Hybrid Book Discussion – William Still: The Underground Railroad and the Angel at Philadelphia

This is the first major biography of the free Black abolitionist William Still, who coordinated the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad and was a pillar of the Railroad as a whole. Based in Philadelphia and well-connected to Chester County abolitionists, Still built a reputation as a courageous leader, writer, philanthropist, and guide for fugitive […]

Osborne Perry Anderson & the African Americans in John Brown’s Army (Zoom)

Author Eugene L. Meyer tells the story of Osborne Perry Anderson, a native of Chester County, who joined with abolitionist John Brown in an ill-fated raid on Harpers Ferry in October 1859 to seize its federal arsenal, incite a slave rebellion, and end slavery. Anderson was one of five African Americans soldiers in Brown's raiding […]

Howard Pyle and the Brandywine Tradition: An American School of Art (Zoom)

In 1900 at the height of his fame, illustrator Howard Pyle founded the Howard Pyle School of Art in Wilmington, Delaware. His bold purpose was to train promising young artists to produce uniquely American work that would echo the nation’s spirit and challenge Europe’s artistic supremacy. Towards that end, Pyle championed imagination over technique and […]

William Penn’s Treaties in Context

Professor Daniel K. Richter will explore the interactions and agreements between William Penn and the Native people of Pennsylvania.

Hybrid Book Discussion – Ida Tarbell: Portrait of a Muckraker

Ida Tarbell, a native Pennsylvanian, lived during the era in which she was known as a “muckraker.” In our time she would have been known as an investigative reporter, with the celebrity of Woodward and Bernstein. Tarbell was one of the most powerful women of her time in the U.S.: admired, feared, hated. When her […]