Furthering the Balch Institute Legacy: Eastern European-Related Collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania (HSP), one of the United States' largest independent research libraries, contains extensive manuscript collections documenting the history of eastern European immigrants and their descendants. Collections on the history of Slovak, Polish, Jewish, Lithuanian, and Russian ethnic groups are especially strong. These holdings were acquired from the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, which merged with HSP in 2002, as well as from post-merger collecting that has continued the Balch Institute's work in documenting, interpreting, and celebrating the United States' diverse ethnic and immigrant heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]