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Science History Institute Historic Plaque Collection
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Held at: Science History Institute Archives [Contact Us]315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Science History Institute Archives. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Science History Institute is a museum, archive, and library dedicated to the research and preservation of the history of chemistry, life sciences, and engineering. Located in Philadelphia, the institution began as a joint venture between the American Chemical Society and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). Arnold Thackray, a professor at UPenn and then-curator of their Edgar Fahs Smith Memorial Collection, was an early advocate for the formation of a center dedicated to the history of chemistry. He secured early funders for the institution such as chemist John C. Haas as well as Dow Chemical Company and DuPont. The institution was formally founded in 1982 as the Center for the History of Chemistry and was hosted on UPenn's campus. The institution would gain the attention of other scientists and entrepreneurs, such as Arnold Beckman and Donald Othmer, who would donate their own money and collections to form the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry and the Othmer Library of Chemical History respectively.
The Center for the History of Chemistry steadily grew, eventually renaming to the Chemical Heritage Foundation and moving to its own building on 315 Chestnut Street. At this new location, the institution was able to build a public museum. The initial museum collection focused primarily on scientific instruments throughout history. In 2015, the institution merged with the Life Sciences Foundation of San Francisco to form the Science History Institute. With this merger, the collecting interests of the institution expanded beyond the history of chemistry to the history of other sciences such as life sciences and biotechnology.
This collection consists of two items. The first is a pamphlet issued by the American Chemical Society commemorating the induction of the Science History Institute to the registry of National Historic Chemical Landmarks. The pamphlet reviews the history of the Science History Institute, as well as provides an overview of their current programming and departments. The second item is an official document from the Office of the Mayor of Philadelphia. The document is a proclamation from James F. Kenney announcing that Saturday, June 10, 2023, will be Science History Day, to commemorate Science History Institute's induction into the National Historic Chemical Landmarks registry. The proclamation is signed by Mayor James F. Kenney.
The Science History Institute Historic Plaque Collection was donated to the Science History Institute by Science History Institute Institutional Archive in 2024.
Science History Institute Historic Plaque Collection was processed by Olivia E. Hosie in May 2024.
Organization
Subject
- Publisher
- Science History Institute Archives
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid created and encoded into EAD by Olivia E. Hosie.
- Finding Aid Date
- 2024
- Access Restrictions
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There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes and the collection is open to the public.
- Use Restrictions
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The Science History Institute holds copyright to the Science History Institute Historic Plaque Collection. The researcher assumes full responsibility for all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.