000 for 1–3 months of research in residence at the APS.

Brendan McConville (Co-Chair), Professor of History, Boston University and member of the David Library's Board of Trustees

Patrick K. Spero (Co-Chair), Librarian and Director of the American Philosophical Society Library & Museum

Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History, Harvard University

Katherine Grandjean, Associate Professor of History, Wellesley College

Patrick Griffin, the Madden-Hennebry Professor at the University of Notre Dame

Woody Holton, the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina

Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Stanford University

Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center

R. Scott Stephenson, President and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution

The David Center regular holds international conferences, public lectures, family and adult programming, and major exhibitions inspired by the Sol Feinstone Collection.

The David Center is now accepting proposals for the 2021-2022 David Center for the American Revolution Seminar Series. To submit a proposal, please email a one-page proposal, a brief statement (2-3 sentences) explaining how this paper relates to your other work, and a brief CV by August 29, 2021 to scholarlyprograms@amphilsoc.org. 

For more information, visit the seminar website.