African Americana Graphics Available On-line

Through the generous support of a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education under the Library Services and Technology Act, more than 900 prints, photographs, and pieces of ephemera documenting the early African American experience have been digitized and added to the Library Company’s digital collections catalog ImPAC. The collection—enthusiastically hailed in a review on philly.com—will also be available through the Access Pennsylvania Digital Repository, a collection of digitized documents and photographs from libraries across the state.

A collection of national importance, the graphics depict African American life, community, work, art, and political and social activism from the early American period to the early 20th century. Views of prominent Philadelphia African American churches like Mother Bethel, political cartoons addressing the effects of slavery on the young nation, and commemorative prints recognizing early civil rights victories following the Civil War are just a few of the visual materials reproduced and documented.

African Americana graphics continue to be among the visual materials requested most by our readers, and we are delighted to provide broader access to this tremendous historical resource.

The recently added material augments and complements almost fifty other collections of digitized images available in our digital collections catalog, including 18th- and 19th-century ephemera, Philadelphia commercial lithographs, and views by early Philadelphia photographers.