North west corner of Chestnut and 12th Streets, showing, at left, Boston Row (built 1830, John Haviland, architect). Watercolor by David J. Kennedy, 1839. Historical Society of Pennsylvania (K: 1-64).
Access
the David
J. Kennedy Collection
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North west corner of Chestnut and 12th Streets, showing, at left, Boston Row (built 1830, John Haviland, architect). Watercolor by David J. Kennedy, 1839. Historical Society of Pennsylvania (K: 1-64). |
David J. Kennedy Collection
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699
(215) 732-6201
The David J. Kennedy Collection at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania consists of over 1000 watercolors and drawings, often accompanied by Kennedy's notes describing the appearance and history of the sites he depicted. Most are of locations in the Philadelphia area. This enormous volume of work was created between 1836 and 1898, the year of Kennedy's death, although some scenes bear earlier dates, Kennedy having relied on earlier views by others.
On the website is a database of the collection, which one can search through a web browser. Text searches in the "Notes" field will allow one to find images of places from 'almshouse' to 'hippodrome' to 'spruce." In order to view the prints at the Historical Society, please note the call number, beginning with 'K' and colon, and provide some of the descriptive title on the 'manuscripts/graphics' call slip. Be careful to distinguish roman and arabic numerals, which denote different parts of the collection.
Most of the Kennedy views have been mounted between mat boards for protection.
Search
Database
From here you can specify a search of the database.
The results of the search will be returned as a "hit list."