The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. Considered the first learned society in the United States, it has about 1,000 elected members, and by April 2020 had had only 5,710 members since its creation. Through research grants, published journals, the American Philosophical Society Museum, an extensive library, and regular meetings, the society supports a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the sciences.
Philosophical Hall, now a museum, is just east of
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpi ...
in
Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National P ...
; it was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1965.
History
The Philosophical Society, as it was originally called, was founded in 1743 by
Benjamin Franklin,
James Alexander,
Francis Hopkinson,
John Bartram,
Philip Syng, Jr. and others as an offshoot of an earlier club, the
Junto.
Early members included:
Benjamin Franklin,
John Dickinson,
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
,
John Adams,
Thomas Jefferson,
Alexander Hamilton,
James McHenry,
Thomas Paine,
David Rittenhouse,
Peter Stephen Du Ponceau
Peter Stephen Du Ponceau (born Pierre-Étienne du Ponceau, June 3, 1760 – April 1, 1844) was a French-American linguist, philosopher, and jurist. After emigrating to the colonies in 1777, he served in the American Revolutionary War. Afterward ...
,
Nicholas Biddle
Nicholas Biddle (January 8, 1786February 27, 1844) was an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States (chartered 1816–1836). Throughout his life Biddle worked as an editor, diplomat, au ...
,
Owen Biddle,
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush (April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States who signed the United States Declaration of Independence, and a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educa ...
,
James Madison,
Michael Hillegas,
John Marshall,
Charles Pettit and
John Andrews.
It was common at the time for intellectual societies to invite members from around the world, where the society recruited members from other countries, including
Alexander von Humboldt, the
Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
,
Baron von Steuben,
Tadeusz Kościuszko, and
Princess Dashkova
Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova (russian: Екатери́на Рома́новна Воронцо́ва) (28 March, 1743 – 15 January, 1810) This source reports that Prince Dashkov died in 1761. was an influential noblewoman, a major figure o ...
.
The society lapsed into inactivity by 1746, but in 1767 it was revived. On January 2, 1769, it united with the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge under the name American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge. Franklin was elected the first president. During this time, the society maintained a standing Committee on American Improvements; one of its investigations was to study the prospects for a canal to connect the
Chesapeake Bay and the
Delaware River. The
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which had been proposed by Thomas Gilpin, Sr., was built in the 1820s.
After the
American Revolution, the society looked for leadership to
Francis Hopkinson, one of the signatories of the
United States Declaration of Independence. Under his influence, the society received land from the government of Pennsylvania, along with a plot of land in Philadelphia, where Philosophical Hall now stands.
Charles Darwin,
Robert Frost,
Louis Pasteur,
Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz,
John James Audubon,
Linus Pauling,
Margaret Mead,
Maria Mitchell
Maria Mitchell (Help:IPA/English, /məˈraɪə/; August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) was an American astronomer, librarian, naturalist, and educator. In 1847, she discovered a comet named 1847 VI (modern designation C/1847 T1) that was later kno ...
, and
Thomas Edison were all prominent members of the society.
Many members of the
Society of the Cincinnati were among the APS's first board members and contributors; the APS and SOC still maintain an informal, collegial relationship.
Membership
Membership of the APS "honors extraordinary accomplishments in all fields." It has about 1,000 elected members, comprising about 840 "resident" members (United States citizens or those working or living in the United States) and about 160 "international" members. it had elected 5,710 members since its foundation.
Over that history, 208 members have been from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, 115 from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, 88 from
Stanford University, and 84 from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. Ten academic institutions have each been affiliated with 50 or more members:
Awards
In 1786, the society established the
Magellanic Premium, a prize for achievement in "navigation,
astronomy, or natural philosophy," the oldest scientific prize awarded by an American institution, which it still awards. Other awards include the Barzun Prize for
cultural history, the Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation, the
Benjamin Franklin Medal, the
Lashley Award for
neurobiology
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developme ...
, the Lewis Award, and the Thomas Jefferson Medal for distinguished achievement in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.
