GEORGE WASHINGTONFrom the collection in Independence HallPainted by Rembrandt Peale
GEORGE WASHINGTONFrom the collection in Independence HallPainted by Rembrandt Peale
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 ancientTemplar 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, 9.00A.M., to 3.00P.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 andForeign 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 motionpictures; 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 SeventeenthStreet and Montgomery Avenue; founded by Professor William Wagner, 1847. Circulating and reference library open daily except Sunday, 9.00A.M.to 9.00P.M.Museum collections, chiefly in reference to geology and mineralogy, open Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Courses of lectures conducted through the collegiate year.
The Library Company of Philadelphia, Locust Street, east of Broad; first circulating library in the United States; founded by subscription in 1731, by Benjamin Franklin and his friends of the Junto Club; charter granted by John, Thomas, and Richard Penn in 1781; original building, Fifth and Library Streets, designed by Dr. Thornton, now the Drexel Building; present building, architect, Frank Furness in 1889; is a haven for scholars interested in historical research; also has important collections of books on costume, foreign literature, and complete set of Punch, begun in 1840; among historic relics are original sketches made for Watson’s Annals of Philadelphia; William Penn’s desk from Pennsburg; John Dickinson’s reading desk, and Heraldic Hatchment, used at his funeral; and the André collection.The Ridgeway Branch, Broad and Christian Streets, founded by bequest of Dr. James Rush; architect, Addison Hutton; built, 1878, Doric, granite; contains terra cotta bust of Minerva, heroic size, probably French work; formerly behind the Speaker’s chair in the Continental Congress, Sixth and Chestnut Streets, given to the Philadelphia Library, 1783, also some articles of Boule, and illuminated manuscripts.
Mercantile Library, Tenth Street above Chestnut; was established 1821, at 100 Chestnut Street, present building, originally a market house, with room seventy-four by two hundred feet, and high-arched ceiling, makes ideal condition for library work on one floor; this is a circulating library of general literature for stockholders and members, who only are admitted into the reading room, where they have unrestricted use of books.
Philadelphia City Institute, 218 South Nineteenth Street, was founded, 1852, by public-spirited citizens, for the purpose of benefiting young men, by establishing a free library and night school; library free to the public.
The Free Library of Philadelphia, northeast corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets, chartered, 1891, from endowment fund, left in will by William Pepper, M.D., LL.D., for a free library in the city of Philadelphia: opened temporarily in City Hall; removed to old Concert Hall, 1217-21 Chestnut Street, now in old building of College of Physicians; contains bust of Dr. Pepper, by Carl Bitter, and portraits; a large new library building is in process of construction on the Parkway, Nineteenth and Vine Streets. Growth and usefulness, from its inception, are due to the management of the late Dr. John Thomson, Librarian; now includes a main building, 26 branches, as well as deposit stations and traveling libraries; total circulation for home use in 1916, 2,767,310. Hearty coöperation exists between the public schools and the Free Library; school extension lectures are given to the children of the grammar grades; and “story hours” are weeklyevents for younger children in the branch libraries. Reference and periodical departments contain works on art, architecture, and archæology, extremely valuable to the practical student and designer; here are facsimiles of many most noted, of early printed books and manuscripts, Bible codices, etc.; the “open shelf” system is used in all departments. Fine buildings of the branch libraries have been developed in their architectural proportions and decoration, on the traditions of French and English Renaissance, or local expression of the Georgian; always with top lighting, considered extremely important: in the basement of the branch at Seventeenth and Spring Garden Streets is a large and valuable collection of government documents; the Josephine Widener Memorial Branch, Broad Street and Girard Avenue, has reference books of priceless nature and rare prints, issued before A.D. 1500.
Christ Chruch Hospital, Wynnefield Station, Park Trolley and P. R. R.; Gothic stone building; organized, 1772, by Dr. John Kearsley; endowed by Jacob Dobson in 1804; is a home for gentlewomen, communicants of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of Pennsylvania; 150 acres; the Board of Managers include three of the vestry, each, of Christ Church and St. Peter’s Church.
