Author: info@philachaptersah.org

HENRY W. BROWN, HIS HOUSE, AND THE OAK ROAD: A WALKING TOUR

September 3, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Ivy Cottage, 3819 The Oak Road, 1914

Sponsored by The East Falls Historical Society

Led by David M. Breiner, PhD, Thomas Jefferson University,
and Steven J. Peitzman, MD, Drexel University

Saturday, September 15, 2018 at 10 a.m. (Rain Date will be Sunday September 16)

Cost $15, EFHS Members $10, payable on site, pre-registration is not required.

Please meet at 10:00 sharp at the southwest corner of The Oak Road and School House Lane. The tour goes on unless the morning brings heavy rain. Parking is permitted along some parts of The Oak Road. For more information contact Steven Peitzman at peitzmansj@gmail.com.

Stretching only from School House Lane to Midvale Avenue, The Oak Road is likely the only street in Philadelphia that both requires a  “The” for its full name, and has always contained an oak tree in its center. Both the street and its dominant structure, the Timmons House, were created by Henry W. Brown in 1907. Brown was a prominent figure in the insurance industry and a lead cricket player at the Germantown Cricket Club. The Oak Road came to be both a residential “colony” for the Brown family and a handsome development of mostly Colonial Revival homes: the handsome brick and stucco Timmons house exemplifies the Colonial Revival movement in American Architecture and culture. Other buildings on the tour will include the Ivy Cottage, a Gothic revival house dating to circa 1860, and the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd, designed by Philadelphia architect Carl Ziegler and built in 1926. The tour leaders, David Breiner, PhD and Steven Peitzman, MD, will also discuss the historical background of School House Lane and of the nearby part of East Falls which was once known as Queen Lane Manor. We will not visit inside the structures to be discussed, but the tour leaders will share several historic maps and photographs. The tour will meet on Saturday, September 15, at 10 am, at the southwest corner of School House Lane and The Oak Road.

Annual Members Meeting & Program 05/16/2018

April 15, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Please join the Philadelphia Chapter SAH for our annual meeting of the Members and program.

The “Lady Architect”: (Re)Discovering the Career
and Clientele of Minerva Parker Nichols (1862-1949)

by Margaret (Molly) Lester, Research Associate for PennPraxis and creator
of the Preserving Minerva website, www.minervaparkernichols.com

Wednesday, May 16 at 6:00 p.m.
at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia,
219 S. 6th Street

The program will begin following the annual meeting of the Members.

Free for Phila Chapter SAH members.
$15.00 for non-members, payable on site.
Registration requested at info@philachaptersah.org

Although her formal independent practice lasted just eight years and was concentrated in the Philadelphia area, Minerva Parker Nichols (1862-1949) built a career and clientele of architectural and social significance in the late nineteenth-century’s professionalizing field of architecture. Trained as an apprentice, Nichols designed over 60 commissions nationwide, earning plaudits and extensive press coverage from her peers. Yet, she is rarely recognized today for her contributions to the field of architecture—in particular, on behalf of female clients and women’s clubs in an era of growing economic independence for women. This oversight neglects one of the earliest case studies of a woman successfully contributing dozens of structures to the American built environment—including spaces explicitly for women—and creating a business model as an independent female architect where there was none. This talk is based on research that began 7 years ago for a Master’s thesis, and continues today.

Margaret (Molly) Lester is a Research Associate for PennPraxis, the center for applied research, outreach, and practice at PennDesign.  Her portfolio includes research, documentation, and field survey projects related to historic buildings and landscapes, ranging from eighteenth-century historic sacred places to twentieth-century public golf courses. Previously, she worked as a freelance architectural historian and preservation planner, a national program director for Partners for Sacred Places, and an architectural historian/historic tax credit consultant for Heritage Consulting Group. She holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Architectural History from the University of Virginia.

PAUL CRET AND MODERN CLASSICISM

April 2, 2018 / / 0 Comments

A conference, celebrating the centennial of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
presented by the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Museum of Art
May 11-12, 2018

Friday, May 11 (at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia)
5:30 PM Registration and Reception
6:30 PM Keynote Address: “What Does the City Beautiful Mean for the 21st Century City?”
Paul Goldberger

Saturday, May 12 (at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Perelman Building)
9:00 AM Registration

