The Historical Society of Pennsylvania was founded in Philadelphia in 1824, in part inspired by the success of the New York Historical Society, with the intention of sharing and preserving the history of the state. In its early years the historical society consisted of committees tasked with researching and writing histories of various topics, such as biographies of the founders of Pennsylvania and native people of the region. Over years the society's goals changed somewhat, and at present the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is one of the largest archives of historical documents in the United States.