Skip to Main Content

Philadelphia Studies: Archives

Archival Guides and Search Tools

ArchiveGrid
Provides centralized access for searching and retrieval of archival records and finding aids, including finding aids indexed centrally at RLG and others located on servers around the world and records in RLG's AMC (Archival and Mixed Collections) file. AMC provides researchers with timely and comprehensive access to brief, high-level information for nearly half a million collections of manuscripts and archives.
WorldCat
Database containing the records of all material cataloged by OCLC libraries, including hundreds in the United States and some major libraries in other countries. Manuscript collections that are cataloged by these libraries will appear in Worldcat.
A Local Guide to Researching Philadelphia
Directory of Philadelphia archival resources, 1994.
Economic History in the Philadelphia Region
Survey of special collections in the Philadelphia region relating to business and economic history.
Guide to Civil War resources in the Philadelphia region
Directory of African American collections in Greater Philadelphia
A little dated, but still an extremely useful starting point for identifying Philadelphia-area special collections.
Philly Research.Net
Union catalog, Finding aids, links to institutional catalogs, and other resources for searching special collections in the Philadelphia region.

Area Archives

Urban Archives
Temple University’s Urban Archives document the social, economic, political, and physical development of the greater Philadelphia region throughout the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
Philadelphia City Archives
The archives' mission is to preserve all City records not in current use which possess historical, administrative, legal, research, cultural or other important value.
more...less...
Located at 3101 Market Street.
National Archives at Philadelphia
Maintains the historically significant records of the Federal Agencies and Courts, in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, 1789-present.
more...less...
Located at Chestnut Street, between 9th and 10th Sts. Valid official photo identification, such as driver's license or passport, must be presented to the guard at the door for entry.
Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center
Records representative of important Zionist, cultural, educational, religious, beneficial and fraternal organizations, and synagogues.
Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries Finding Aids
Library Company of Philadelphia
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Excellent collections on local and regional history, and a manuscript collection renowned for its 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century holdings.