The Science History Institute Museum is closed for renovations.
The Othmer Library remains open by appointment.

Pressroom

The Science History Institute's pressroom provides easy access to press releases, contact information, and recent news mentions.
Featured

Science History Institute to Install New Exhibit Space, Renovate Lobby, and Add Digital Production Studio and Gift Shop

photo of kids in a school cafeteria
August 1, 2024

Science History Institute’s New Exhibition Asks: What’s Behind the School Lunch?

Lunchtime: The History of Science on the School Food Tray opens September 27.

crowd at festival
May 2, 2024

Science History Institute’s 2nd Annual Curious Histories Fest Will ‘Color Your World’

The free, daylong celebration of all things color takes place Saturday, June 8, 11am–3pm.

three children sitting at a table eating
September 15, 2023

Science History Institute’s ‘Lunchtime’ Project Receives Major Grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage

$289K+ award will support exhibitions, articles, and public programming examining the history of the U.S. school lunch program through the lens of food science.

August 4, 2023

Explore the History of Textile Dyes with ‘BOLD,’ the Institute’s New Exhibition Opening September 22

Visitors will take a colorful journey through more than 150 years of natural and synthetic dye-making.

woman holding up a glass of water
May 1, 2023

Science History Institute Hosts First Annual ‘Curious Histories Fest’

The free, daylong celebration will be held on Saturday, June 10, 11am–3pm.

January 17, 2023

Science History Institute Launches ‘Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race’

The podcast and magazine project explores the historical roots and persistent legacies of racism in American science and medicine.

October 17, 2022

Science History Institute to Debut New Outdoor Exhibition on October 24

‘Science and Survival’ features enlarged reproductions of photographs and telegrams rescued from Nazi-occupied Germany installed on the façade of the Institute’s Old City building.

June 17, 2022

Science History Institute and Penn to Serve as New Hosts of History of Science Society

The dual collaboration between a public-facing organization and a university is the first of its kind for the society.

Fellows at work in the Othmer Library at the Institute.
May 4, 2022

Science History Institute Joins Independent Research Libraries Association

IRLA membership places Institute on prestigious list of some of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished historical societies.

December 14, 2021

Science History Institute Receives $40K PHMC Grant

Prestigious award from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to provide operational support for our museum.

October 8, 2021

Institute Awarded Turning Points in History Grant from Villanova’s Lepage Center

Funds will support the museum’s ‘Knowing Water: A Digital Exploration of History, Science, and Environmental Justice along the Delaware River’ project.

Scientist Percy Julian in a lab 1930s
October 6, 2021

Institute Receives NEH SHARP Grant for ‘Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race’ Project

$359K+ award will support the exploration of the history and legacy of racism in American science and medicine.

September 28, 2021

Science History Institute Mounts New Outdoor Exhibition

An extension of the Institute’s ‘Downstream’ exhibition, ‘Water Pics’ showcases a series of anti-pollution posters created in the 1950s by the Pennsylvania Sanitary Water Board.
July 27, 2021

Take a Watery Journey through History and Science with Institute’s New ‘Downstream’ Exhibition Opening September 14

Exhibition will explore more than 200 years of water analysis and protection.
July 13, 2021

10K Records Published to Institute’s Digital Collections

Postcard dated January 6, 1913, from chemist Walther Nernst to Jewish German scientist Georg Bredig is 10,000th record.
June 18, 2021

New Biography by Institute’s Library Director Unveils Life and Legacy of Unknown Woman Scientist

Michelle DiMeo’s ‘Lady Ranelagh: The Incomparable Life of Robert Boyle’s Sister’ tells the compelling story of a forgotten 17th-century thinker.

June 15, 2021

Science History Institute’s Museum to Reopen July 1

Visitors are invited back to historic Old City Philadelphia to explore the broad history of science.

June 8, 2021

Institute Receives National Archives Grant to Digitize Oral Histories of Immigrant Scientists

$130K+ award is part of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission’s efforts to improve public access to historical records.