Brainstorming sessions:

-- iconographic resources and ideas

From sessions held in Feb 97 and before. Material has added from more recent discussions and from two pamphlets: Delaware Valley Archives Group, Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in Southeastern Pennsylvania, typescript, 15pp., Philadelphia, May 1992; and Bryn Mawr Urban Research Project, A Local Guide to Researching Philadelphia, typescript, 59pp., Bryn Mawr, August 1994.

These resources and ideas will be more fully described, evaluated in terms of scope, interest to historians, more general interest, present availability, volatility, hours required, equipment required, current exposure, willingness of holder to have it appear.

* = what initially seem promising, feasible, desirable, timely possibilities.

Original Artworks: prev cataloging efforts have produced cards with contact prints
Oil paintings of Phila sites: included in published catalogue, 1974, all oils, except for 2 wc.
David J. Kennedy views: about 700 wc views, all inventoried.
Graphics Coll.: smallest Ba, larger Bb, largest Bc, bound Bd
Breton views: at least 100 at HSP (Bb), others at LCP
B. R. Evans views: about 250 views (Bb), some wc, some line drawings, some at LCP, AKM also. Some to be included in Jefferson Medical project, even if not about TJU or medicine?
Richards dwgs, wash dwgs, bw about 1860s-70s, mainly Gtn.
Moss & Hazlett real estate collection: 7 vols. w/ about 100 plates by dveloper, ca. 1890-1920, with plans, elevs? or rental, sale? properties. Inventoried by Louise Jones.

Prints Collections:
better prints, stored by size along with watercolors, architectural drawings, Ba, Bb, Bc, Bd (published or bound)
Archtl dwgs coll: largest is Trumbauer collection, hundreds, large, usually on linen, mostly residential, PAth has most non-residential, FLP has other materials. Inventoried in Marcy Silver's project.
Birch views: pretty complete run of bw negs, occasional transparencies if someone ever ordered (negs and trans file in registrar's office).
Society Prints: smaller, clippings, trade cards

Photo Collections:

-- HSP photo collections: thousands of photos, organized in
(a) Society Photos Coll. -- all indexed by site, topic, stored by size, small, medium, large (rather few). by subject, some by streets.-- and
(b) Boies Penrose Coll., lots by streets.
all in graphics card catalogue, along with Campbell & Perkins scraps, Wallace, PRT, Kennedy

-- Phila Record photo morgue: perhaps 250,000 photos, 1930-46; topical indexes: one series = personals, indexed by name, but smaller one, perhaps 50,000, nonpersonal, indexed, on disk, by subject.

-- Gilliams & Stratton photos: 300 or so late 19th c street scenes, 1880s-1900s, photojournalism. no finding aid, but all photocopied. scattered among Society and Penrose photo collections. Not in graphics crad cat. usually people in scenes. Some background by K Finkel in cat entry in "Legacy of Light"
-- Lantern slide collections: some 21 or more of them, varying topics, some certainly pertinent. rarely consulted, owing to medium, but Bruce Laverty has succesfully scannedsuch images, might be good way to bring to wider audiences. inventories in digital from already made by Marcy Silver, in many cases.
-- PRT photos, about 100 images of Market Street when being dug up for subway, 1900-10.
-- Photo albums, such as one of East Falls ca. 1900
-- Shoemaker Collection: of Gtn, photos and some wash dwgs, turn of the century; w/ a card index?
-- Centennial photos

* Various scrapbook collections described, including Souder's extra-illustrated Chestnut St. volumes, ca. 1859-, Campbell Coll, Perkins Coll, many others.

Fire Insurance Records, HSP
*-- Franklin, PA fire ins surveys at HSP, 30,000/60,000 in foxbase, filemaker pro db; (willingness expressed by holder, JC). scan images, extend coverage, create better interfaces?
-- Mutual: (aka Green Tree), pol nos. from beginning to numbers in the 19,000s, card indexes alphabetically by street, town, pol. nos (to only 12,544), losses, some chrono notes, street name changes. acq 1996. 450 cartons and books & microform. more policies will be added once cancelled for 7 years
-- Frankford FI Co: 12 or so boxes, from the 19th c.
-- Phila Contributionship(portion at HSP): two odd batches, one from about 1910s indexed, the other not. card file by address and by number to about 15,000-20,000, but actual policies run to about 37,000

