Events

7 PM  Reception, 7:30 PM Lecture People may know the well-known camp meetings and Chautauquas - Oak Bluff, MA, Ocean Grove, NJ and Chautauqua NY. But did you know there are several in Southeast Pa? And that most share a communal plan around a central green and meeting hall, surrounded by cabins that were often originally tents? Many camp meetings were started by the Methodists in the mid-19th century, such as Con-cord and Chester Heights Camp Meetings in Delaware County. Perkasie Camp Meeting, in Bucks Co. was non-denominational. Mt. Gretna, near Hershey, started as a Chautauqua; a camp meeting was then […]

7 PM  Reception, 7:30 PM Lecture This presentation highlights details from a study examining African American participation during the Valley Forge encampment of 1777 to 1778. Justin B. Clement brings their stories to life by sharing research from a Historic Resource Study funded by the National Park Service and facilitated through a cooperative agreement with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). For ticket purchase using Paypal/credit card, see below. How Many? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 @ $20 each +$1 handling

William L. Price was one of an influential group of architects working during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Philadelphia. Aside from his importance in the area of design based on Arts and Crafts Movement ideals, Price was one of the founders of an arts and crafts community, Rose Valley, outside of Philadelphia. In the decade that began with the design of Woodmont and ended with Yorklynne, William Price transitioned from a designer of suburban developer homes, notably in Wayne and Germantown, to an architect of mansions. The program will focus on the large houses of the decade, including […]

Jefferson’s Daughters by Catherine Kerrison is the remarkable untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s three daughters — two white and free, one black and enslaved — and the divergent paths they forged in a newly independent America. Thomas Jefferson had three daughters: Martha and Maria by his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, and Harriet by his slave Sally Hemings. Kerrison recounts the remarkable journey of these three women — and how their struggle to define themselves reflects both the possibilities and the limitations that resulted from the American Revolution. After the talk, Dr. Kerrison will sign copies of “Jefferson’s Daughters” which will be […]

In 2003, Doug Humes began leasing space for his law office in an old Bryn Mawr mansion.  His curiosity about the original owners, the Jacobs, sent him on a quest to find their story, and over the years he collected photos, genealogy, and stories on the family, and finally the Holy Grail was delivered to his office – a two volume set of wedding photos from the 1938 wedding of daughter Louise Jacobs to dashing pilot Hubbard Phelps.  Humes took the photos and added music to create a wedding video.  He will give an introduction to the Jacobs family, followed by […]

Philadelphia’s grand mansions and architectural treasures reflect its iconic status in American history, for each Greek Revival home and Corinthian column tells a compelling story of the people behind it. Historic Strawberry Mansion in North Philadelphia was home to Judge William Lewis, a Patriot who defended colonists accused of treason and was Aaron Burr’s defense lawyer. Socialite, millionaire and world-renowned art collector Henry McIlhenny made his home at Rittenhouse Square and left his art collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Famed architect Addison Mizner’s Spanish Colonial Revival house La Ronda brought the stark contrast of South Florida to Philadelphia. Author […]

The King of Prussia Inn (c. 1756), “The Sign of the King” welcomed visitors for almost 200 years, and may have been the source for the town receiving its name.  A day’s ride from Philadelphia, it was a meeting place for locals and for travelers alike, where the news of the day was discussed over a drink or a hearty meal. Learn how during the winter of 1777-78, the Inn was a popular haunt for both patriots and loyalists alike. Hear how the very location that created its popularity would eventually lead to its demise, first in 1952, when it was […]

Social change in America during the 1930’s brought about innovation in the design of domestic architecture.  Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries interpreted the new American lifestyle first into architectural theory, then design and finally built form. It was during this period that Wright’s first ‘USONIAN’ homes were built, incorporating “natural” materials and the latest advancements in construction technology. His revolutionary architecture rethought the traditional relationships between the private and public spaces in the home and recast them in forms that we still recognize today as ‘modern.’ This lecture will take a closer look at the unique design of the Suntop […]