Editing American Philosophical Society

{{Short description|American scholarly organization and learned society}}
{{For|the learned society of American philosophers|American Philosophical Association}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = American Philosophical Society Hall
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = American Philosophical Society (53590377813).jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = [[Philosophical Hall]], the headquarters of the American Philosophical Society in [[Philadelphia]]
| location = 104 S. Fifth St., [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| coordinates = {{Coord|39|56|55|N|75|8|58|W|region:US-PA_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = Philadelphia#Pennsylvania#USA
| built = 1787
| architect = [[Samuel Vaughan]]
| architecture = [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]]
| added = January 12, 1965
| designated_nrhp_type = January 12, 1965
| refnum = 66000675<ref name="nris">{{NRISref |refnum=66000675|2007a}}</ref>
| website = {{URL|https://amphilsoc.org}}
}}

The '''American Philosophical Society''' ('''APS''') is an American scholarly organization and [[learned society]] founded in 1743 in [[Philadelphia]] that promotes knowledge in the [[humanities]] and [[natural sciences]] through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. It was founded by the polymath [[Benjamin Franklin]] and is considered the first learned society founded in what became the United States.[[File:Nullo Discrimine The American Philosophical Society.png|thumb|right|The Society's Seal]][[Philosophical Hall]], the society's headquarters and a museum, is located just east of [[Independence Hall]] in [[Independence National Historical Park]]. In 1965, in recognition of the building's history, it was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]].

The society has about 1,000 elected members. As of April 2020, 5,710 members had been inducted since its creation. Through research grants, published journals, the American Philosophical Society Museum, an extensive library, and regular meetings, the society supports a variety of disciplines in the humanities and the sciences.

== History ==
[[File:Feke - Benjamin Franklin.png|thumb|[[Benjamin Franklin]] in 1746]]
[[File:American Philosophical Society - Library Hall (53590617275).jpg|thumb|[[Library Company of Philadelphia|Library Hall]] in 2024]]
[[File:American Philosophical Society Thomas Jefferson Garden.jpg|thumb|Thomas Jefferson Garden adjacent to Library Hall]]
[[File:Franklin Hall meeting preparation.jpg|thumb|Franklin Hall at the American Philosophical Hall, named for [[Benjamin Franklin]], the organization's founder]]

The American Philosophical Society was founded as the '''Philosophical Society''' in 1743 by [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[James Alexander (lawyer)|James Alexander]], [[Francis Hopkinson]], [[John Bartram]], [[Philip Syng|Philip Syng Jr.]], and others<ref>Duer, William Alexander. [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofwilliamale00duerw#page/4/mode/2up ''The life of William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, Major-General in the Army of the United States during the Revolution''] New York: Wiley & Putnam for the New Jersey Historical Society, 1847. p.5</ref><ref>[http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/biography/14388.html "Philip Syng, Jr."] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928122446/http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/biography/14388.html |date=September 28, 2018 }}, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved December 31, 2015.</ref> as an offshoot of an earlier club, the [[Junto (club)|Junto]].

Early members included: [[Benjamin Franklin]], [[John Dickinson]], [[George Washington]], [[John Adams]], [[Thomas Jefferson]],<ref name="AAA">{{cite web |year=2011 |title=American Philosophical Society selected records, 1784–1954 |publisher=[[Archives of American Art]] |url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/american-philosophical-society-selected-records-10947 |access-date=June 17, 2011 |archive-date=September 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927115401/https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/american-philosophical-society-selected-records-10947 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Alexander Hamilton]], [[James McHenry]], [[Thomas Paine]], [[David Rittenhouse]], [[Peter Stephen Du Ponceau]], [[Nicholas Biddle (banker)|Nicholas Biddle]], [[Owen Biddle Sr.|Owen Biddle]], [[Benjamin Rush]], [[James Madison]], [[Michael Hillegas]], [[John Marshall]], [[Charles Pettit]], and [[John Andrews (clergyman)|John Andrews]].

