PoliticalFest, the weeklong celebration of American political and presidential history, ended with great fanfare at the Library Company. On July 27, the last day of PoliticalFest, 442 people visited our main building on Locust Street. That is surely a single-day attendance record! Just as impressive, over 1500 people visited us during the six days of PoliticalFest. "This was a truly awesome event and I think it shows what the Library Company can do for the public," Facilities and Operations Manager Fran Dolan, who helped plan the event, observed.
PoliticalFest was in the works for several months. Planned in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention, it was the brainchild of former Governor Ed Rendell and his staff, who wanted to get convention delegates and their families out into the City of Brotherly Love during their Philadelphia stay. In 2000 for the Republican National Committee convention, Rendell said that a similar and very popular event took place at the Convention Center proper. But this time around, PoliticalFest pushed people into the city itself. PoliticalFest eventually centered on seven places—museums, libraries, and historic sites—where members of the public, as well as delegates, could see special installations on aspects of American political history. Besides the Library Company, other sites included the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the National Liberty Museum, the Philadelphia History Museum, Pennsylvania Convention Center, the National Constitution Center and the Union League. Each day, thousands of people made the rounds to these wonderful sites. The non-partisan event proved to be a rousing success.
At LCP, the Logan Room was turned into the main exhibit space. On one side of the room, a display case featured the life masks of both Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. "Cool!!" some young visitors exclaimed when they saw the casts of these famous men. In the middle of the room several display cases created a circle in the round which allowed visitors to see, on one side, documents relating to women's suffrage struggles in the 19th and early 20th centuries and, on the other side, classic founding documents from the 1780s and 90s (including John Dickinson's annotated copy of the U.S. Constitution and an original edition of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"). Other display cases featured documents from the African Americana Collection and images from previous political conventions gathering in Philadelphia.
The Scheide Reading Room was temporarily converted into
an open space allowing visitors to learn a bit more about the Library Company's
status as an internationally-renowned research library (scholarly researchers
were re-located to the Cassatt House seminar room). The reading room had one
winning display: a glass case featuring the Library Company's "Articles of
Association" from 1731. "Wow—it's like an IPO—an Initial Public
Offering!" one woman said looking over our founding document. In many
ways, she was right: this document, which has been posted online, told
Philadelphia and the world that the Library Company was open for business as
America's first subscription library (and, of course, a joint stock company).
The stories people told about visiting the Library
Company were nearly as impressive as the number of overall visitors. "What
a collection!" "I didn't know you had so many terrific things from
the past." "I wish I had known about this place sooner so I could
bring friends and family back." Over and over again, people told us that
the Library Company was a special place. "I went to Penn, and so did my
daughter," one woman said as she moved through the galleries, ending up at
the Articles of Association. "But I never knew this was just on the other
side of town. I really wish I had known about it. But I'm glad I know
now." Clearly moved, she returned the next day for a second visit!
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| Tour guide, Noah Corbett, with guests and volunteers |
For those concerned that the Library Company's
collections might have been overwhelmed by the large numbers of people, there
were no major problems. A throng of volunteers assigned by PoliticalFest
monitored visitors in every room. A security guard was always on staff and we
limited the number of people who could go through
the exhibits at any one time. We also hired a professional educator, Noah
Corbett, who took visitors through the exhibits in the Logan room, fielding
questions and telling stories about the Library Company. A history teacher at
Maritime Academy Charter School in Philadelphia, Noah previously worked as a
tour guide at Eastern State Penitentiary. He was thrilled to have the
opportunity to learn more about the Library Company. "I like the city and
I like telling visitors about Philadelphia's history," he told us. Like
others, he knew a little bit about Ben Franklin but not much about the Library
Company. But, he continued, "it's a great place. We're only showing
visitors a very small part of the collection but it's great to see so many
people get excited about the Library Company's treasures. This is a great
resource for the city." In fact, he thought it would be a great resource
for his students too.
Our volunteers were equally impressed with the Library
Company. Linda Cooper chose to work at the Library Company for perhaps an
obvious reason: she lives in the neighborhood and has been to many of our
events. Originally from Washington, D.C. area, she too is an educator (though
she worked as an admissions administrator at a school in Maryland). "Of
the seven places in PoliticalFest, I felt very comfortable coming to the
Library Company," she said. "And I'm glad I did. The exhibits are
great - they're very well done - and there's a nice variety of topics."
She plans to return to the Library Company for lectures and other events in the
future.
Heidi Schiavone, who also volunteered at the Library, said
that Ben Franklin's historic connection to libraries in America drew her to the
venerable institution at 1314 Locust Street As a librarian herself (in the
South Lehigh School District), she was certainly interested in our role as the
first subscription library in America. But she was so excited by the documents
and exhibits that she even tweeted about how fun it was to volunteer at the
Library Company. "I said that I learned a lot here, especially things
about women's suffrage in the main display cases."
It is gratifying to know that so many people were
inspired by Ben Franklin's humble library. But it is not surprising. We've been
doing that for nearly 300 years!
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