Free Library of Philadelphia Newspapers & Microfilm Center

Free Library of Philadelphia Newspapers & Microfilm Center Historical newspapers and microfilm

The Newspapers and Microfilm Department at the Parkway Central branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia has many daily newspapers and over 100,000 reels of microfilm including historical newspapers, magazines and journals.

Join us on the 2nd floor this Thursday the 24th from 2-4 PM for another hyperlocal Evening Editions: 250. We'll be looki...
09/22/2026

Join us on the 2nd floor this Thursday the 24th from 2-4 PM for another hyperlocal Evening Editions: 250. We'll be looking at the July 1986 issues of the Philadelphia Review and The South Street Star where Philly news is given serious coverage at the neighborhood level.

Photo: front page of South Street Star - the Community News of East Philadelphia from 17 July 1986. Cover Story "To Dump or Not to Dump" -- Residents protest location of (dumping) sites chosen by Mayor.

Join us this Friday in Conference Room 131 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for another installment of The Missing. This we...
09/16/2026

Join us this Friday in Conference Room 131 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for another installment of The Missing. This week we will examine the disappearance of Steven Kraft Jr.

In 2001, on a chilly Thursday evening in Benton, Michigan, 12-year-old Steven Kraft Jr. told his mother he was taking the family’s two dogs outside to play before dinner. When he failed to return, his father contacted Steven’s older sister, who lived nearby, but he never stopped by there that day. His father searched through the night, finding only a few boot and paw prints in the snow, close to a church near their house. Days later, one of the dogs returned home, unusually skittish and frightened. Steven never did.

(Unrelated photo shows search dogs being trained near Batavia, New York in 1988.)

Join the City Planning Club we continue our discussion series centered on topics related to Philadelphia history, connec...
09/15/2026

Join the City Planning Club we continue our discussion series centered on topics related to Philadelphia history, connecting local history with city planning and development. This month, participate in a thoughtful, guided discussion about the Philadelphia International Airport revised/ post World Cup.

The group meets this Thursday, September 17th, from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM in the Heim Center, Room 131/132.

Join us for the Evening Edition in the Newspaper and Microfilm Department this Thursday, September 10th from 2-4 PM as w...
09/08/2026

Join us for the Evening Edition in the Newspaper and Microfilm Department this Thursday, September 10th from 2-4 PM as we present Philadelphia news with a local perspective. This Thursday's picks are the weekly editions of the July 1986 Girard Home News and the Germantown Courier, (the latter in the midst of recovery from a devastating fire that took place the early morning of May 16th, 1986).

Please join the Military History Club's monthly discussion group down in the Heim Center next Thursday, September 10th f...
09/04/2026

Please join the Military History Club's monthly discussion group down in the Heim Center next Thursday, September 10th for a discussion covering the diplomatic efforts with the Netherlands and the United States.

The group meets from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM in the Heim Center, Room 131/132.

Image: "The First Salute" by Phillips Melville, depicting Continental Brig Andrew Doria receiving a salute from the Dutch fort at St. Eustatius, West Indies, 16 November 1776

Join us tomorrow in our department, Room 214, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for another instance of Evening Editions 250, ...
08/26/2026

Join us tomorrow in our department, Room 214, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for another instance of Evening Editions 250, as we spotlight various papers over the last 250 years from a Philadelphia area perspective.

Using our microfilm readers, we will be presenting The Philadelphia Inquirer and Camden Courier-Post from July 1976, the year of the bicentennial.

Aside from the celebrations that occurred at that time, one of the biggest stories of that year was the trial of heiress Patty Hearst, granddaughter of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst.

The image is from the March 7th, 1976 edition of the Inquirer. It accompanied an article in which Inquirer fashion editor Elaine Tait scrutinized Hearst's courtroom appearance.

Join us tomorrow in Conference Room 131 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for another installment of The Missing. This week ...
08/20/2026

Join us tomorrow in Conference Room 131 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for another installment of The Missing. This week we will examine the disappearance of Tabitha Tuders.

East Nashville’s reputation cast a long shadow over the disappearance of 13-year-old Tabitha Tuders. When she failed to make it to her school bus stop, authorities initially dismissed the case as just another runaway. But those closest to Tabitha knew something was terribly wrong.

As days turned into weeks and community pressure intensified, investigators reconsidered their assumptions and began seeing her disappearance as a likely abduction. A full-scale investigation followed, revealing a web of leads, persons of interest, and unanswered questions. Tabitha has never been seen since that April morning and her disappearance remains one of Nashville’s most haunting unsolved mysteries.

Please join the City Planning Club this Thursday (tomorrow, the 20th of August) for a thoughtful, guided discussion abou...
08/19/2026

Please join the City Planning Club this Thursday (tomorrow, the 20th of August) for a thoughtful, guided discussion about the Schuylkill River Park project. The City Planning Club is a monthly discussion groups centered on topics related to Philadelphia history, connecting local history with city planning and development. -- We meet at 11-1230 in the Heim Center, (Room 131/132).

We're still celebrating 250 years of Independence with another "Evening Editions: 250" event at Free Library of Philadel...
08/12/2026

We're still celebrating 250 years of Independence with another "Evening Editions: 250" event at Free Library of Philadelphia -- Come take a look at history as it happened via microfilm. We'll present July 1976 editions of the Germantown Courier and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin tomorrow (13 August) from 2-4 PM in the Newspaper and Microfilm Department on the 2nd floor.

The Military History Club will be meeting tomorrow, Thursday August 13th! Join us as this month's discussion will cover ...
08/12/2026

The Military History Club will be meeting tomorrow, Thursday August 13th! Join us as this month's discussion will cover Diplomatic efforts with Spain and the United States. The group meets from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM in the Heim Center, Room 131/132.

Address

1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA
19103

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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(215) 686-5431

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