Part 1, founding of the Junto (1727)
Mutual improvement society whose queries shaped Philadelphia's civic life.
Read in Books4Free →The Junto, Library Company, and Civic Improvement
From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
Franklin's account of founding the Junto discussion club, the first subscription library in America, fire companies, hospital, academy (later University of Pennsylvania), and street improvements—models of voluntary civic association.
Part 2, Library Company
The Mother of all the N American Subscription Libraries.Read in Books4Free →
Part 3, Pennsylvania Hospital and matching-grant tactic
Franklin's invention of the matching grant to extract funds from the Assembly.
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