HISTORIC INSTITUTIONS OF PHILADELPHIA
Academy of Natural Sciences, on the Parkway at Logan Circle, was founded, 1812, in the house of Thomas Say, Esq., northwest corner of Second and Market Streets. The Museum, for its historic value and extent of its collection, is one of the most important in existence; arranged in two series, an exhibition for the public, and reference for specialists. Library contains about 60,000 volumes, nearly all on natural sciences; several important publications are issued by the Academy, and numerous lectures on natural history are given annually. Contains portraits of founders, Thomas Say, Gerard Troost, William Maclure, Charles Lesueur, Sir Joseph Banks, Samuel L. Mitchell. All painted by Charles Willson Peale, and hung in Peale’s Museum; others by noted artists are Robert Bridges, Isaac Lea, Joseph Leidy, by Bernard Uhle; Jacob Gilliams by P. F. Rothermel; William Hempbell and George Ord by John Neagle; Samuel G. Morton by Paul Weber; W. S. W. Ruschenberger by William K. Hewitt; Isaac Wistar by Robert Vonnoh; also a fine study model of Alexander Wilson, the ornithologist, by Charles Grafly, and statuette of same by Alexander Calder.
American Philosophical Society, 103 South Fifth Street, on lot in State House yard, given the Society by the state in 1785; colonial, brick; built, 1789: originated in “The Junto” formed by Benjamin Franklin, 1727, with the object of mutual improvement; received its name 1769, “The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, for Promoting Useful Knowledge.” Benjamin Franklin, then in Europe, sole American plenipotentiary to France from the thirteen provinces, was elected first president, and continued until his death in 1790. David Rittenhouse, second president, served until his death in 1796; he, with other members, successfully observed the Transit of Venus, June 3, 1769, giving the first approximately accurate results to the world, in the measurements of the spheres; he also constructed an orrery for measuring heavenly bodies. Thomas Jefferson, third president, served eighteen years, while he was also Vice-President and President of the United States, and established its library and cabinet. Present President, Dr. W. W. Keen. Its membership is world wide. At the meetings, held regularly, the most advanced thought in scientific investigation is presented. The Society now owns most of the Franklin papers in existence, recently calendared in five volumes by Dr. I. Minis Hays; field notes of Lewis and Clark expedition; original copy of Penn’s Charter of Privileges, dated 1701; manuscript volume, Laws of Pennsylvania prior to 1700, and original broadside, Declaration of Independence. Oil portraits of all its Presidents are here and of many leading members; notably, George Washington, by Gilbert Stuart; President Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, John Vaughn, Caspar Wistar, P. S. DuPonceau, all by Thomas Sully; David Rittenhouse and Samuel Vaughn by C. W. Peale; Joseph Priestly and Chief Justice William Tilghman by Rembrandt Peale; Daniel G. Brinton by Thomas Aikens; Professor Alexander Dallas Bache by Huntington; General Isaac Wistar and Joseph Henry by Bernard Uhle; several notable busts of Jefferson, Turgot, and Condorcet by Houdon; Benjamin Franklin by Caffieri; and of Lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, and Nicholas Biddle.
The Franklin Institute, Seventh Street above Chestnut; organized, 1824; open free daily; classic, marble, built, 1825; John Haviland, architect. First organization in the United States to combine science with practice; the lecture course presents, free to the public, latest advances in useful arts and sciences, by distinguished technologists; also popular illustrated addresses on topics of the day; school of Mechanic Arts includes instruction in mechanical and architectural drawing, said to be one of the most thorough and practical in the United States. Library is second to none, in extent and completeness, as reference for scientific literature; The Franklin Journal, published since 1825, monthly, is the only record extant of a number of early United States patents. They held first exhibition in America of American manufactures, 1824, in Carpenters’ Hall, and first electrical exhibition in America. Portraits include Dr. Benjamin Franklin and Matthias W. Baldwin by Sully, Daguerre by Abraham Whiteside, and bust of Henry Clay by William Rush, carved wood. Among relics are typesetting and electrical machines, used by Benjamin Franklin, and early models of machinery. Will be moved to Parkway, Race Street, east of Nineteenth Street.