It was common at the time for intellectual societies to invite members from around the world, where the society recruited members from other countries, including [[Alexander von Humboldt]], the [[Marquis de Lafayette]], [[Baron von Steuben]], [[Tadeusz Kościuszko]], and [[Princess Dashkova]]. The society lapsed into inactivity by 1746, but was revived in 1767.

On January 2, 1769, the society united with the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge under the name '''American Philosophical Society Held at Philadelphia for Promoting Useful Knowledge'''. Franklin was elected the first president.<ref>[[New International Encyclopedia]]</ref> During this time, the society maintained a standing Committee on American Improvements; one of its investigations was to study the prospects for a canal to connect the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and the [[Delaware River]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Goodrich |first=Carter |title=Government Promotion of American Canals and Railroads, 1800–1890 |year=1974 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-8371-7773-1}}</ref> The [[Chesapeake and Delaware Canal]], which had been proposed by Thomas Gilpin,&nbsp;Sr., was built in the 1820s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kozel |first=Scott M. |title=Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C & D Canal) |url=http://www.pennways.com/CD_Canal.html |work=PENNWAYS: Roads to the Future |publisher=Scott M. Kozel |access-date=September 6, 2012 |year=2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513024733/http://www.pennways.com/CD_Canal.html |archive-date=May 13, 2015}}</ref>

Following the [[American Revolutionary War]], the society looked for leadership to [[Francis Hopkinson]], one of the signatories of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]. Under his influence, the society received land from the government of Pennsylvania, along with a plot of land in Philadelphia, where Philosophical Hall now stands.

[[Charles Darwin]], [[Robert Frost]], [[Louis Pasteur]], [[Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz]], [[John James Audubon]], [[Linus Pauling]], [[Margaret Mead]], [[Woodrow Wilson]], [[Maria Mitchell]], and [[Thomas Edison]] were all prominent members of the society.

Many members of the [[Society of the Cincinnati]] were among the APS's first board members and contributors; the APS and SOC still maintain an informal, collegial relationship.

== Membership ==
Membership of the APS "honors extraordinary accomplishments in all fields." It has about 1,000 elected members, comprising about 840 "resident" members (United States citizens or those working or living in the United States) and about 160 "international" members. {{As of|February 2025}} it had elected 5,890 members since its foundation.<ref name="elected">{{cite web |title=Elected Members |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/elected-members |website=American Philosophical Society |access-date=July 12, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=February 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213164543/https://amphilsoc.org/members |url-status=live }}</ref>

Over that history, 220 members have been from [[Harvard University]], 117 from [[Princeton University]], 91 from [[Stanford University]], and 86 from the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. Ten academic institutions have each been affiliated with 50 or more members:<ref>{{cite web |title=American Philosophical Society Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search |website=American Philosophical Society |access-date=September 15, 2022 |archive-date=September 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220917083910/https://search.amphilsoc.org//memhist/search |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Table alignment}}
{| class="wikitable sortable defaultcenter"
! Institution
! data-sort-type="number" | Members (1743–2024)
|-
|-
| [[Harvard University|Harvard]] 
| 220
|-
| [[Princeton University|Princeton]]
| 117
|-
| [[Stanford University|Stanford]] 
| 91
|-
| [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]]
| 86
|-
| [[Columbia University|Columbia]]
| 76
|-
| [[University of Chicago|Chicago]]
| 73
|-
| [[University of Pennsylvania|Penn]]
| 67
|-
| [[Yale]]
| 63
|-
| [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]
| 58
|-
| [[New York University|NYU]] 
| 42
|}
{{reflist|group=a}}

