Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. Snow Date: Tuesday, January 21 at 6:00 p.m. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 219 S. 6th Street
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 at no charge as a prospective member. Additional guests are welcome at $15.00 each.
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED Please RSVP to Bruce Laverty at laverty@PhilaAthenaeum.org or 215-925-2688.
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 let Bruce know. Digital images should be placed on a thumb drive in a Power Point file or as individual image files.
by Suzanne Singletary, Ph.D., Associate Dean, New Academic Initiatives and Graduate Studies, College of Architecture and the Built Environment, Thomas Jefferson University
Tuesday Nov 12 at 6:00 p.m. Lawrence N. Field DEC Center Forum 4201 Henry Avenue, Philadelphia, PA Thomas Jefferson University’s East Falls Campus
Free and open to all, no registration required. For public transit info see www.SEPTA.com. Free parking is available in a nearby visitors’ parking lot accessed from School House Lane, just east of Henry Avenue, behind Search Hall.
As early as the 1830s, the English word home had migrated into the French language, signifying an isolated, self-contained domesticity and recognition that the “house” had undergone a radical redefinition. Population growth, demographic shifts, revolutions within the social and political spheres and, significantly, the all-encompassing redesign of Paris by Napoleon III and his urban planner Baron Haussmann effected a fundamental split between public and private spaces. Impressionist painters chronicled their responses to the “New Paris,” interpreting the many repercussions and permutations wrought by Haussmannization and leaving us a painted archive of urban vistas as well as the sequestered spaces of home. Their domestic interiors not only itemize activities of daily life, but also insinuate the volatile conditions and invariable frictions that accompanied modernity, specifically the often-strained relationships between modern men and modern women “at home.” Private space, by definition, permitted the enactment of clandestine psychological and gender-related dramas, intended to remain securely closeted behind closed doors.
Suzanne Singletary teaches the history and theory of art, architecture and design. She has been involved in the development of the History of Architecture and Interiors series and taught seminars in thesis research and preparation, photography and visual culture, and issues in contemporary architecture. Currently she serves as Associate Dean for New Academic Initiatives and Graduate Studies and Director of the MS Historic Preservation Program. Her research interests include interdisciplinary aspects of art, architecture, literature and music. She has participated in international symposia and been an invited speaker at the National Gallery of Washington, D.C., the National Gallery of London, the Tate Britain, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has published articles on Eugène Delacroix, French Symbolism, and Francesco Goya, and contributed essays to Impressionist Interiors (National Gallery of Ireland 2008), Perspectives on Manet (Ashgate 2012) and Rival Sisters (Ashgate 2014). Her book, James McNeill Whistler and France: A Dialogue in Paint, Poetry, and Music was published by Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group (2017).
by Héctor J. Berdecía-Hernández, University of
Pennsylvania, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation and 2019 SAH Phila
Chapter George B. Tatum Fellow.
Wednesday, October 16 at 6:00 p.m. B-3 Meyerson Hall, University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
Free and open to the public, no registration required.
After the Spanish-American War of 1898, new forms, construction technologies, and innovative building materials were introduced in the new Caribbean and Pacific colonial possessions of the United States. As an experimental site for a new American project, Puerto Rico became a target quickly for concrete manufacturers and architecture/engineering firms since the early 1900s. As a Laboratory, the islands were the ideal place for the use of concrete, an -also- experimental building material at that time. In examining early 20th-century architecture and concrete construction technologies, this presentation will explore early American influences in Puerto Rican architecture. Furthermore, how concrete; as a building material, was not only a material used widely across America’s new possession in the Caribbean but also how it played a role in shaping new forms of colonial governance: the American colonization of Puerto Rico.
As a University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant in the and Editorial Assistant for Change Over Time: An International Journal of Conservation and the Built Environment. Hector holds a double major degree in Environmental Design (B.EnvD.) and History, and a Post-Bachelor Certificate in Urban Studies from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Rio Piedras Campus. Héctor is currently a second year graduate student at Penn’s Historic Preservation program. Born and raised in San Juan and Moca, Puerto Rico, his research interests include conservation and innovative treatments of traditional building materials in the Caribbean region, preservation policy and history in Puerto Rico and the United States. His current thesis research focuses on the development of an assessment methodology, cleaning strategies and better conservation practices for exposed concrete surfaces in modern Caribbean architecture.
The Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians’ George B. Tatum Annual International Conference Fellowship helps fund registration, travel and lodging expenses related to attending the annual meetings of the Society of Architectural Historians. For application information on the 2020 Fellowship visit https://philachaptersah.org/index.php/about/
Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians and The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia invite you to Learning From The Preservation Masters Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 6 PM – 8 PM The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 219 S 6th St, Philadelphia
What can experience teach us? How do we protect and build upon the hard-won preservation victories of the past six decades? How do we adapt our mentors’ legacies to address new challenges and opportunities for preservation?
Several members of the ‘Old Guard’ of Philadelphia’s preservation community come together for an evening that will give insight into the preservation world of the recent past. Join Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia and the Society of Architectural Historians Philadelphia Chapter for a panel discussion with distinguished preservation professionals. Their combined 200+ years of experience stretches from architecture and planning, restoration, preservation advocacy, public policy, teaching, and more. Come reflect on the lessons they learned, hardships they faced, and advice they want to hand down to the next generation of preservationists.
PANELISTS John Andrew Gallery | Author and former Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance Janet Klein | Member of the Board of Directors of The Woodlands Hy Myers | Independent Architect and Planning Professional Betty Turner | Vice Chair of the Philadelphia Historical Commission; President & Co-Founder of Germantown Community Connection
Moderated by Andrew Hart, Assistant Professor of Architecture for Visualization and Computational Design at the College of Architecture and the Built Environment at Jefferson University and Member of the Board of Directors of the Preservation Alliance.
(Note: you will have to climb stairs on
this tour if you wish to see below or above the ground floor.)
Open to Phila Chapter SAH members only. $20 per person.
Space is limited and advance registration is required at info@philachaptersah.org
Join
the Chapter on a private tour of “The Patio” at Archmere (Arch to the
Sea), the former estate of John J. & Helena Springer Green Raskob in
Claymont, DE. Listed on the National
Register in 1992, The Patio is an Italian Renaissance Revival mansion designed
by the Wilmington architects Alexander James Harper and Clay McClure. Built
from 1916-18, this 15th-C Florentine palazzo on the Delaware River was home to
the Raskobs and their 13 children until 1931.
The ground floors are furnished with period furniture, some of which
belonged to the Raskobs. A significant
feature of the home was the retractable stained glass skylight over the central
court which features a fountain carved with likenesses of the Raskob children
by Sculptor Charles Keck, a student of Augustus Saint Gaudens. (In 1977, a protective, though transparent,
covering was placed over the skylight which prevents it from being retracted.)
Born
in 1879 and raised in Lockport, NY, J.J. Raskob became Pierre S. du Pont’s
personal secretary in 1901. In 1911, he
became assistant treasurer of DuPont, in 1914 treasurer, and in 1918
vice-president for finance of both DuPont and General Motors. Raskob had been an early investor in General
Motors and had engineered DuPont’s ownership of 43% of GM. Raskob remained with
DuPont until his retirement from the company in 1946.
He
was also a devout Catholic and staunch Democrat, serving as chairman of the
Democratic party from 1928-1932. Many
important players on the National stage were guests at The Patio for strategy
meetings in 1928 when four-time New York Governor and fellow Catholic Alfred E.
“Al” Smith ran for President.
Largely due to anti-Catholic sentiment Smith lost to Republican Herbert
Hoover, so Raskob turned his attention to another project that he started in
1929, construction of the Empire State Building. The Empire State Corporation,
formed to build the structure, was a consortium of four men: Pierre S. DuPont,
Louis G. Kauffman, Ellis P. Earle, and Raskob.
After his loss for President, they named Al Smith as the corporation’s
president. Smith was a real booster for
the ESB and did a great deal to sign tenants during the Depression. The Empire State Building was officially opened
on May 1, 1931, later that year Raskob left Archmere for his home on the
Eastern Shore of Maryland as the Claymont area had become increasingly
industrial in the first decades of the 20th-C.
In
1932 the Norbertine religious order purchased the estate and founded Archmere
Academy, originally an all-boys school, today Archmere continues as co-ed
private Roman Catholic college prep school with an annual enrollment of about
500 students. Current Headmaster Michael
A. Marinelli, Ed.D., will be our guide on this tour that will take you from the
basement to the attic.
Driving Directions: From Philadelphia Pike drive past the main gates to the mansion and make a left turn at the traffic light onto Manor Avenue. Enter at the THIRD gate on the left. Park in that lot and walk around to the front entrance of The Patio.
