Founding Forward is the steward of a thorough and informational historic collection, primarily based in the American Civil War. The collection is multi-dimensional, including objects, art, archives, books, manuscripts, and more. It has been used for genealogical and other historical research, including a wide range of publications from history texts to family papers. In addition, Founding Forward is also an active lending institution.
Given its advanced stewardship practices, Founding Forward not only cares for its own collection and that of its institutional partner, The Union League of Philadelphia, two other long-time Civil War-based historically Philadelphia organizations have also entrusted their collections care to Founding Forward – The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS) and The Civil War Museum of Philadelphia (CWMP).
Much of the collections are stored in a state-of-the-art, high-density collections storage vault that contains some of the great historical pieces of the Union League, MOLLUS, and the CWMP. The vault houses approximately 3,000 linear feet and 1,000 cubic feet of material.
The archival, object, and art collections are available to search in Founding Forward’s online catalog PastPerfect. These collections are a great asset for research. See below for more information about researching the collections. For more specifics on the major archival collections under the care of Founding Forward, see the scope of collections below and links to the finding aids.
For potential donations, please contact archives@wordpressmu-1261609-6135656.cloudwaysapps.com or call 215-587-5568 for more information.
For inquiries into the Library’s special collections, please email archives@wordpressmu-1261609-6135656.cloudwaysapps.com.
History Books
After the Civil War, League members turned their attention to the arts. As patrons of the arts, League members were eager to decorate the League House with paintings and sculptures. Those members and the Union League Art Association – established in 1882 by members to buy art for the League – worked to build the League’s art collection.
With this interest in the fine arts, the League hosted several art exhibitions in 1870, 1871, and 1873 and for each, published a catalog of the pieces on display. The Union League published the first catalog of its own art collection in 1908, followed by updated versions in 1940 and 1978. Founding Forward has continued this work of caring for, curating, and documenting the art collection in printed catalogs with its most recent catalog from 2005.
The Heritage Center serves as a research center for scholars, students, and others to access the historic collections under the care of Founding Forward. To learn more about the research opportunities, contact archives@wordpressmu-1261609-6135656.cloudwaysapps.com or call 215-587-5568 to schedule an appointment.
For those interested in history, civil war studies, and public history, please contact archives@wordpressmu-1261609-6135656.cloudwaysapps.com to learn more about these opportunities.
Founding Forward’s work and mission is made possible through voluntary contributions. We need your support to ensure a future rooted in liberty. Please join our efforts to uphold our democratic system of government with your tax-deductible contribution.