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1300 Locust Street, in mansion of General Robert Patterson, enlarged and made fireproof; founded, 1824. Open 10.00 A.M. to 6.00 P.M.; July and August, closes at 4.00 P.M.; publishes the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography; contains probably the largest collection of sources of American history assembled in any one place; includes over 100,000 bound books, 250,000 pamphlets, 7000 volumes of manuscripts and some 3500 volumes of newspapers, which are invaluable to the student of colonial and Revolutionary history; an Index to the Marriages and Deaths, in Dunlap, Claypoole and Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, creates a constant demand for the files of that newspaper for genealogical purposes; Tom Paine’s American Crisis, 1776, and many other rare imprints of Americans. The Society has a large and exceedingly rich collection of oil paintings; practically all the governors of the state are represented in portraiture on its walls, some of the mayors of Philadelphia, and portraits of many Revolutionary officers; a portrait of Johannes Kelpius, the “Hermit of the Wissahickon,” by Christopher Wick, in 1704, is believed to be the earliest portrait in oil painted in America; portraits of Gustavus Hesselius, his wife, and of Robert Morris, Sr., father of the financier, painted by Gustavus Hesselius, are of historic interest; a fine collection of original
GEORGE WASHINGTON
From the collection in Independence Hall
Painted by Rembrandt Peale
portraits, drawings, studies, and manuscripts by Benjamin West, includes the full length portrait of William Hamilton of the Woodlands, and his niece, Mrs. Ann Hamilton Lyle, probably the most beautiful of West’s portraits in this city; other artists represented are Charles Willson Peale, Jacob Eicholtz, Thomas Sully, Rembrandt Peale, John Neagle, Charles Gilbert Stuart, Robert Edge Pine, John Singleton Copley, Walter G. Gould, Henry Inman, Paul Weber, and William E. Winner. Among the miniatures are those by John Trumbull, James Peale, and Robert Fulton. Marble busts are of Washington, Franklin, Milton, Henry Clay, Major General Robert Patterson, T. Buchanan Read, and Dr. Joseph Parrish. Relics of great historic interest include the Ephrata Printing Press, the Charter of the City of Philadelphia, and the “Great Belt of Wampum,” representing the famous Shackamaxon Treaty between William Penn and the Indians, “never signed and never broken.”
Masonic Temple, Broad and Filbert Streets; Norman architecture; built, 1870; John T. Windrim, architect. Rooms with notable decorations are the Egyptian; Oriental, Moorish style from sketches made in the Alhambra by John Sartain; and Corinthian, copied from well-known standards of architecture, ornament and familiar figure composition. Museum said to be the greatest existing Masonic museum, contains aprons of Past Grand Masters of the three oldest Lodges in the world; and George Washington’s apron, made by Madame Lafayette and presented to him by the Marquis, worn by Washington at laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol at Washington; an ancient Templar Cross, original Crusader’s Cross, found in a grave at Tyre, Syria, A.D. 1250; notable jewelers’ art of England, Denmark, Germany, France, and Great Britain, in badges, including one owned by Napoleon I; tablet from Temple of Herod; Sephar Torah, ancient scroll of the law found in Germany, over eighteen feet long, and from three hundred to five hundred years old. Library, Byzantine decorations, with coats of arms, of various Guilds and Grand Lodges, in the ceiling. The Great Hall, or front entrance, contains portraits and paintings, among them “The Puritans” by F. J. Waugh and “A Marine Scene” by Richards; Seals of the States of the Union, and paintings portraying the Pan Athenia, Greek festival. On the second floor are the Grand Lodge Room, representing a Corinthian temple, constructed to appear roofless; the columns, reproductions of the Lysicrates, Athens; mural paintings represent the mythology of the Greeks, “Weighing of the Soul,” “Ulysses Passing the Island of the Sirens,” “Birth of Athena,” “Judgment of Paris,” “The Golden Fleece.” Renaissance Hall, the Tabernacle, contains the Veils of the Temple. Two paintings at either end represent a High Priest, and a Scribe. Ionic Hall and Norman Hall have characteristic ornamentation; Egyptian Hall, decorations are copied from Temples of Karnak, Elephanta, Philae, Rameses, the Cataracts and Tombs; Ceiling from Temple of Denderah; also the scene “Weighing the Soul,” showing Egyptian mythology allied with Greek.