== Awards ==
In 1786, the society established the [[Magellanic Premium]], a prize for achievement in "navigation, [[astronomy]], or natural philosophy," the oldest scientific prize awarded by an American institution, which it still awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/prizes/magellanic-premium-american-philosophical-society |access-date=December 11, 2024 |website=American Philosophical Society}}</ref> Other awards include the Barzun Prize for [[cultural history]], the Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation, the [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (American Philosophical Society)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] for distinguished achievement in the sciences, the [[Lashley Award]] for [[neurobiology]], the Lewis Award for the best book published by the society in the year, and the [[Thomas Jefferson Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences|Thomas Jefferson Medal]] for distinguished achievement in the arts, humanities, or social sciences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards and Prizes |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/awards-and-prizes |access-date=December 11, 2024 |website=American Philosophical Society}}</ref>

== Publications ==
The society has published the ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society'' since 1771. Five issues appear each year. The ''[[Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|Proceedings]]'' have appeared since 1838; they publish the papers delivered at the society's biannual meetings. The society has also published [[The Papers of Benjamin Franklin]], [[Joseph Henry]], [[William Penn]], and [[Meriwether Lewis]] and [[William Clark]]. [[Jane Aitken]] bound 400 volumes for the society.{{sfn|James|1971|p=26}}

The society also has an expansive archive on framer of the [[U.S. constitution]] [[John Dickinson]].<ref>{{cite web |title=John H. Powell Collection of John Dickinson Research |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.B.D553p.m-ead.xml |website=American Philosophical Society |access-date=May 26, 2020 |archive-date=October 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012165857/https://search.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.B.D553p.m-ead.xml |url-status=live }}</ref>

APS holds the ACLS Collection (American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, American Philosophical Society) which is a collection of indigenous language documents from around the United States including recordings of the [[Ottawa dialect|Odawa language]] from northern Michigan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Languages |first=American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American |title=American Council of Learned Societies Committee on Native American Languages, American Philosophical Society [ACLS Collection]: Franz Boas Collection of Materials for American Linguistics |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.497.3.B63c-ead.xml |access-date=April 7, 2022 |website=search.amphilsoc.org |archive-date=April 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407180837/https://search.amphilsoc.org/collections/view?docId=ead/Mss.497.3.B63c-ead.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> APS has created a guide<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home {{!}} Guide to the Indigenous Materials at the American Philosophical Society |url=https://indigenousguide.amphilsoc.org/ |access-date=April 7, 2022 |website=indigenousguide.amphilsoc.org |archive-date=April 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220411211528/https://indigenousguide.amphilsoc.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> to help provide broad coverage of the Native American and Indigenous archival collections at the Library & Museum of the American Philosophical Society. These materials date from 1553 to 2020 and include manuscript, audio, and visual materials relating to Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.

The society also has a collection of manuscripts on the history of the British colonies, Revolutionary War, the history of American science, quantum physics, Charles Darwin and evolution, genetics and the history of technology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Murphy D. |date=December 1, 1989 |title=Manuscript Collecting at the American Philosophical Society: The First 101 Years |journal=[[Journal of the History of Collections]] |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=197–206 |doi=10.1093/JHC/1.2.197}}</ref>

== Buildings ==
[[File:Philosophical NHL.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|National Historic Landmark Plaque]]
=== Philosophical Hall ===
<!-- Section is link target -->
{{main|Philosophical Hall}}

[[Philosophical Hall]], at 104 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, between [[Chestnut Street (Philadelphia)|Chestnut]] and [[Walnut Street (Philadelphia)|Walnut]] Streets, immediately south of [[Old City Hall (Philadelphia)|Old City Hall]], was built in 1785–1789 to house the society and designed by Samuel Vaughan in the [[Federal architecture|Federal style]].<ref>{{cite philarch}} p.160</ref><ref name=philarchmit>{{cite philarchmit}}, p. 30</ref> A third floor was added in 1890 to accommodate the expanding library, but was removed in 1948–1950,<ref name=philarchmit /> when the building was restored to its original appearance for the creation of [[Independence National Historical Park]].<ref>Richard Webster, ''Philadelphia Preserved'' (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1976), p. 92.</ref> In 2001, it was opened to the public as The American Philosophical Society Museum, hosting revolving, thematic exhibitions that explore intersections of history, art, and science. The museum features works of art, scientific instruments, original manuscripts, rare books, natural history specimens, and curiosities of all kinds from the APS's own collections, along with objects on loan from other institutions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Philosophical Society Museum: About |publisher=ARTINFO |year=2008 |url=http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/22252/8770/about/american-philosophical-society-philadelphia/ |access-date=July 25, 2008}} {{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== Library Hall ===
[[File:American Philosophical Society Library Hall reading room.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Reading room for researchers at [[Library Company of Philadelphia|Library Hall]] in 2019]]
In 1789–90, the [[Library Company of Philadelphia]] (LCP) built its headquarters directly across 5th Street from APS. In 1884 LCP sold its building, which was demolished for the expansion of the Drexel & Company Building in 1887. This building was demolished in the mid-1950s, during the creation of Independence National Historical Park.

