Celebrating National Historic Preservation Month
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May is National Historic Preservation Month.
To celebrate, the Preservation Alliance asked 31 historic preservation leaders in Philadelphia to name a building that has inspired them and why. We invite you to watch this space daily and hear from leaders in the local preservation movement as they reveal the historic buildings that have inspired them.
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John Carr
The Sedgeley Porter's House
3250 Sedgley Drive,
Fairmount Park, Philadelphia
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The preservation and adaptive reuse of Sedgeley Porter’s House in Fairmount Park was my first professional project after finishing graduate school through the University of Pennsylvania’s Historic Preservation Program. Built as an outbuilding to Sedgeley Mansion in 1799 and designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, the porter’s house is Latrobe’s only remaining work in Philadelphia today. The property was purchased by the City of Philadelphia in 1857, and the porter’s house was later expanded to become the headquarters for the Fairmount Park Guards. The original Gothic windows were replicated in the expansion, but the porch brackets and chimney pots were added as the building adapted to its new use that endured until 1971. The renovation of the structure began in the 1990s when the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust took residence in the building.
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Left:
Sedgeley Guard House, Once the Porter's Lodge of the Beautiful Sedgeley Mansion.
Undated photograph by William Cramond, Free Library of Philadelphia
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Right:
Sedgeley Porter's House,
photo by Fairmount Park Conservancy.
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The Sedgeley Porter’s House project took several years to complete and required the efforts of many people with whom I continue to work today. Funded by the William B. Dietrich Foundation, the project taught me the flexibility, collaboration, and perseverance that is fundamental to endure and adapt in the professional preservation community.
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John Carr
President, Materials Conservation LLC and Vice Chair of the Preservation Alliance Board of Directors
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NEW VIRTUAL LECTURES
Watch from the safety and
comfort of your own home!
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TONIGHT -- Tuesday, May 5, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Olympia, Icon of the Navy
Presented by John Brady
During thirty-three years as an active naval vessel
Olympia
came to symbolize both the glories of nationalism and their price.
Olympia
played a part in many of the events that came to define the 20
th
century, the battle of Manila Bay, WWI, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the introduction of radio to the Navy to name a few. The wide variety of roles she played made her a symbol of the Navy itself and now makes her one of the most important historic sites in the country with lessons to teach us on subjects ranging from guerilla conflicts to pandemics.
John Brady is President and CEO of the Independence Seaport Museum, the stewards of
Olympia
, and will lead us through a discussion of why this ship matters now, 125 years after her first commissioning.
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Wednesday, May 6, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Yesterday's Aftermath: Philadelphia's Epidemics and the Built Environment
Presented by The Carpenter's Company of the City and County of Philadelphia and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
Join us for this FREE event as Inga Saffron moderates a discussion on the impact of Philadelphia's epidemics on the built environment.
The Carpenters' Company and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia present Inga Saffron in discussion with David Barnes, Jane E. Boyd and George Wohlreich on the history of Philadelphia's epidemics.
Inga Saffron writes architectural criticism for The Philadelphia Inquirer. This panel is inspired by her March column "Philadelphia Has Endured Plagues Before. It Adapted and Became a Better Place." Saffron has maintained her column in the Inquirer's "Home and Design" section since 1999 and has written for the Inquirer since 1984.
- David Barnes, PhD, is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Jane E. Boyd, PhD, is an independent exhibit developer and was the historical curator for the Mütter Museum's recent exhibit "Spit Spreads Death: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 in Philadelphia."
- George Wohlreich, MD, MA, is President and CEO of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
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Tuesday, May 12, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Boathouse Row: Untold Stories of a Philadelphia Icon
Presented by Dotty Brown
Digging into 150 years of archives for her book,
Boathouse Row, Waves of Change in the Birthplace of American Rowing
, Dotty Brown, a former editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, discovered quirky and fascinating stories behind the façade of these 19
th
century houses. She will reveal some of them, including: how one of Philadelphia’s best known architects came to build on Boathouse Row; its ties with two of the city’s 19
th
century firehouses; why Thomas Eakins’ early work focused on rowers; and the battle women fought for a house of their own in the all-male venue. Dotty blogs about the Row and its history on her website:
www.BoathouseRowTheBook.com
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Tuesday, May 19, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Art Deco in Philadelphia
Presented by Dr. David Brownlee
,
Frances Shapiro-Weitzenhoffer Professor of 19th Century European Art,
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia contributed an exhilarating chapter to the history of "Art Deco," the colorful, invented modern style that offered an exciting alternative to the austere functionalism in the 1920s and 30s. The quintessential style of the Jazz Age, Art Deco brought brilliant color to the decoration of the Art Museum, introduced exotic motifs (including Mayan and Spanish Colonial) to the city's new skyscrapers, and contributed zig-zagging ornament to our radio stations and "automat" restaurants. It was also one of the components of the brilliant stylistic synthesis created by George Howe and William Lescaze in the era's greatest landmark, the PSFS Building.
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