The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is the principal repository for and steward of Temple University Libraries’ rare books, manuscripts, archives and University records. We collect, preserve, and make accessible primary resources and rare or unique materials, so as to stimulate, enrich, and support research, teaching, learning, and administration at Temple University and beyond.
The SCRC reading room, located on the first floor of the Charles Library, is currently open weekdays from 8:30am to 5:30pm.
First time visitors should create an SCRC Researcher Account. To do that follow this link and click on either “Temple University Affiliates” or "Non-Temple Affilates." You’ll need this account in order to request materials for your own research in the future.
Archival Collections
Digitized Collections
Digitized photographs from our collections can be found here. The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs, the Housing Association of The Delaware Valley Photographs, the City Parks Association Photographs are good starting places for historical photographs of Philadelphia and the surrounding region.
Newspaper Clippings and Photographs
Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (photographs and clippings) and the Philadelphia Inquirer (photographs and clippings) are great resources for getting up to speed on how a particular topic was covered in the popular press at the time. You can search by subject (“Puerto Ricans” or “Germantown”) or personal names, ("Frank Rizzo.")
For a tutorial on how to request news clippings and photographs see this link.
Secondary Sources and Non-Temple Materials
For help locating secondary sources, search terms, or subject headings, contact your subject specialist, Caitlin Shanley
A guide to Philadelphia City Directories may be useful for looking up addressed of businesses and individuals.
The Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network has digitized version of ward atlases, and many others, which you can layer over Google Maps using their Interactive Maps Viewer.
PhillyHistory.org is another great resources for photos and other historical documents and articles.
The Philadelphia Free Library also has a great collection of digitized maps and map viewing tools
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings is another great resource for sources on the history of Philadelphia's built environment.
The SCRC holds a collection periodicals created and published by various LGBTQ organizations and individuals from around the United States. Most date form the early 1970s and some continue to the present.These materials are from our Contemporary Culture Collections. Click on the links to view the catalog record and request to view them in the SCRC Reading Room.
Archival Collections
AIDS Library (Philadelphia) Records
The AIDS Library has been an important source for AIDS-related information for researchers, doctors, the general public, and those with HIV/AIDS in the Philadelphia area. In 1987, a group of volunteer librarians and AIDS activists created the AIDS Library in Philadelphia. At the AIDS Library, people could find information on treatments (both medical and alternative), nutrition, legal issues, social services in the Philadelphia area, and how to live with HIV, as well as on the history of the pandemic, referrals to regional and national resources, and connect with other HIV/AIDS activists around the world. The library is now part of Philadelphia FIGHT, a local health services organization working with people with HIV/AIDS.
City Councilman John C. Anderson was an African American and gay member of Philadelphia City Council from 1979 until his death in 1983.
The Eromin Center, an acronym for erotic minorities, originated in July, 1973 as an outgrowth of the Gay Switchboard, a telephone counseling service, in response to a perceived need to offer mental health services to sexual minorities. The Eromin Center existed to serve the mental health needs of this population. In addition to clinical services the Center operated an extensive community education program.
Liberation News Service Records
The Liberation News Service (LNS) was created in 1967 with the purpose of providing an alternative source of news. The LNS collected information from underground and small presses in the form of articles, photographs, and publications, and created news packets that were then sent out to subscribers. Many subscribers were locally run, small alternative newspapers, and they relied on LNS as a major source for radically oriented news copy and graphics.
This collection has 6 folders of gay-related content in subseries 1.18, Sexism, undated.
The Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force Records
The Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force was created in 1978 to promote institutional reform in law, government, education and mass media principally within Pennsylvania. Through the processes of research, public policy advocacy, and community organizing strategies the Task Force sought to create links with other minority populations towards wide ranging public interest projects to reach common goals.
The Papers of this Philadelphia gay activist includes a wide range of materials such as articles, clippings, correspondence, magazines, newsletters, questionnaires and reports.
