A one-of-a-kind collection — notable for its size, scope, and prominent focus on Philadelphia’s historic Reading Terminal Market — has found its new permanent home at the Penn Libraries, writes Louisa Shepard for Penn Today.
Acquired by David K. O’Neil, a Penn alum who managed operations at Reading Terminal Market for a decade, the collection spans centuries and includes blueprints, business records, postcards, photographs, buttons, bags. Additionally, there are tens of thousands of items related to public markets.
O’Neil praises Penn Libraries as a good home for the collection.
The negotiations over bringing the collection to the Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts lasted for over a year, according to Mitch Fraas, director of special collections and research services. Part of the collection was purchased through donations, while O’Neil donated part.
“There’s an incredible range of detail that I don’t think anyone else has assembled besides David,” said Fraas. “It’s just an amazing variety of things.”
The collection includes O’Neil’s day-to-day records from his time at the Reading Terminal Market in the 1980s, as well as his business records from consulting with many other markets worldwide in the years since.
Read more about the Reading Terminal Market collection and what can be seen from it in Penn Today.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on PHILADELPHIA Today in April 2025.