Public Transit Directions: Archmere is a 10 minute walk from the SEPTA Claymont Station on the Wilmington/Newark Line. For walking directions follow this link https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Claymont,+200+Myrtle+Ave,+Claymont,+DE+19703/3600+Philadelphia+Pike,+Claymont,+Delaware/@39.7998058,-75.4578404,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c6e40bd4f2cf73:0x5b800c0087541c27!2m2!1d-75.4523299!2d39.7977258!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c6e40d0f53016b:0xbb09e8121e7d9563!2m2!1d-75.4539289!2d39.8023699?hl=en&authuser=0
Tuesday January 22, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 219 S. 6th Street
Please join us for an evening of fun and good food!
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 at no charge as a prospective member. Additional guests are welcome at $15.00 each.
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED Please RSVP to Bruce Laverty at laverty@PhilaAthenaeum.org or 215-925-2688.
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 let Bruce know. Digital images should be placed on a thumb drive in a Power Point file or as individual image files.
“Old store Race St. Wharf, Phila.” Race Street at Delaware Avenue, ca. 1880-1900. Library of Congress.
The Oliver Evans Society for Industrial Archeology, the Philadelphia Chapter Society of Architectural Historians and the Wagner Free Institute of Science invite you to
A Glass Lantern Slide presentation by Martha Capwell Fox, Historian and Archives Coordinator for the National Canal Museum, a program of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
Wednesday, December 5 at 6:00 p.m.
The Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 W Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia
Reception to follow.
$15 per person for members of The Oliver Evans Society for Industrial Archeology, the Philadelphia Chapter Society of Architectural Historians and the Wagner Free Institute of Science and their guests, $20 for all others.
ALL TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE, NO ADMISSIONS AT THE DOOR. Select ticket from drop down menu below, then click Add to Cart button.
The National Canal Museum’s collection of Rau glass lantern slides was a gift from Professor Charles Best, who was chair of the engineering department at Lafayette College. There are over 1200 slides in his collection, but we will see about 80 of the best of Philadelphia.
Martha Capwell Fox has been with the National Canal Museum for six years, but has a three decades-long relationship with the Museum through former Director Lance Metz. She graduated from American University with a dual degree in International Relations and History. She spent most of her career in publishing; working at National Geographic and was a senior editor at Rodale Press. She has published seven books, four Arcadia books on local Lehigh Valley history, and YA histories of swimming, auto racing and Vatican City. Her latest book, “Geography, Geology, and Genius: The Industrial History of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor” is in production and should be out by the end of the year.
The talk will take place in the historic Lecture Hall of the Wagner Free Institute of Science and is followed by a reception in the Museum.
About the Wagner: Founded in 1855, the Wagner Free Institute of Science is dedicated to providing free public education in science. Its programs serve all ages and include evening science courses—the oldest free adult education program in the country—lectures, field trips and children’s lessons. The Wagner is also committed to preserving and interpreting its National Historic Landmark building, designed by John McArthur, which opened in 1865. The building houses a Victorian-era lecture hall, a library, and three-story exhibition hall displaying more than 100,000 natural history specimens. The site is virtually unchanged since the 1890s. The Wagner today is both an educational institution that teaches contemporary science, and a historic site that presents a time capsule of Victorian science. It is open to visitors Tuesdays – Fridays, 9 AM to 4 PM, year-round, and offers an array of evening and weekend programs throughout the year. It is located at 1700 W. Montgomery Avenue, a few blocks from Temple University’s main campus and the Temple-Cecil B. Moore Broad Street Line station.
Image Credit: Jack E. Boucher, photographer. EAST FACADE AS SEEN FROM EIGTH AND MARKET STREETS – Philadelphia Saving Fund Society, Twelfth & Market Streets, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA. 1985. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540
Presented by Craig Lee, art history Ph.D. candidate at the University of Delaware and Philadelphia Chapter SAH 2018 George B. Tatum Annual International Conference Fellow
Tuesday, October 2 at 6:00 p.m.
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 219 S 6th St,
For Philadelphia Chapter SAH Members and their guests only, please register at info@philachaptersah.org
Initially dismissed as a visual blight, outdoor advertising structures rose with the twentieth-century’s new skyscrapers in the United States and soon came to overlook the urban realm, provoking intense public and professional debate about the changing nature of the American cityscape. Their transformational effect led to a range of responses across the country from new restrictive building codes and civic lawsuits to their embrace in architectural designs and urban depictions. Please join Craig to explore the history of rooftop billboards, illuminated spectaculars, and other forms of commercial signage on top of buildings in relation to the aesthetic politics of the American skyline
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.
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.
by Margaret (Molly) Lester, Research Associate for PennPraxis and creator