Dr. Cecilia Chien explores the history of Asian Americans in Philadelphia from the 1800s to the present. There are myriad Asian American communities. They differ in country of origin, ethnicity, language, class, religion, gender, and more. From the colonial era to the present, generations of Asian immigrants and their American-born descendants have transformed the face […]
The book "For the Union" tells the story of how Quaker abolition, a hanging, a slave riot, and a newspaper in West Chester helped launch Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign in 1860. The first biography of the presidential candidate was published at what is now known as the Lincoln Building in downtown West Chester. It ultimately […]
Pew. Luden. Berwind. Clothier. Wyeth. Dorrance. Coxe. Schmidt. This talk by former Winterthur Estate Historian Jeff Groff focuses on leading families and the businesses that once made Philadelphia known as the workshop of the world, from railroads, to coal, to canned soup. It highlights their Main Line and Chester County houses including many that may […]
Pirates are often the subject of films and books that depict them as either dashing swashbucklers or dastardly outlaws, but these popular depictions obscure the reality of pirates in the Delaware Valley. Piracy emerged as a major concern in the Atlantic world in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and Pennsylvanians routinely contended with pirates, […]
Oaklands Cemetery has served as one of West Chester’s primary memorial landscapes since 1854, but it also holds a place within the larger world of well-designed garden cemeteries that redefined the burial ground during the middle decades of the 19th century. This talk will provide a historical framework to help us better understand cemeteries like […]
In 2020, the Chester County Archives staff unveiled their award-winning 1777 Chester County Property Atlas. This project highlights property owners, roads, and notable sites of interest (mills, taverns, places of worship, etc.) in existence in September 1777 during the Battle of Brandywine and succeeding events of the Philadelphia Campaign. Learn more about how this project […]
Joel T. Fry, Curator at Bartram's Garden in Philadelphia, will explore the lives of botanists & cousins John Bartram and Humphry Marshall. Pennsylvania Quakers John Bartram (1699-1777) and Humphry Marshall (1722-1801) have been frequently connected in histories of early American plant science, but it is not always apparent how closely related the two botanists were. […]
Since 1982, the Chester County Archives has been preserving and making accessible the historic government records of the Chester County Government. We’ll peel back the curtain for a behind-the-scenes look at the Chester County Archives. We’ll discuss the history of this unique department, explore the historic county government records available to researchers, and highlight some […]
This illustrated talk looks at some of the notable houses and gardens of the du Ponts. In the 19th century and first half of the 20th century members of this family created a wide variety of country houses in the Brandywine Valley. They chose architects such as T.P. Chandler, Harrie Lindeberg, Albert Ives, and R. […]
Throughout time, clothing has revealed a great deal about who we are. In the early 1800s, clothing in Chester County represented individual identity, personal choice, and place within the community. People here had access to global trends through Philadelphia and other regional ports. They accepted or rejected fashion styles based on what they could afford, […]
Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch, author of Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County, Pennsylvania (The History Press), traces the stories of 18 residents of Hinsonville, a free black community in southeast Pennsylvania, who fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War. The former 19th century village of Hinsonville near Lincoln University […]
Take an in-depth look at the oldest record preserved at the Chester County Archives and learn about its significance over 340 years. On February 14, 1683, local residents assembled at the House of Defense for their regular court session. When the court clerk, Thomas Revell, opened the court docket, however, he did something a little […]
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