APS built a library on the site in 1958 and recreated the façade of the old LCP building.

=== Benjamin Franklin Hall ===
APS restored the former Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank building at 425–29 [[Chestnut Street (Philadelphia)|Chestnut Street]], which was built in 1854–55 to the design of John M. Gries in the [[Italianate architecture|Italianate style]],<ref>{{cite philarch}}, pp. 55–56</ref> to serve as a lecture hall. It is the site of meetings and most major events the society hosts.<ref name=apsdir>[http://www.amphilsoc.org/about/directions "Directions"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604120817/http://www.amphilsoc.org/about/directions |date=June 4, 2013 }} on the APS website</ref>

=== Richardson Hall ===
The [[Constance Coleman Richardson|Constance C.]] and [[Edgar Preston Richardson|Edgar P. Richardson]] Hall at 431 Chestnut Street, immediately west of Benjamin Franklin Hall, is the former Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities Building, which was built in 1871–1873 and designed by [[Addison Hutton]].<ref>{{cite philarch}}, p.64</ref> It contains offices and the Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine.<ref name=apsdir />

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center" widths="220px" heights="250px">
File:PSM V60 D442 Place of meeting in the building of the society.png|Interior of Philosophical Hall, {{Circa|1901–02}}
File:Farmers' & Mechanics' Bank 427 Chestnut Street.jpg|Benjamin Franklin Hall in 2013
File:Pennsylvania Company for Insurances on Lives and Granting Annuities 431 Chestnut Street.jpg|Richardson Hall in 2013
</gallery>

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist}}

== General and cited sources ==
{{further|Bibliography of Benjamin Franklin}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=James |first=Edward T. |title=Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/notableamericanw02jame_0 |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/notableamericanw02jame_0/page/26 26] |year=1971 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-62734-5}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
<!-- Per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only -->
{{Commons category}}
{{Americana Poster|American Philosophical Society, The|The American Philosophical Society}}
* {{official website|https://amphilsoc.org/}}
* {{InPho|journal|5148}}
* [http://www.dianepublishing.net/American_Philosophical_Society_s/460.htm American Philosophical Society publications]. {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110052759/http://www.dianepublishing.net/American_Philosophical_Society_s/460.htm |date=January 10, 2023 }}.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060630192200/http://www.scholarly-societies.org/history/1743aps.html Notes on the American Philosophical Society from the Scholarly Societies project] ([[Wayback Machine]] copy)
* {{HABS |survey = PA-1464 |id = pa1081 |title = American Philosophical Society }}
* [http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pj_display.cfm/19493 Listing of Philosophical Hall] at Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
* [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/163159-1 "Writings of Benjamin Franklin", broadcast from the American Philosophical Society] from [[C-SPAN]]'s ''[[American Writers: A Journey Through History|American Writers]]''

{{Philadelphia}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania |state = collapsed }}
{{Benjamin Franklin}}
{{George Washington}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:1743 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Benjamin Franklin]]
[[Category:History of Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Libraries in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Museums in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Old City, Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Philosophical societies in the United States]]
[[Category:Research libraries in the United States]]
[[Category:Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies]]