All Program Dates
Sunday, May 10, 2026 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday, May 17, 2026 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday, May 24, 2026 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday, May 31, 2026 | 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Registration
Tuition for this course is $250. This includes the materials fee. Members receive exclusive discounts on our programs and courses. Not a member? Learn more.
Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email rsvp@rosenbach.org.
This program is for those 18 and older.
Registration opens for Delancey Society members on Friday, March 13, for Rosenbach members on Friday, March 20, and for the general public on Friday, March 27.
Description
This four-session class will cover the foundations of letterpress, from setting metal type to pulling prints. Learn about the history of printing through exploring an extraordinary publication: Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.
Wheatley was born in West Africa and forcibly brought to colonial Boston when she was only seven. Unable to publish a book in the American colonies, she traveled to London in 1773, where she met the Countess of Huntingdon, who assisted her in publishing a volume of poems, the first by an African American woman. The Rosenbach holds a copy of this first London edition, and the later first American edition.
Participants in this class will produce a collaborative, hand-set, hand-printed chapbook of Phillis Wheatley’s poetry on our iron handpress.
About the Instructor
Erica Honson is an artist, educator, and collaborative printer in Philadelphia. They teach printmaking and graphic design at Bucks County Community College and serve on the Board of Directors at the Soapbox Community Printshop and Zine Library. Erica has taught workshops at nonprofits, libraries, and local colleges and universities, and they facilitate live printmaking and papermaking activities in public spaces around Philadelphia. Erica received an MFA in Book Arts & Printmaking from the University of the Arts following a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
About The People’s Friend Programs
This program is part of “The People’s Friend: Civic Dialogues at the Rosenbach.” As the United States reckons with civic divisions, the Rosenbach is doing its part to create opportunities to learn, grow, and heal together. In this Semiquincentenniel year, “The People’s Friend: Civic Dialogues at the Rosenbach” invites members of our community to learn about history and build a bright future, together.