The Formal Opening of the New Fireproof Building
of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, April 6-7, 1910.
Reprinted from The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, for July 1910
Society Collection

Upon completion, the builders said: "...Its chief aim was to serve as a fireproof storage for the Society's invaluable collections,....No wood whatsoever has been used in the construction ....The window frames are of iron, and even the sash....Bookcases of steel have been supplied throughout the building,...and the large tables used by the public for consulting the Society's collections are of mahoganized steel...." These same tables are used by patrons in the Reading Room today.