Maps: lots of 'em, cat'd
Clement Coll.: NJ survey collection, Burlington County
Good set of updated Hexamer & Locher atlases, ca. 1857-71
19th c. development maps in scrapbook-like vols.
title tracing maps in brief of title collections
Census recs 1790-1900, except 1890
Cemetery recs
Deed, will colls.
PA Newspaper inventories, in dig form

Graphics collections by no:

• V1: D. Sargent Bell Coll.
• V2: P. W. Humphreys Photo Collection
• V3: Phila. War photo Collection (WWI)
• V4: WWII Photo Collection
• V5: Sartain Collection
• V6: Theater Poster Collection
• V7: Philadelphia Record Morgue -- not in graphics cat, but uindexed unto itself.
• V8: Lantern slide collection
• V9: Lantern slide collection
• V10: Pa. Home Teaching Society for the Blind
• V11: Lantern slide collection of firefighting
• V12: Declaration of Independence lantern slide collection
• V13: Free Library lantern slide collection
• V14: Windmill Collection
• V15: Philadelphia Rapid Transit Collection
• V16: Frances Anne Wister Lantern slide collection
• V17: Anna Hazen Howell Lantern slide collection
• V18: Albertype Co. Collection: some 350 negatives, 1910-50, made by postcard photog co. from Brooklyn, collections dispersed 1950s, by location. inventory 1989 by Marcy Silver.
• V19: Lantern slide collection
• V20: Lantern slide collection
• V21: Pennsylvania Health Springs Collection
• V22: Historic Philadelphia Lantern slide collection
• V23: Historical Pageants Lantern slide collection
• V24: Frank H. Taylor Lantern slide collection
• V25: Earl J. Early Lantern slide collection
• V26: Friends Meeting Houses Lantern slide collection: 82 slides, 1888-1915, many dated views, some by Marcy Sciopticon Co., Phila., eastern PA generally, a few misc. houses, Harmonyville/Morris relief, Chester, England views at end.
• V27: Five O'Clock Club Lantern slide collection
• V28: Lantern slide collection
• V29: Industrial lantern slide collection
• V30: McKaig Lantern slide collection
• V31: Lantern slide collection
• V32: Helen C. Perkins Lantern slide collection: 112 slides, ca. 1900-12, varous older views, some contemp photos; largest single group records history of Chestnut St. locations, east to west. in 3 boxes. a couple of views at end colored, one broken.
• V33: John Wanamaker Archives
• V34: Lantern slide glass negative collection
• V35: Day Collection
• V36: Horace Trumbauer Collection -- not in graphics cat, but has its own finding aid.
• V37: Baxter Panoramic Business Directory
• V38: Traymore Hotel Collection -- not in graphics cat, but has its own finding aid.
• V39: Potts Collection
• V40: PRT photos, gift of Wm. S. Twining -- the main PRT collectiopn
• V41: Philadelphia Contributionship architectural drawings, numbreing about 200, mainly 1890s to 1930s
• V42: PRT photos, gift of Clarence Jones
• V43: PRT photos, gift of Chas. M. Smith
• V44: Photos of PRT & PTC vehicles
• V45: Philip Wallace Collection
• V46: Carl Berger Architectural Drawings
• V47: Watson J. and Mary W. Neaf stereoviews
• V48: Centennial stereoviews
• V49: Philadelphia Suburban Homes
• V50:
• V51: Phila. Dept. of Public Transit
• V52: Keeney Collection
• V53: Walter B. Smith Collection
• V54: Stuart B. Main Stereoview Collection
• V55: W. Barley negatives
• V56: Beaver and Nevius Family Photos
• V57: George B. Schoenhut Collection
• V58: Etting / Stage Door Canteen Collection
• V59: Society Photo Collection -- one of the two big ones
• V60: Penrose Collection -- one of the two big ones

Lantern slides not generally in graphicsd catalogue.