College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Twenty-second Street, above Chestnut; founded about 1787, and modeled on lines of The Royal College of Physicians in London. A scientific paper was read by Dr. Benjamin Rush at the first meeting. English Renaissance, brick, laid Flemish bond, with basement, cornices, pilasters, and other trimmings of Indiana limestone; finest building of a medical society in the world, with the largest medical library, save one, in the United States, and a fine collection of portraits of presidents of the Society, painted by most notable artists. This is not a teaching institution, but a Medical Society, composed of men of professional distinction.
Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, 226 North Broad Street. Oldest homeopathic college in the world; founded in 1848; first located at 229 Arch Street. Consolidated with the Homeopathic Medical College in 1869; moved to present site in 1901. Its collections include the world-famous dissection of entire cerebro-spinal nervous system by Dr. Rufus B. Weaver; Dr. Hering’s complete writings of Paracelsus; Dr. A. R. Thomas’s library of old and rare anatomical books; Hahnemann’s works in the original; it has the most complete library of homeopathic literature in existence. Portrait of Dr. W. B. VanLennep; artist, Henry Rittenberg.
Home of the Merciful Saviour, 4400 Baltimore Avenue, on grounds adjoining the Clarence Clark Park; incorporated, 1882; eight houses and chapel, all memorials, with a summer home at Avon-by-the-Sea. A home for crippled, homeless, and helpless children. First of its kind in America where vocational training is taught.
Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Front Street and Lehigh Avenue. Main group ofbuildings, pure Norman. Founded by the Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, Bishop of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Caspar Morris, in the ancestral home of two parishioners on the present site. Jenny Lind made the first cash contribution.
Jefferson Medical College, Tenth and Sansom Streets; founded through the efforts of Dr. George B. McClellan; opened, 1825. Present building erected, 1904.
Jefferson Hospital, Tenth and Sansom Streets; last word in hospital construction and equipment; originated in the Infirmary established in Jefferson College, 1825; present site was bought, 1875, and the building opened for use in 1877. Amphitheatre is one of the largest in the world. Museum contains casts and wax models of interesting cases. Notable portraits in the building are Dr. Forbes, by Aikens; Dr. DaCosta, by Vonnoh; Dr. Keen, by Chase; Mr. William Potter, by Breckenridge; Dr. William Pancoast, by Uhle; also bronze bust of Dr. Marion Sims, by C. Duboi, Paris, 1876; marble bust of Dr. George McClellan; bronze busts of Daniel Webster and Thomas Jefferson.
Jewish Hospital, Logan Station; Old York Road and Olney Avenue, entrance is marked with six granite columns from the old United States Mint, formerly on Chestnut Street. Includes twenty buildings, on twenty-two acres of ground, with modern scientific equipment for treatment of sick, care of aged and incurable. A number of art works said to be of considerable value are here.
Municipal Hospital, Luzerne, near Front Street,4000 north; on extensive grounds bisected by a well-wooded ravine. Established in 1774, on State Island, for the isolation and treatment of contagious diseases; probably most complete of its kind in the world.
Pennsylvania Hospital, between Spruce and Pine Streets, Eighth and Ninth Streets; colonial; brick; with great trees and beautiful open spaces in the grounds. First hospital in the United States, founded, 1751, by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin. Corner-stone on present site, laid, 1755, can still be seen; part of this land belonged to William Penn, which he donated. In 1756, here was the first clinical amphitheatre in America. Noah Webster delivered a lecture for the benefit of the hospital in 1786; other benefits received about this time were, a charity sermon preached by Rev. George Whitefield in St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church; and a painting by Benjamin West, “Christ Healing the Sick,” made while he was in London; the English refused to allow the original to come to America; they used it to start the National Gallery; so a replica was painted; it now hangs in the hall; for years the hospital made money by charging a fee to see it. At the Pine Street front is a leaden statue of William Penn, presented by his grandson, John Penn, from Wycombe Park, Bucks, England, estate of Lord le Dispenser. Benjamin Franklin was the first Secretary and the second President; his minute books are still to be seen there, with clear fine handwriting; and interesting letters and documents of colonial and Revolutionary times.
Philadelphia Almshouse and General Hospital, Thirty-fourth and Pine Streets, Blockley; first almshouse was opened in 1713 by the Quakers; not municipal, open only to their sect; located on Walnut, between Third and Fourth Streets. First city almshouse was established in 1732; second in 1767; in 1772 it was the most extensive hospital on the continent. During the Revolutionary War, wounded were cared for here. In Longfellow’s poem, Evangeline becomes a Sister of Mercy and ministers here to the yellow fever sufferers in Philadelphia. Present institution built, 1834; architecture of administration building, Corinthian, marble. The Medical Department antedates the Pennsylvania Hospital.
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 145 North Tenth Street; established, 1821, at meeting in Carpenters’ Hall: consists of five large buildings connected by a central building, Romanesque, Pompeian brick and Seneca red stone; largest and first institution in the United States devoted to pharmaceutical and chemical instruction. Laboratories and equipment are without a peer, for most advanced training of men and women as pharmacists and chemists. Museum has a large number of paintings of famous scientists, also the Martindale Herbarium of over 200,000 plant specimens. Library has about 14,000 volumes; around the gallery hang portraits of men who have given largely of their time and substance to the development and advancement of the College, and to the progress and betterment of the city; artists represented, Charles Willson Peale, Hugh H. Breckenridge, Henry R. Rittenberg. Collection of photographs of pharmaceutical subjects, many rare and very valuable.
Preston Retreat, Twentieth and Hamilton Streets,on site of William Penn’s residence; classic, marble: founded by Dr. James Preston in 1837, for married women of good character and indigent circumstances, about to be confined. One of the best equipped in the world.
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Girard Avenue and Sixteenth Street; colonial, brick. Established first in the parish of St. Joseph’s Church, near Fourth and Walnut Streets, for Irish famine refugees who became ill on overcrowded and unventilated ships. Incorporated, 1849. Was third general hospital in Philadelphia.
Wills’ Hospital, Eighteenth and Race Streets, facing Logan Circle; classic, marble; founded, 1832, by James Wills, Jr., for the indigent blind and lame. Now one of the best in the world as an institution for the study and practice of ophthalmy.
Women’s Hospital of Philadelphia, North College Avenue. Oldest and largest hospital in the world for women and children: organized, 1861. Its motto is, “Woman’s work for woman by women.”
Woman’s Medical College of Philadelphia, Twenty-first Street and North College Avenue; first college in the world organized for the education of women for the medical profession. Incorporated, 1850. Dr. Ann Preston, of first class to be graduated, was the founder of the Women’s Hospital. Contains bas-relief tablet, “The Woman Physician”; sculptor, Miss Clara Hill.
Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets. Seats 3000; established, 1857, for representation ofoperas in English, and distinguished entertainments; opened with a magnificent ball, such as was never before witnessed in Philadelphia; now home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, which has had three conductors since its organization in 1900, Fritz Scheel, Carl Pohlig, and Leopold Stokowski; all of whom have brought the splendid body of players to a high standard of musical excellence. Dr. Stokowski has said of the Academy: “The architect must have had great knowledge of the laws governing sound, as the volumes are marvelously arranged.”
The Mahler Symphony was given here in 1916, first time in America, Stokowski, director, with chorus of 1000 voices. A memorial to Siegfried Behrens will be in wall of lobby, portrait figure in relief, with Muse of Music holding laurel wreath, Cararra marble, seven feet high, on base of dark marble; sculptor, Guiseppe Donato.
The Maennerchor Society, 1643 North Broad Street. A men’s chorus of active and associate members, founded, 1835, by Philip Mathias Wolsieffer, director for eighteen years. The Maennerchor was the first men’s chorus in America; they have sung for twenty-eight years at opening of the German-American Charity Ball, in the Academy of Music. They sang with the Vocal Union, choral parts of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 1874, first time given in America, William W. Wolsieffer conducting. Won three prizes at National Saengerfest in Brooklyn, Baltimore, and Newark.
Musical Fund Hall, Locust Street, west of Eighth Street, built, 1824. Acoustic properties unsurpassed.Jenny Lind sang here. Now used by a Labor Organization.
Philadelphia has over two hundred singing societies, and a long list of very prominent musical organizations.
The Presser Foundation of Philadelphia, organized 1916, is the first institution of its kind to be established in America. All of its resources have been given by Mr. Theodore Presser. It includes a Home for Retired Music Teachers, suggested by the Founder’s visit to the Verdi “Casa di Riposo per Musicisti,” in Milan in 1899. Scholarships to institutions of learning, the students to be selected by the President, and Directors of the Musical Departments, and emergency aid relief to musicians.
The University of Pennsylvania, Thirty-fourth Street and Woodland Avenue, with a campus of one hundred and seventeen acres along the west bank of the Schuylkill River and equipment of seventy buildings; originated in the Charity School, organized, 1740, at Fourth and Arch Streets; made an academy through the interest of Benjamin Franklin, in 1749; chartered, “The College of Philadelphia,” with power to confer honorary and collegiate degrees, being the third oldest college in the United States; in 1799 was organized and chartered as “The University of the State of Pennsylvania,” making it the first institution in the United States designated a university; also the first to establish professional schools distinct from the college. The School of Medicine was added in 1765,and has always maintained the most advanced requirements and highest standards of scholarship for graduation; it was founded by Dr. John Morgan, who held the first medical professorship in America; he was physician in chief of the Continental Army, 1775-77. The first American University Professorship in Law was established here, 1790; James Wilson held the position; President Washington attended his lectures. In 1799, the University conferred on Washington the degree of LL.D., and later, in 1826, set apart his birthday as University Day, on which honorary degrees are conferred, with appropriate exercises. Nine sons of this University signed the Declaration of Independence; seven, the Constitution of the United States; twenty-one were members of the Continental Congress; nine, in the United States Senate; eight were Attorney-Generals of states or of the United States; six were Justices of the Supreme Court; seven, Governors of states; and many others were Officers in the Army and men in public life, who had received their education in the old building, Fourth and Arch Streets, before 1800.
In 1802 the University was moved to Ninth and Chestnut Streets, and occupied the presidential mansion, now site of the Post Office; in 1872, moved to the present site in West Philadelphia. In 1912, under the administration of Provost Edgar Fahs Smith, The University Extension Courses were formed, and the college made into three departments with a dean for each. TheCollege, founded 1740, includes School of Arts; Summer School; College Courses for Teachers; Courses in Biology and Music.TheTowne Scientific School, founded, 1875, includes, Architecture, Chemistry, Science, Technology, Mechanical, Electrical and Civil Engineering.Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, founded 1881, includes, School of Accounts and Finance in Philadelphia; and the Extension Schools of Finance and Accounts in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.
Department of Music, through the unceasing and wise direction of Dr. Hugh A. Clarke, has graduated hundreds of students in music, after a four years’ course in Harmony, Counterpoint, Composition, and Orchestration. The degree of Bachelor of Music has been conferred on many who qualified to meet the requirements.The Graduate Schoolwas founded, 1882; courses lead to degrees of master of arts, and doctor of philosophy.
Other Departments are, theLaw School, Thirty-fourth and Chestnut Streets; building dedicated University Day, 1900, architects, Cope & Stewardson, style similar to the English Renaissance as developed by Sir Christopher Wren; Indiana limestone and dull red brick; contains the Biddle Law Library, 55,000 volumes; The Black Memorial Collection of English Legal Engravings, most complete in America; several original documents by Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and other colonial men; many objects of historical interest to members of the bar; a fine collection of portraits include those of Algernon Sydney Biddle, by Cecilia Beaux; Charles Chauncey, by Henry Inman; Thomas McKean, LL.D., by Robert W. Vonnoh; Richard Coxe McMurtrie, LL.D., by William M. Chase; James Wilson,LL.D., by Albert Rosenthal, from a miniature; marble busts of Daniel Webster and Jeremiah Sullivan; tablets and memorials.
Laboratory of Chemistry, Thirty-fourth and Spruce Streets; dedicated, 1894; shows the broad projecting eaves of brick architecture in the Italian Renaissance; architects, Cope & Stewardson; it is one of the best equipped chemical laboratories in America. TheEngineeringbuilding, Thirty-third and Locust Streets; dedicated, 1906; Georgian, dark brick with limestone trimmings, architects, Cope & Stewardson; houses the civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering departments; best equipped of its kind. In its collection of portraits is that of John Henry Towne, by William M. Hunt.
Laboratory of Hygiene, includes the Psychological Clinic; Department of physical education; and Franklin Field, Thirty-third and Spruce Streets, dedicated, 1895, seating capacity of the stadium about 62,000, was for many years scene of annual football between the United States Military and Naval Academies; gymnasium, facing Thirty-third Street, erected, 1903, English Collegiate, Gothic, dark red brick, with black headers laid in Flemish bond, terra cotta and Indiana limestone trimmings, floors and columns concrete; comprises Weightman Hall, exercising rooms, and a large swimming pool; architects, Frank Miles Day & Brother; in front on the terrace is statue of Benjamin Franklin at seventeen, as he first entered Philadelphia in 1732; sculptor, Dr. R. Tait McKenzie, pedestal designed by Professor Paul P. Cret. In the entrance is bronze tablet in relief, full figure portrait ofCharles S. Bayne in baseball uniform, “1895 College,” sculptor, R. Tait McKenzie; also other memorials.
Department of Archæology, founded, 1889, by the late Provost William Pepper, M.D., LL.D., museum, Spruce Street, near Thirty-fourth Street, open free daily, 10.00A.M.to 5.00P.M.; Sunday 2.00 to 6.00P.M.The treatment of this building and the courtyard, begun 1897, is among the most successful works of architecture in this country; it was inspired by the round, arched, brick architecture of Northern Italy, about twelfth century; details especially suggesting the old Church of San Stefano in Bologna; roof of Spanish tiles gives added charm; architects in coöperation, Wilson Eyre, Jr., Cope & Stewardson, Frank Miles Day & Brother. Has valuable collections illustrating the history of mankind; Egyptian, Cretan, Etruscan, and Babylonian antiquities, famous tablets from Nippur, and the Dillwyn-Parish collection of Græco-Roman papyri, among which are the oldest known fragments of the Gospel of St. Matthew. During 1916, the museum maintained four expeditions in the field: in Egypt, China, Siberia, and one on the Amazon, which will return with collections they have gathered. Among the portraits in the museum are, Mrs. William D. Frismuth, donor of collection of musical instruments, and Franklin Hamilton Cushing, ethnologist, both by Thomas Eakins; bronze statue of Dr. William Pepper, by Carl Bitter, is in the Italian garden; free public illustrated lectures are given Saturdays, 3.30P.M., from November to March.
Library, founded, 1749, with volumes bearing accession dates of 1749, given by Benjamin Franklin; First Provost, William Smith; Louis XVI of France; and others, now contains about 450,000 volumes, and many special collections; present building dedicated, 1891, Thirty-fourth and Locust Streets, red brick, sandstone, and terra cotta, Furness, Evans & Company, architects; among the portraits here are Benjamin Franklin, LL.D., replica, by Thomas Gainsborough, R.A., of his original; William Wordsworth, poet, from life, by Henry Inman in 1844; Joseph G. Rosengarten, LL.D., by B. A. Osnis, and the entire class of 1811 minus one, in silhouette, cut at Peale’s Museum; here also is the famous orrery and large clock made by David Rittenhouse for this university.
Houston Hall, memorial to Henry Howard Houston, Jr., class of ’78, Spruce Street above Thirty-fourth. North Conshohocken and Indiana limestone; architect’s design of two students of the School of Architecture, developed by Frank Miles Day; was planned by Provost C. C. Harrison, to weld the cosmopolitan body of students into one democratic brotherhood, which has now become a world-wide movement in college life; contains trophy rooms, pool tables, and publication office of “Old Penn,” until 1918 the official weekly; courses of Free Public Lectures are given by members of the Faculty, and men from other American and foreign Universities; services by eminent ministers are conducted each Sunday morning. Among the many portraits in Houston Hall are, Henry Howard Houston, Jr., by Cecilia Beaux; David Rittenhouse, by Charles Willson Peale; Henry Reed, and Henry Vethake, both by Sully.
The University Hospital, Thirty-fourth and Spruce Streets; founded by the late Provost Dr. William Pepper, 1874, covers two city blocks; medical staff consists of more than one hundred and fifty physicians and one hundred nurses; the Surgical Building erected, 1914; Jacobean style, brick and limestone, architects, Brockie & Hastings, contains marble bust on pedestal of Dr. William Pepper, Provost, 1881-94; bronze mural tablet with portrait of late Dr. John H. Musser, sculptor, Dr. R. Tait McKenzie; and many bronze memorials. TheMedical Laboratory, dedicated, 1904, on Hamilton Walk, English Collegiate, of Middle seventeenth century, hard burnt brick and buff Indiana limestone; architects, Cope & Stewardson; interior finished in white Italian marble; is one of the largest and best equipped in America. Contains nearly complete collection of oil portraits of staff of physicians from 1765, including painting of David Hayes Agnew, M.D., LL.D., at the close of a clinic in Medical Hall, all the subordinate figures in the group are likenesses, among them, Dr. J. William White, Dr. Joseph Leidy, Jr., and the artist, Thomas Eakins; Professor John Morgan, founder of the Medical School, after the original by Angelica Kauffman; Professor William Osler, LL.D., and De Forest Willard, by W. M. Chase; Professor Philip Syng Physick, first American to be elected member of Royal Academy, France, by Henry Inman, from life in 1836; Professor Benjamin Rush, by John Neagle; Dr. J. William White, by John S. Sargent; and bronze bust on pedestal of Dr. Joseph Leidy.
The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology,Thirty-sixth Street and Woodland Avenue, founded, 1892, for extension of Wistar and Homer Museums; first university institute exclusively for research in anatomy and biology, buff brick and light terra cotta, fireproof, built, 1808, architects, George W. and W. D. Hewitt; in 1905 this institute became the clearing house for anatomy in America, and in 1906 was appointed Central United States Institute for Brain Investigation; the five principal independent anatomical journals of the United States are published here. Open to the public daily, except Sundays and holidays, 9.00A.M.to 4.00P.M., Saturdays, 9.00A.M.to 12.00M.Contains bronze bust, sculptor, Samuel Murray, 1890, of General Isaac J. Wistar, Sc.D., who gave the building and endowment; in bronze vase are his ashes; also in three bronze vases are the ashes of Joseph Leidy, M.D., LL.D., John Adams Ryder, Ph.D., and Professor Edward Drinker Cope. Opposite isThe Architectural School, Thirty-sixth Street and Woodland Avenue, second only in importance and numbers to theEcole des Beaux Arts, Paris: theesprit de corpsof faculty and students is most pronounced; students and graduates, of late years, have won more competitive prizes, and scholarships, than those of all other American schools combined. The four years’ course leads to degree; special two years’ course, and summer six weeks’ course.
The Botanic Gardens, established, 1894, face Hamilton Walk, open to visitors from sunrise to sunset; greenhouses filled with rare plants from all the world; lily and lotus ponds are attractive feature of the campus. Open-air plays are given here. The Vivarium, established 1898, has fresh and salt water aquaria, first vivarium ever connected with any educational institution.Zoölogical Laboratory, on Hamilton Walk and Thirty-ninth Street, built, 1910; architects, Cope & Stewardson, hard burnt brick and Indiana limestone, English Collegiate, of middle seventeenth century; considered best working laboratory for its purpose in this country, contains many famous collections.
Veterinary Building and Hospital, Thirty-ninth Street and Woodland Avenue, constructed about a square courtyard; one of best equipped of its kind. Architects, Cope & Stewardson, English Collegiate, seventeenth century, hard burnt yellow brick and limestone trimmings, roof green slate, built, 1906-07.
School of Dentistry, “Thomas W. Evans Museum and Dental Institute,” Fortieth and Spruce Streets, Collegiate Gothic, time of Henry VIII, hard burnt red and black brick and Indiana limestone, built, 1914, architect, John T. Windrim; the grotesques ornamenting the band courses, while in the spirit of the Middle Ages, are modern in subject and caricature; most complete edifice in the world, devoted to the science of dentistry. Museum contains the priceless Evans collection, gifts from the nobility of Europe, portraits and busts of Dr. Evans.
Henry Phipps Institutefor the study, prevention, and treatment of tuberculosis, founded, 1903, northeast corner of Seventh and Lombard Streets; facing Starr Garden Park, a civic center of the Playgrounds Commission; is colonial style, designed by Grosvenor Atterbury, New York, brick trimmed with white marble.
Flower Astronomical Observatoryat Llanerch on West Chester Pike, architect, Edgar V. Seeler, 1895. Open to visitors every Thursday evening during collegiate year, 7.00P.M.to 10.00P.M.; is equipped with an 18 inch equatorial telescope, and other instruments of latest and most approved design.
Dormitory Houses, Jacobean, thirty in number, begun in 1895, suggest the Oxford and Cambridge colleges; carved grotesque bosses on main cornices are reminiscent of the Gothic period; they are amusing, and display an unusual amount of imagination; material, hard burnt yellow brick and Indiana limestone; architects, Cope & Stewardson; entrance through two gateways known as Memorial Tower, gift of the Alumni, dedicated in 1901, in memory of University of Pennsylvania men who served in the Spanish-American War, corner-stone was laid by General Miles, in 1900; and the Provosts’ Tower, named as memorial to the Provosts of the University of Pennsylvania, whose twelve names are carved on medallions, from William Smith to Charles Custis Harrison.
William Penn Charter School, 8 to 10 South Twelfth Street, was planned in 1684 at a meeting of the Provincial Council, Governor Penn presiding. In 1689, William Penn, writing from England to Thomas Lloyd, President of Council, instructed him to set up a “Public Grammar School in Philadelphia,” the school was incorporated in 1698, and George Keith engaged as head master, 1699. In 1701, William Penn, while on a visit to America, granted the school a charter from his own hand; on the same day he chartered the city itself. This school is the oldest existing chartered school in America; a second and more liberal charter was granted, 1708, and a third charter, under which the school is still conducted, 1711; the originals of all three of these charters are in the school’s possession. The school will be moved to Pinehurst, the Waln estate, twenty-two acres on School Lane near Wissahickon Avenue, Germantown, acquired by gift; field now used for their athletic sports, surface having been adapted for the purpose by the Newhall Engineering Company, Philadelphia, who made there a football oval; an eighteen foot quarter-mile track; and an eighteen foot 220 yard straightway; drainage of these tracks and oval is such, that in eight years, not one scheduled contest has been postponed on account of condition of the ground.
Central High School, Broad and Green Streets; established, 1836. In view of the increasing income and diminishing debt of the nation, the United States Congress in 1836 passed a law, authorizing the distribution of surplus revenue among the states, to be disposed of as their legislatures might enact; Pennsylvania devoted her share, over $70,000, to public education, and the controllers erected a high school in Philadelphia, which was completed, 1838, east side of Juniper Street, below Market Street. In 1853, the original building was sold; present structure occupied in 1900. Conferring of academic degrees dates from 1849. Memorial window to Edward T. Steel in assembly room.
Girard College, College and Corinthian Avenues, for the care and training of orphan boys; founded by Stephen Girard, a native of France, who at his death,in 1831, left his estate for this purpose. Main building, architect, Thomas Ustick Walter, architect of the Capitol at Washington, probably the finest architectural specimen in Philadelphia, modeled after a Greek temple, white marble, covers an area of 34,344 feet, exclusive of eleven marble steps by which it is approached on every side; a colonnade of 34 Corinthian columns aid in supporting the marble roof, each column 6 feet in diameter and 55 feet high, the diameter of corner columns being increased 1½ inches to overcome apparent reduction of size from their insulated position; bases 9 feet 3 inches in diameter, 3 feet 2 inches high, capitals 8 feet 6 inches high and 9 feet 4 inches wide; each shaft, as well as the bases, consists of a single piece, without vertical joints; at each end of the three story building is a vestibule, the ceilings of which are supported by eight columns, whose shafts are composed of a single stone; corner-stone was laid July 4, 1834, and the completed building transferred to the Board of Directors, 1847. In the first vestibule is white marble sarcophagus, with body of Stephen Girard, and his statue by Gevelot; the memorial room contains portrait of Girard, by J. R. Lambdin, copy from posthumous portrait by Bass Otis in Masonic Temple; interesting collection of furniture; pictures; china; silverware, and fine marble bust of Napoleon I, by Canova, presented to Girard by Joseph Bonaparte.
Present capacity, 1520 boys, admitted from six to ten years of age and graduated fourteen to sixteen years of age, preference of admission is given to those born within the old Philadelphia city limits, next in consideration those born in Pennsylvania, and thirdgroup, boys born in the cities of New York and New Orleans. There are several hundred on waiting list.
Equipment comprises ten white marble buildings for school and house purposes, chapel seating 1600, and other buildings, also plant for heat, light, and power, inclosed on forty acres with a ten-foot high stone wall. Endowment now about $29,000,000. Soldiers’ and sailors’ monument on campus, in memory of the graduates who served in the Civil War; sculptor, J. Massey Rhind. Clergymen are excluded by Girard’s will, “that the boys might be kept free from denominational controversies.” Bible has always had a foremost place in the teaching of the college; Chapel speakers are laymen of prominence in the professional and business world.
Residence of John Fitchin 1791, 462 North Second Street; in 1790 John Fitch’s steamboats made regular trips; Petty’s Island was used as a port for thePerseverance, one of the five steamboats that Fitch constructed for use on the Delaware, before Robert Fulton placed hisClermonton the Hudson; it was blown up at moorings on this island.Residence of Edgar Allan Poefrom 1843-44 west side of Seventh Street, above Spring Garden (old number 234).Bush Hill Mansion, on west side of Seventeenth Street below Spring Garden, erected by Andrew Hamilton in 1740; front lawn sloping to Vine Street, was scene of a Fourth of July celebration held in 1788, after the last of the nine states that made the Constitution effective came in; the procession dispersed here at “Union Green,” James Wilson, a signer of the Constitution, delivered an oration, and there were other ceremonies.Springettsbury, built 1736-39, called after the name of William Penn’s first wife, manor-house of the Penns; burnt in 1808; part of site is now occupied by the Preston Retreat, Eighteenth Street below Spring Garden. Northeast corner of Broad and Walnut Streets, site ofVauxhall Garden; a ball was given here in honor of General Andrew Jackson after his victory at New Orleans, January 8, 1814.Penn Treaty Park, Beach Street and East Columbia Avenue.Knight’s Wharfat edge of Green Street, in Northern Liberties; near here Poole’s bridge crossed Pegg’s Run at Front Street, it was named after one Poole, a Friend, whose mansion was here, recalls the Mischianza invitation: “The favor of your meeting the subscribers to the Mischianza at Knight’s Wharf, near Poole’s Bridge, tomorrow at half past three, is desired. (Signed) Henry Calder. Sunday, 17th May, 1778. For river parade to the Garden.” Preparations for this magnificent entertainment, the erection of numerous and vast pavilions around the Wharton mansion, and their decorations by André, Delancey, and other gallant officers, was the talk of the town for weeks. The Wharton mansion, Walnut Grove, used by the family in summer, was where Fifth Street, near Washington Avenue, is now; the British had possession there in the spring of 1778; Miss Peggy Shippen’s portrait was sketched by Major André in Mischianza costume. Philadelphia then excelled all other colonial cities in size, culture, and importance.Southwark Shot Tower, built, 1809, Carpenter Street between Frontand Second, first plant in the United States which made bullets.Site of Hill’s Shipyard, Queen Street wharf below Cathrine Street. Original Swedish houses on both sides of Queen Street below Front. Site of United States first navy yard, 1201 South Front Street.
Obelisk northeast corner Twenty-third and Market Streets gives a history of the old Market Street bridge, built 1801-05; inscriptions to be recut.
Colonial and Revolutionary suburb, six miles from Philadelphia; founded in 1683 by Francis Daniel Pastorius from Sommerhausen, Germany, one of the best educated men in the Colonies; he had received the degree of Doctor of Laws at Nuremberg; was a member of the Assembly from 1687-91. Earliest settlers were Friends and German Religionists, highly cultivated, and skilled in weaving, paper-making, printing, and other trades. First railroad in America to use steam was the Philadelphia and Reading to Germantown in 1832. First successful locomotive made in America was Matthias Baldwin’s “Old Ironsides,” used on this road, only taken out in fair weather.Germantown Avenuefollows an old Indian trail, made a turnpike in 1800, on which are still many historic houses of quaint colonial architecture; rough native stone with overhanging hipped roofs and a projecting pent, over doorstep.Stenton, built in 1728, brick, colonial, near Wayne Junction, residence of James Logan, Secretary to William Penn, 1727-34;