Nick Okrent

With the help of Penn Libraries' resources, we can seek out the objects, documents, and scholarly research that tell us what people were thinking and feeling at the advent of the American Revolution.

Eighteenth‑century style painting of a seated figure in a green coat reading papers at a desk with books and a red tablecloth.

In June, the Penn Libraries became one of the first libraries in North America to buy The Social History Archive, a product that includes a database of the British Library's extensive collection of digitized newspapers.

Clip from a newspaper describing recent events in the American Revolution, including the election of "the following persons to represent those people in the Rebel Congress, viz. Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Daniel Roberdeau, Jonathan B. Smith, James Smith of York Town, William Clingham, and Joseph Reed."

Thanks to this partnership, Penn’s Indo-Caribbean postcard collection is now hosted by dLOC and by the Libraries, making the material more discoverable and putting it in context with related material.

Watercolor illustration showing a group of people gathered around a number of houses with thatched roofs. Text at the bottom says, "East Indian Huts, Trinidad, B.W.L."

Many of the newspapers are from the mid-20th century and many are from small cities and towns.

Clips from 6 different historical newspapers, show in a grid. Headlines in top row, left to right: "Dog Saves Canine Friend From Drowning In River," "The Wizard of Oz" "Chilled Waffle Wns Rancher's Wife Divorce." Headlines in bottom row: "Where Storm Struck in All Its Fury" "Unusual Weather—Flood Buries Cars in L.A." "M.P.H. Wind Lashes Ocean To Wild Fury"

This database includes complete runs of some of the most impactful Black newspapers of the 20th century, archives from major civil rights organizations, government documents, and more.