Library Company of Philadelphia
(conversation with JCVH and Sarah Weatherwax, 17 July 1997)

* C. A. Poulson scrapbooks: describe collection on scrapbooks page.
J. F. Watson extra-illustrated Annals, at HSP for LCP: ~
Photos, Prints, Drawings
* Frederick DeBourg Richards photos: about 80-100 photos (4 boxes), 1850-60s, with titles. notes; pulled from Poulson scraps?
-- Gutekunst photos
-- McClees phortos
-- Rau photos
-- Langenheim photos
-- (B R Evans)
* Breton views, watercolors made for Watson's Annals?
* Robert Newell photos, buildings, 1870s-90s, perhaps 150 photos in 3-4 boxes, 100 stereo views.gift of M. Brenner,
Childs, Wild views (some original wc's of former)
Aero service photos, thousands of negatives, prints of those req since c. 1985, perhaps 250. *Finding aid in wp 5.1 to be passed on; same nos. as Free Library prints?
Digital Wainwright, Philadelphia lithos, 1820s to 1866: list of c. 500 being given in digital form*, allow word searches, some linking, locational hierarchy? Some work done on expanding list. NBW started at HSP, gave only first locations where print encountered, sdo would be useful to list other holders.
"Louise's list of original views" = drawings and watercolors
Catalogue of Object collection = includes oil paintings

"Philadelphia Bound" = 1980s show with selction from sevral pubs with ills. Cat will be good hint to this kind of image (by the way, about 6-12 in Gleason's Mag, 1853-54, including [from memory] Parkinson's Restaurant, Hauel's perfume store [with int], Caleb Cope's store, Market or Chestnut St. loft by Hoxie, 900-block Chetsnut with Cox house?)
Photocopy file of advs etc. from city directories etc., with images of buildings filed by location.


Athenaeum of Philadelphia
219 S. 6th St., Phila, 926-2688
(Conversation w/ Bruce Laverty, 6 Aug. 97)

* real estate atlases: not too many, list on diskette for incorporation into ours
Prints: substantial collection of misc prints, many cut out from unid pubs, ordered by size, about 700 small, 100 medium, 50 large; some being scanned presently, about 5 megs per image, on CDs in 100s, with data in excel spreadsheet; probably will be mostly completed by Chris by early Fall. Many need better id. walter to get a program to alllow index view with images as on photo CD.
Lantern Slides: Keystone View Co. collection, couple of hundred lantern slides, ca. 1900-1910, some old chestnuts, others nonstandard views. Experiment shows that these scan well on Ath scanner. Also a set from INHP that were Charles E. Peterson's, taken betw 30s and 60s.
Photos: about 700 misc photos, roughly inventoried already in excel; along with James L. Dillon Collection, some 500 pohotos, 1930s-40s; also Karl Lutz Collection, about 2000 views by postcard photog, 1920-50s, many scenic, some good streetscapes.
Scrapbooks: Benson Scrapbooks, about 20 vols., ca. 1910-60s (Athenaeum of Philadelphia), mainly newspaper clippings, and some from other publications, few photos, mainly about place, collected by Rev. Benson, with a quirky index.
-- also scrapbook of Old City Historical Society, 1900-60, focusing on Society Hill, Washington Sq.
Maps: esp from Radnor Historical Society collection, about 300 or so, mainly related to development there.
*Reports: HP Student papers, HSRs cat'd, on icon website.
Projects: T Square Club catalogue index: card file, now wp document indexing all T sq cats, 1890s-1930s; all originals but one at PAth; interest in scanning all, adding PC AIA yearbooks, 1949-1970s.
-- Catholic Buildings project, under Connelly grant, now online at [], combining slides, drawing images, bio dicty data related to R.C. bldgs in area. walter has running using lotus notes queryable db.
-- Athenaeum's Biographical Dictionary, present plans to go online with source data in next few years; w/ link to Ath's archtl dwgs.

Atwater Kent Museum
15 S. 7th St., Phila. 686-3630
(Conversation with Nancy Moses and Jeffrey Ray, April 1997)

(100,000 records in PHIDO db)
Prints: total of 20,000 records in PHIDO db
Wainwright lithos, Childs prints, Birch prints
Photos: total of 20,000 records in PHIDO db
Joseph Jackson photos, about 40 of sites, early 20th c., of Declaration signers' homes.
Barrie Mason photos of Phila places, c. 1950s
Items related to trolleys in Cox PCC Collection
Buckley collection, 1970s, hundreds of photos
Misc Buildings Collection
WPA Collection, 1939 views of sites of Evans drawings, numbering about 125
Hog Island Collection, 3,000 photos
Ephemera: total of 10,000 records in PHIDO db
5,000 post cards
Beitler Collection of bill heads, perhaps hundreds have images of 19th c. business buildings
Drawings:
B. Ridgway Evans drawings, late 19th century, commissioned by F. Dreer. About 150 of them, others at LCP, HSP, and Carson Collection.