9:30 AM First session
“Paul Cret and Philadelphia’s Modern Classicism”
David Brownlee, University of Pennsylvania, “Between Column and I-Beam: The Architectural Theory of Paul Cret”
Marc Vincent, Baldwin Wallace University, “Cass Gilbert and the City Beautiful”
Gail Fenske, Roger Williams University, “Friendly Rivals: Paul Cret and Arthur Brown, Jr. at Home and Abroad”
Jeffrey T. Tilman, University of Cincinnati

12:00PM Lunch Break (on your own)

1:30 PM Second Session
“’An Artistic Gem’: Paul Cret and the Rodin Museum”, Jennifer Thompson, Philadelphia Museum of Art
“’Nioc! Nioc-Nioc!’ (Quack, Quack, Quack): Paul Philippe Cret, Penn’s Poilu-Professor, and World War I”  Alisa Chiles, University of Pennsylvania
“The Architect as Collaborator with the Engineer” Jonathan Farnham, Philadelphia Historical Commission
Robert P. Breading and Barry Eiswerth in conversation, “longtemps après Cret” former partners, H2L2 architects

register online at: www.PhilaAthenaeum.org/symposium.html

Related exhibition:
Professor Cret’s Parkway: One Architect’s Legacy on Philadelphia’s Grandest Thoroughfare
The Athenæum of Philadelphia, April 30-August 31, 2018

The Athenæum of Philadelphia celebrates the Benjamin Franklin Parkway’s 100th anniversary with an exhibition of the works of master architect, Paul Philippe Cret (1876-1945). Arriving here from his native France in 1903, Cret quickly became the acknowledged leader of Philadelphia’s City Beautiful Movement. This exhibition, features more than 30 original designs by Cret (built and unbuilt). These rare documents, many of which have never been exhibited, beautifully illustrate Cret’s lasting influence on Philadelphia.

In conjunction with the Athenæum exhibition, the Rodin Museum will display a 1927 model of its building and gardens alongside photographs and related material exploring Cret’s design for this Parkway institution.

A TRIPLE TOUR IN TRAPPE PLUS THE BERMAN MUSEUM OF ART

March 4, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg House, Trappe, PA

Please join us on Saturday, March 17

10:00 a.m, to approximately 1:30 p.m.
$15 for Philadelphia Chapter SAH members and their guests, $20 for non-members, payable on site.
Registration required, please email your name and the names of your guests to info@philachaptersah.org

We will be guided through three historic properties: The Speaker’s House was the home of Frederick Muhlenberg (1750-1801), the First and Third Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1781-1791.  The house is currently being restored to its late 18th-C appearance. The Augustus Lutheran Church, a National Historic Landmark built in 1743, was where the Reverend Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711-1787), Frederick’ father, preached and became known as the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in the United States. And the Henry Muhlenberg House, a fully restored house museum furnished with many original family artifacts where Henry and his wife Anna Maria raised their large family, several of whom had a significant impact on colonial life in North America as pastors, military officers, and politicians. (www.speakershouse.org — www.augustustrappe.org — www.trappehistoricalsociety.org)

Then we will go to The Philip & Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College for a special tour of the exhibit Real Estate: Dwelling in Contemporary Art with Museum Director, Charlie Stainback.  Named by the Philadelphia Inquirer as one of “Fall’s 13 must-see art exhibits” it features the work of contemporary artists working with or responding to the varying aspects of real estate vernacular—buildings, rooms, structures, monuments, properties and houses.  From the monumental to ubiquitous building, the ordinary, or derelict piece of property to the historic site, architectural details or the room itself, the artists presented in Real Estate consider an array of norms that fall under the much broader term of “architecture”. (www.ursinus.edu/berman).

We will begin at the Augustus Lutheran Church, 717 W. Main Street Collegeville (Trappe), PA, at 10:00 a.m. and tour the three properties through noon, then we’ll gather at the Berman Museum, 601 E Main Street, Collegeville, PA, at 12:30 p.m.

All of these sites are within 1.5 miles along Main Street.

 

Phila Archaeological Forum Historic Burial Places Map and Database

February 24, 2018 / / 0 Comments

The location of more than 200 historical period burial grounds in Philadelphia can now be viewed on the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum’s Historic Burial Places Map and Database  – and the GIS data set can be downloaded as a shapefile at http://www.phillyarchaeology.net/paf-activities/burial-places-forum/historic-philadelphia-burial-places-map/

As longtime advocates for those who can no longer speak for themselves, PAF is lobbying for clearer municipal laws that compel developers to handle burial remains respectfully. We have therefore created this extensive geographical database (GIS).

It is PAF’s intention that, in addition to being useful to historians, archaeologists, and other researchers, consulting the database of known cemeteries and private family plots will become a starting point in the process of due diligence of both developers and the city of Philadelphia when considering new projects.

