Tag: Unique at Penn
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They grow up so fast: Getting to know Sarah Wistar Pennock through her childhood letters
My favorite items from the Wistar, Pennock, Lukens, Miller, and Davis family papers are Sarah Wistar Pennock’s (1840-1909) letters that she wrote between the ages of six and thirteen. I believe that I’m drawn to her correspondence specifically because of my nearly ten years of experience as a high school teacher. Adolescents experience a lot…
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Finding Your Ancestors in the Archive
Note: Please refer to the University of Pennsylvania’s Sensitive Materials Statement in reference to the harmful language found in documents below. Last year, I listened to an investigative podcast called Sugar Land, about the discovery of the unmarked graves of 95 convict laborers who were buried on land that a school district wanted to develop.…
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John Philip Sousa: The March King Himself
After working in an archive long enough, one gets used to seeing certain types of documents, ephemera, and objects. The University Archives is no different – with collections holding everything from correspondence to ledgers, photographs to posters, and trophies to pins. But there are still times you come across something that peaks your interest and…
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Schizonyms and the Satirical Humor of Cartoonist John Jonik
Schizonyms sounded made up when I first came across it in processing the papers of John Jonik. But upon delving into his life and artistic career, I found a growing appreciation for the quirkiness of his humor and his art. As defined by Jonik himself, schizonyms are a unique idea of a visual pun. Some…
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Cucumber Pumps and Other Oddities
When it came time to process a small collection of business invoices, I cringed and let out a small sigh as I honestly thought the work would be dull, less exciting than previous collections of family papers and cartoons. Much to my surprise, the work proved delightfully entertaining. My curiosity over some of the pieces…
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Christmas in July
The true joy of working in libraries, archives and special collections is the gift that every day is an opportunity for research and learning something new. In the few months since I started here at Penn Libraries, I have worked with a variety of materials and seen some truly wonderful collections. When materials arrive, whether…
Unique at Penn 