Free Library of Philadelphia
1901 Vine St., Philadelphia, P&P Coll., 686-5405; Map Coll., 686-5397
(from discussions with Joe Benford, Eliz. McKenty, 17 July 1997)

Phila Sub Hses photos, c. 1889, 125 photos
Old Phila Surveys:

-- Hillman/ McClintock, 1897-98, surveys of 8 Colonial buildings, large scale bound original, and full set of glossies.
-- annotated Yarnall & Goforth, Rothkugel, 2 vols.
-- PC, AIA, "Old Philadelphia Survey," 14 vol. set (?), all shot as glossies
-- HABS, 9-10 vols. of large blueprints, 1933-41
Philadelphiana Collection in P&P, over 10,000 items (folders A-Z. with small catagories.)
-- John Eckfeld collection of Haddington-area pictures
-- Douglas Macfarlan collection of West Phila and Fairmount Park pictures
-- Charles Mills collection of Schuylkill Falls-area pictures
-- John Gibb Smith collection of Willow Grove-area pictures
Joseph Jackson litho collection, 275 prints, many of Phila places
Joe Labolito photos, including Spruce St., river to river, 1980s?
Samuel Castner Collection (purchased 1947)
-- 8000 prints, photos, and clippings in 46 scrapbooks, with card index.
-- 1000-5000 images, on microfilm
-- about 1300 photos in the collection, from the beginning to vol. 26, have been rephoto'd as glossies, and this effort will continue.
Wilson Brothers architectural and engineering catalogs
-- images in both published volumes, 1885 and 1897, reshot as glossies, c. 1995
Published well-illustrated volume on City Hall, 1897, by Frederick Faust, w/ many photos of sculpture, some glossies made
Fine Arts drawings and prints
-- August Koellner, 350 items
-- Joseph Pennell, 100 prints
Postcard collection
Architectural Drawings Collection
-- about a dozen by Eyre, mostly city houses, c. 1890; Walter's set of Dundas-Lippincott mansion, c. 1838.
Centennial Collection
-- official photographic record of Centennial, never systematically published, 1000-1200 images
Aerial views coll., 4000 negs, 1930s on.

22 volumes Aero Service Survey Co., 2 vols. Dallin, with a hand-written card index. Large format glossies, about 12 x 20"?, in screw binders. Indexed by neg number and volume alphabetcially by location on hand-written half-index cards. (are these same numbers used in LCP's wpdoc neg list?)

Map collection:

-- best set of original Hexamer & Locher atlases, 1857-60

* 8 vols., perhaps 100-200 plates, each of two sheets about 18 x 30. completely encapsulted and bound., i.e., vol. 7, 1860, parts of wards 1,2,3,4, = pl.s 85-96, . Delaware to 19th, but includes only vignettes of developmental fringe, along with plates of ESP, House of Refuge, not part of these wards. Is on microform, but never shot in color.

-- Sanborn maps, 1921 on
-- other re atlases
-- Hexamer general surveys, industrial properties, 19th century, axonomeric views

discussions w/ J Moak, 21 Apr, inspection at FLP 17 July 97: 29 vol. set containing 3000 surveys of industrial and commercial properties, of which 2600 survive. [actually 2855 numbered plates.] Date prepared 1866-95. each plate about 19 x 17" (?). About 20% are for places outside Phila, ranging from NJ to WV, but lots for counties surrounding Phila. Most predominant single type, textile mills. Vols 1 & 3 have tables of contents.

At FLP typescript:Joyce A. Post, comp., "A Consolidated Name Index to the Hexamer General Surveys," Phila., 1974, copyrighted. This lists each alphabetically by name of company or individual. JM describes addtl indexes by geography and by product that he's put together. One is a database at the Phila City Archives started in 1976 and completed about 1981-82. There are also (?) notebook indexes. Part I = factories. Part 3 = alphabetical, with name of mill, owner, plate numbers.