The database, originally the personal research of archaeologist Kimberly Morrell, has been assembled from historic maps, newspapers, academic theses and other sources. Research is ongoing, but the database is the most comprehensive such resource to date.

Learn more about how this resource was made and how to use it at http://www.phillyarchaeology.net/paf-activities/burial-places-forum/historic-philadelphia-burial-places-map/

Little Flower Manor Park Master Site Plan

February 23, 2018 / / 0 Comments

This Mon., Feb. 26, 2018, the Delaware County Planning Department will be hosting a public meeting to discuss the master plan for Little Flower Manor, a 33-acre open space site located on Springfield Road in Darby Borough and Upper Darby Township.

The meeting is at 7:00 p.m. at  the Darby Borough Community Center, 1022 Ridge Avenue, Darby, PA.  No registration is required.


The site is slated to become the largest County-owned park among eastern Delaware County municipalities and features Woodburne, a stately residence designed by Horace Trumbauer in 1906. In the 1930s it was home to the Little Flower Institute, a girls orphanage operated by Sisters of the Divine Redeemer.  In the 1970s it became a nursing home, Little Flower Manor, closing in 2005. Currently the fate of the historic property remains uncertain. Project overseers invite public comment on desired uses of Woodburne and its adjacent open space.

For more information visit http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/planning/currentprojects/LFMPublicMeetingNotice2.html
and
http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/planning/currentprojects/LittleFlowerManorMasterSiteDevelopmentPlan.html

Save the Dates for Collegeville 3/10 or 3/11

February 23, 2018 / / 0 Comments

We are working on a guided tour of the exhibit “Real Estate: Dwelling in Contemporary Art” on view at the The Philip & Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College in Collegeville, PA, on either Saturday, March 10 or Sunday, March 11 at 12:30 p.m.
https://www.ursinus.edu/live/profiles/3083-real-estate-dwelling-in-contemporary-art/berman/exhibition.php

We are also hoping to set up a tour of the Speaker’s House less than a mile away in Trappe, PA, following the Berman Museum at about 2:00 p.m.  The home of Frederick Muhlenberg, the First and Third Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is currently being restored to its 1790s appearance.

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Annual Pizza & Pictures Party

December 15, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Tuesday January 23, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
219 S. 6th Street

Please join us for an evening of fun
and good food!

SNOW DATE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31

Pizza and beverages will be provided.  Please feel free to bring a dessert to share if you wish.  There is no charge for Philadelphia Chapter SAH members AND each member is invited to bring one guest as a prospective member.  Additional guests are welcome at $15.00 each.

Please RSVP to William V. Kriebel, Phila SAH Treasurer at kriebewv@drexel.edu or call 215-735-3697.

If you would like to bring a few digital images to give a short (5 minute/10-15 image) talk on a recent project, current research, or “What I did on my summer vacation,” please contact Bruce Laverty at laverty@PhilaAthenaeum.org or call 215-925-2688.  Digital images should be placed on a thumb drive as individual image files or in a Power Point file.

 

Real Philadelphia: Selections from the Robert M. Skaler Postcard Collection

November 16, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Join us for a special tour with Bruce Laverty, Curator of Architecture

Monday, December 4th at 6:00 p.m.
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia
219 S. 6th Street
Free, but registration required. Please email us at info@philachaptersah.org

More than 250 examples of “real photo postcards” are on display from the a popular and wide-spread type that were produced by professional and amateur photographers alike between 1904 and 1918. These extraordinary images depict Philadelphia at the zenith of its industrial prosperity. Of particular note are the scores of pictures of children who played on the streets of the ever-growing row-house neighborhoods of the Workshop of the World.

Bob Skaler began collecting postcard views of Philadelphia in the 1960s at flea markets, yard sales and antique shops. His collection has appeared in the several books he has written for Arcadia Publishing including Society Hill and Old City, West Philadelphia and Philadelphia’s Broad Street. He felt The Athenaeum would be the best repository for his collection of 1,899 postcards making them available to historians and researchers.

The exhibit is free and runs through January 26, 2018.

Save the Date for these Upcoming Phila Chapter SAH Programs

October 27, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Monday, December 4, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.
Curator’s Tour of
Real Philadelphia: Selections from the Robert M. Skaler Postcard Collection
with Bruce Laverty, Curator of Architecture
at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
Annual Members Pizza & Pictures party
at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Full details and registration information will be sent out about a month before each event.