Arthur Huff Fauset (1899-1983) was an African American anthropologist, folklorist, writer, educator, and activist. His collection of papers includes creative writing, journalism, and correspondence. The Rare Book Collection also holds a small group of books and pamphlets that belonged to Fauset.
A pioneering, controversial doctor, chemist, and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) spent much of his career as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The literature, linguistics, and education bibliographers at the Van Pelt Library have assembled a strong collection of materials on teaching English as a second language.
The Kislak Center possesses over 1500 Western manuscript codices, collections, and fragments dating from ca. 850 to ca. 1700.
The collection documents Pepper's role in expanding the University of Pennsylvania in the 19th century, his contributions to the medical profession, and his activism in Philadelphia. Primarily comprising correspondence, the collection covers Pepper's life from his time as a student at the University of Pennsylvania to his death 54 years later.