Philadelphia City Archives (www.phila.gov/phils/phils.html)
Suite 942, 401 North Broad St., Phila., 686-1581, 686-1580
(from discussions w/ J Moak, 21 Apr 97)
Existing databases:
-- Hexamer general surveys index (see above). 19th-c. fire insurance surveys of industrial properties, 2600 of them, many illustrated with axonometric drawings, surveys themselves at FLP.
-- PCA negatives db. includes photo no., locvation as given, phtographer, date, dimensions.
-- City hall plans db. Over 600 plans held by Commrs of Public Buildings, 1871-1970s. Like most others at PCA, in a Paradox (relational rather than flat-file) db.

Indexing projects sponsored by hereditary societies, carried out by James Duffin:
-- Journal of Loan office records, 1723-60, pub by GSP.
-- Sales, Comm. Property, 1780-1820. Deeds for city, esp Ritt Sq, Wash West areas, keyed to plat nos. in deeds of that era. From Comm Prop books, five at PCA from 1814, 6 at FLP from 1786. pub by GSP.
-- a 3rd GSP project, Guide to Exemplification records. Has to do with early Philadelphia County deeds missing from usual patent book system, most from 17th an 18th c., brought into new system in accord with 1838 act. Indispensible when tracking title to a dead point in the original records.

Tattered set of original Hexamer & Locher atlases (better at FLP), but vol. 6 is updated one.
city directories
Deeds
access to bldg permit, L&I colls?

American Philosophical Society Library
105 South 5th St., Phila., 440-3408
Hannah Benner Roach files
Houston/Smith Coll of re atlases
prints
city directories
newspaper CD-ROMs

National Archives -- Mid-Atlantic Region
9th and Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 597 - 3000

http://www.nara.gov (U.S. National Archives)
http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html (NARA Archival Information Locator)

US censuses 1790-1920 with Soundex, 1798 Direct Tax .


Fairmount Park Commission
Memorial Hall, FP, Phila., 685-0047
topo map 1870s first of Phila area
data on FP houses
graphics collection

Independence National Historical Park Library
120 South 4th St., Phila., 597-1189, 597-8047
photo colls
research colls on INHP

Phila Maritime/Independence Seaport Museum
Penn's Landing, Phila, 925-5439

Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies
18 South 7th St., Phila., 925-8090

CIGNA Companies
1601 Chestnut St., Phila., 526-5289
INA fire insurance surveys
photo colls

Mutual Assurance Company/ The Green Tree Group
414 Walnut St., Phila, 925-0609
fire insurance surveys

Philadelphia Contributuionship
212 S. 4th St., 627-1752
fire insurance surveys

Presbyterian Historical Society
425 Lombard St., Phila., 627-1852
congregation records
Jas White book

Lutheran Archives Center
7310 Germantown Ave., 248-4616
congregation records

Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, Balch Institute
18 S. 7th St., Phila., 925-8090
synagogue records

Germantown Mennonite Historic Trust
6133 Germantown Ave., 843-0943

Archdiocese of Phila
St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, 667-2125
also incl. Archives of the American Catholic Historical Society
parish histories?

Christ Church
20 North American St., Phila., 525-0201
P.E. parish recs? (on mfilm at HSP?)

Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum
701 Arch St., Phila, 215 574-4381, 849-9733
Photo colls
-- Jack Franklin collection, 275,000 photos
scrapbooks
artworks

German Society of Phila
611 Spring Garden St., Phila., 627-4365

American Swedish Historical Museum
1900 Pattison Ave., 389-1776

University of Pennsylvania
Spec colls, 898-2065; Architectural Archives, 898-8323; Univ Archives, 898-7024
Philadelphia Social History Project materials,VPL
-- includes censuses 1850-80, geocoded, locations of home and work
Archtl Drawings, AA UP
Institutional history holdings, UA

Temple University Urban Archives
Paley Library, 13th & Berks, Phila., 204-6639, 787-8257
photo collection
newspaper colls (Bulletin, Inquirer)
Phila Bd of Realtors recs, c. 1930-62
City Parks Assn
Housing, planning colls

Bryn Mawr College
(Canaday Library, 610 526-5276; BMC Archives, 610 526-5285)
Discussions with Mary Leahy, 13 June 97
Materials in four divisions within Special Collections:
Rare Books, Manuscripts (RB and MSS), College Fine Arts Collections (FA; Carol Campbell), Archives (Lorette Treese)
Principal set of area images in Seymour Adelman Collection (SA)

SA Collection: mainly literary, some Frankliniana, calligraphy, boxiana, perhaps less than 1/3 Philadelphiana, including: