Compiled by Katharine M. Petty, Librarian at the Thomas Holme Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, between 1911 and 1948
Project funded by the Trustees of the Lower Dublin Academy, Maxwell Rowland, Chairman of the Board. Restoration work and organization of materials by Bruce Silcox Photography, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Completed in 2007.
These scrapbooks include articles about Holmesburg and other neighborhoods in Northeast Philadelphia. Thanks to Fred Moore of the Northeast Philadelphia History Network (a consortium of local historical societies, historians, and history-lovers focusing on that large area of the city), for giving the initial permission about 15 years to post these scrapbooks here. In 2023 Fred updated the PDFs with higher-resolution images provided by Bruce Silcox. Each of the 5 scrapbook volumes has a rudimentary index, and, in another improvement over the old versions, the PDFs are now text-searchable. Clicking the links below will start a download of each PDF. To get a quick feel for the scrapbooks, download the “Introduction and Table of Contents” first, and read the review below the links.
The late Harry C. Silcox, the preeminent historian of Northeast Philadelphia who frequently cited the scrapbooks in his research and publications, wrote the following introduction to the collection:
“Scrapbook collections offer historians a number of perspectives to the past. First, they focus on the collector. What were her interests? Why was the collection kept for so many years? What was its use? Clearly, the Holmesburg collection is a window into a community history and a view of what was important to the people of Holmesburg at the time.
“In the case of librarian Katharine M. Petty, she wanted to collect newspaper clippings about Holmesburg that could be useful to the library. Petty’s focus on the history of the area is marked by the inclusion of over 100 stories entitled “Just Twenty Years Ago” taken from the Frankford Dispatch, original copies of which are at the Historical Society of Frankford.
“Much of the scrapbook comes from the Dispatch and other local papers. Newspaper clippings in the collection covered the entire Northeast with special attention paid to Tacony, Torresdale, Holmesburg, Bustleton, Wissinoming and Bucks County. Local institutions were also part of the collection. Reports on schools, Poor House, Holmesburg Prison, Shallcross School for truants in Torresdale and Camp Happy summer camp for the city were also continuous stories.
“Social activities in the community were also mentioned. Plays done by the Forrest Home for Actors, church activities in Holmesburg, horse shows, races on the Delaware River and Fish and Game events were all covered for local consumption. The scrapbooks were kept in the library for use by those seeking information about local events and history. Petty loved the task of collecting clippings, which she continued for just short of 40 years. She left them when she retired in 1948.”