Mint of United States at Philadelphia, Sixteenth and Spring Garden Streets, open daily, except Sundays and holidays, 9.00 A.M., to 3.00 P.M. Classic Ionic, granite, built, 1901, by the Supervising Architect of Washington, D. C. Main lobby finished in Italian marble with mosaic ceiling; panels illustrate ancient methods and processes of coinage; artist, W. B. Van Ingen. Largest and most completely equipped Mint in the world. Numismatic room, accessible to the public, contains large collection of coins and medals; among them the widow’s mite, found in ruins of Temple in Jerusalem.
Pennsylvania Bible Society, 701 Walnut Street, organized in Philadelphia, 1808. First Bible Society on American continent; present building erected, 1853. First President, Right Rev. William White, D.D.; first meeting, called by Robert Ralston in his own home; object, to further our country’s welfare through the Bible, the Book teaching love, unity, and forbearance; therefore qualified to band the people together and advance national betterment. The establishment of such an organization in our land was recognized by gift of £200 by the British and Foreign Bible Society, London. All denominations have been represented in the line of Presidents; during Bishop Whitaker’s incumbency the Pennsylvania Bible Society was connected with the American Bible Society in New York, now the national organization. General Lafayette in 1824 was presented by this Society with a specially prepared copy of the Scriptures. At the centennial of this Society, in 1908, celebrated in the Academy of Music, Bishop Ozi W. Whitaker, D.D., presided; Right Hon. James Bryce, British Ambassador, made an address and presented to Bishop Whitaker a beautifully embossed Bible, sent by the British and Foreign Bible Society, emblems on the cover were from early Christian examples, similar to those on the Coronation Bible given to King Edward VII; Ambassador Bryce was in turn presented with a richly made copy of the Scriptures, by the Pennsylvania Society; greetings were received from President Theodore Roosevelt and Governor Edwin S. Stuart of Pennsylvania, and from other Bible societies. At the Tercentenary celebration of King James version of the English Bible, in the Academy of Music, 1911, James A. MacDonald, LL.D., of Toronto, spoke of “The Influence of the Bible Upon the Commonwealth.” Letters were read from King George V of England, and President William H. Taft. This Society now circulates between two and three hundred thousand Bibles per annum, printed in over fifty languages and dialects, for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, over which this house has especial jurisdiction. Any separate book of the Bible may be obtained for two cents.
Philadelphia Commercial Museum, Thirty-fourth Street below Spruce, organized, 1894, is the only Commercial Museum in the United States; it received immense collections from the Chicago “Columbian Exposition,” over forty governments being represented; many subsequent collections from other international expositions; and special exhibits, illustrating the people and products of the world. A free reference library is here, of Foreign and American Commerce and Travel, which could not be duplicated, and courses of free lectures are given which cover subjects of geographic, commercial, and industrial importance, illustrated by colored lantern slides and motion pictures; colored slides, with lantern screen and type-written lectures, covering same field of geography, commerce, and industry, are loaned, free of cost, to public-school teachers, in all parts of Pennsylvania; they reach tens of thousands; also collections of specimens, to aid teachers, are sent free of cost, as a gift to Pennsylvania public schools; they are arranged, showing important raw material, and process of manufacture. Manufacturers are furnished with information on all matters pertaining to foreign trade; the Foreign Trade Bureau is the acknowledged leader of such organizations in the world.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, 1600 Walnut Street; first in America, organized at meeting in Franklin Institute, 1827, to promote horticulture and create love for flowers, fruits, and vegetables by their cultivation. Minutes of the Society and list of membership is complete from formation to present time. Lectures by an expert in the various branches of horticulture are given at each monthly meeting, from November until May. Annual exhibitions are, Spring Flower Show before Easter, three days; Peony, outdoor grown Rose and Sweet Pea Show in Philadelphia suburbs, from May to July, according to season; Dahlia Exhibition, in September; Chrysanthemum, early November. The Society has a library of several thousand books on agriculture and horticulture, some very rare and of great value, and all recommended works, of recent publication, in Europe and America. “Great gardens educate people in gentility as well as in horticulture.”
Wagner Institute, southwest corner of Seventeenth Street and Montgomery Avenue; founded by Professor William Wagner, 1847. Circulating and reference library open daily except Sunday, 9.00 A.M. to 9.00 P.M. Museum collections, chiefly in reference to geology and mineralogy, open Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Courses of lectures conducted through the collegiate year.