Publications, archive
The APS has published the ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'' since 1771. Five issues appear each year. The ''
Proceedings'' have appeared since 1838; they publish the papers delivered at the society's biannual meetings. The society has also published
The Papers of Benjamin Franklin,
Joseph Henry,
William Penn, and
Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark
William Clark (August 1, 1770 – September 1, 1838) was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in pre-statehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Miss ...
.
Jane Aitken bound 400 volumes for the society.
The society also has an expansive archive on framer of the
U.S. constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
John Dickinson.
APS has a collection of indigenous language documents from around the United States including the ACLS Collection (American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, American Philosophical Society) recordings of the
Odawa language from northern Michigan. APS has created a guide to help provide broad coverage of the Native American and Indigenous archival collections at the Library & Museum of the American Philosophical Society. These materials date from 1553 to 2020 and include manuscript, audio, and visual materials relating to Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.
Buildings
Philosophical Hall
Philosophical Hall, at 104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, between
Chestnut and
Walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
Streets, immediately south of
Old City Hall, was built in 1785–89 to house the society and designed by Samuel Vaughan in the
Federal style.
[, p. 30] A third floor was added in 1890 to accommodate the expanding library, but was removed in 1948–50,
when the building was restored to its original appearance for the creation of
Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National P ...
. In 2001, it was opened to the public as The American Philosophical Society Museum, hosting revolving, thematic exhibitions that explore intersections of history, art, and science. The museum features works of art, scientific instruments, original manuscripts, rare books, natural history specimens, and curiosities of all kinds from the APS's own collections, along with objects on loan from other institutions.
Library Hall
In 1789–90, the
Library Company of Philadelphia
The Library Company of Philadelphia (LCP) is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a library, the Library Company of Philadelphia has accumulated one of the most significant collections of hist ...
(LCP) built its headquarters directly across 5th Street from APS. In 1884 LCP sold its building, which was demolished for the expansion of the Drexel & Company Building in 1887. This building was demolished in the mid-1950s, during the creation of Independence National Historical Park.
APS built a library on the site in 1958 and recreated the façade of the old LCP building.
Benjamin Franklin Hall
APS restored the former Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank building at 425–29 Chestnut Street, which was built in 1854–55 to the design of John M. Gries in the
Italianate style
The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...
, to serve as a lecture hall. It is the site of meetings and most major events the society hosts.
["Directions"]
on the APS website
Richardson Hall
The
Constance C. and
Edgar P. Richardson Hall at 431 Chestnut Street, immediately west of Benjamin Franklin Hall, is the former Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities Building, which was built in 1871–73 and designed by
Addison Hutton
Addison Hutton (1834–1916) was a Philadelphia architect who designed prominent residences in Philadelphia and its suburbs, plus courthouses, hospitals, and libraries, including the Ridgway Library (now Philadelphia High School for the Creative a ...
.
[, p.64] It contains offices and the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine.
Gallery
File:PSM V60 D442 Place of meeting in the building of the society.png, Interior of Philosophical Hall(c. 1901–02)
File:Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank 427 Chestnut Street.jpg, Benjamin Franklin Hall (2013)
File:Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities 431 Chestnut Street.jpg, Richardson Hall (2013)
Image:Inspecting Henry DeWolf Smyth papers at the American Philosophical Society.jpg, Researcher inspecting a folder from the Papers of Henry DeWolf Smyth at the library
Citations
General and cited sources
*
External links
*
*
American Philosophical Society publications(
Wayback Machine copy)
*
Listing of Philosophical Hallat Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
"Writings of Benjamin Franklin", broadcast from the American Philosophical Societyfrom
C-SPAN's ''
American Writers''
{{Authority control
Libraries in Philadelphia
Museums in Philadelphia
Old City, Philadelphia
Learned societies of the United States
Philosophical societies in the United States
Organizations based in Philadelphia
1743 establishments in Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin
History of Philadelphia
Research libraries in the United States