Van Pelt Library is celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday.
Credit: Grace ChenThe Penn Libraries is joining dozens of partners across the University in celebrating the lead up to United States' 250th anniversary through a wide range of programming.
According to a Penn Libraries webpage, the Semiquincentennial — which honors the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 2026 — "provides the Penn community with an ideal opportunity to re-examine one of the founding documents of our country from both historical and contemporary perspectives." As part of a nationwide America 250 initiative, Penn will host and sponsor exhibitions, art commissions, performances, courses, lectures and more.
Lynne Farrington, the director of programs and senior curator of special collections for Penn Libraries, told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the programming was created with the intention of “bringing people together and figuring out ways to make this commemoration the best it can be for the Penn Community.”
“The idea is to have a wide range of programs and exhibits that explore different aspects, both historic and contemporary, and have lots of ways in which we can look at this anniversary and think about it in a critical capacity, especially given what’s happening in the country right now,” Farrington said.
Upcoming events include a panel on past epidemics in Philadelphia, a walking tour of Penn's original college campus, and a concert consisting of songs and instrumental selections from George Washington’s step-granddaughter's music room.
In honor of the Semiquincentennial, the Kislak Center also opened a full-scale recreation of a colonial coffeehouse in February as part of a "Revolution at Penn?" exhibit. The coffeehouse is designed in the style of the Old London Coffee House — a famous Philadelphian coffeehouse during the 18th century — and is located on the 6th floor of the Van-Pelt Dietrich Library.
John Pollack, the curator of research services for the Kislak Center, said that he, Assistant University Archivist Jim Duttin, and Director of Exhibits at Penn Libraries Brittany Merriam spent months planning and designing the exhibit.
“We’re trying to show original documents from Penn, but also show the way in which the university was impacted by the revolution," Pollack said. "It wasn’t just like university here, revolution there. It was all tied up together."
The exhibit will be on display until May 27. Pollack emphasized the openness of the coffeehouse as where students can “do [their] homework up here, bring [their] friends, and have a political debate.”
"Hopefully the exhibit will get people to think more about that, that time period, and what it means now, and about the university and the past, present, future," Pollack said.
Sean Quimby, the associate vice provost and director of the Kislak Center, said that having the opportunity to partner with other institutions in the city to plan America 250 and “to just do right by the city” has been incredibly worthwhile.
"I have the good fortune of overseeing Penn’s rare collections that are themselves a gem, and if I can help to sort of showcase them and to convene people around these really important, kind of urgent themes, then that’s rewarding," Quimby said.
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