The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks (aka Landmarks) founded in 1931, maintains and preserves four historic house museums in the region around
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. These are:
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Grumblethorpe
Grumblethorpe, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the home of the Wister family, who lived there for over 160 years. It was built in 1744 as a summer residence, but it became the family's year-round residence in 1793. It is a museum ...
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Hill-Physick-Keith House
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Powel House
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Waynesborough
Waynesborough, also known as the Gen. Anthony Wayne House, is a historic house museum at 2049 Waynesborough Road in Easttown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Built in 1724 and repeatedly enlarged, it was for many years the home of America ...
These are open for the education and enjoyment of the public and its members.
History
The Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks has played a significant role in the historic preservation movement in Philadelphia by restoring, furnishing and presenting to the public its distinguished house museums.
Landmarks has an interesting history of its own. In 1931, roused by the news that the historic Powel House was to be demolished in six weeks,
Frances Anne Wister and
Sophia Cadwalader and a group of strong supporters (including famous names like Biddle, Barnes, Curtis and Lippincott) founded Landmarks to save the house. The newly formed Landmarks was successful despite the economic depression of the time and within another ten years had acquired
Grumblethorpe
Grumblethorpe, in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the home of the Wister family, who lived there for over 160 years. It was built in 1744 as a summer residence, but it became the family's year-round residence in 1793. It is a museum ...
in
Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
United States
* Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County
* Ge ...
. In the late 1960s, Ambassador and Mrs.
Walter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg (March 13, 1908 – October 1, 2002) was an American businessman, investor, philanthropist, and diplomat. Annenberg owned and operated Triangle Publications, which included ownership of ''The Philadelphia Inquirer' ...
restored the stately
Hill-Physick-Keith House and then donated the house to Landmarks. In 1981, Landmarks entered into an agreement with Easttown Township in
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53 ...
to administer Historic Waynesborough.
Today, Landmarks carries on the vision of Miss Wister by managing the four house museums and bringing thousands of visitors and schoolchildren each year to learn about
Philadelphia's history.
For the last decade Landmarks has served as the sponsor in the Philadelphia Region for the world-renowned Road Scholar program (formerly known as ''Elderhostel''). On average each year, Landmarks Road Scholar Program attracts over 2,000 visitors to the Philadelphia Region to enjoy its many historical and cultural resources. Landmarks Road Scholar ranks 20th out of a total of 638 sponsors around the world. Landmarks is a major supporter of the
Philadelphia Orchestra,
Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia Flower Show
The Philadelphia Flower Show is an annual event produced by The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and traditionally held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in early March. It is the oldest and largest indoo ...
and The Barnes Foundation among others through its purchase of admission tickets to these fine organizations. Accounting for over $500,000 in purchases of hotel rooms and services throughout the region, Landmarks Road Scholar plays a significant role in the Philadelphia Region's tourism economy.
Landmarks Contemporary Projects
For over eighty years, the Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks has played a significant role in the historic preservation movement in Philadelphia by restoring, furnishing and presenting to the public its four distinguished house museums: Grumblethorpe, Physick House, Powel House and Waynesborough. While remaining committed to preserving and interpreting the past, Landmarks is moving into the future with a renewed mission to expand beyond business-as-usual, explore new conceptual territories, create new collaborations and make its houses relevant to today's audiences. To that end, working with founding curator
Robert Wuilfe, the organization in 2006 created a new program called
Landmarks Contemporary Projects.
Landmarks Contemporary Projects is a program of exhibitions, residencies, screenings, lectures, performances and educational strategies that is bringing new and experimental contemporary culture from Philadelphia and beyond to historic sites. Landmarks Contemporary Projects tries to provide a thoughtful alternative for audiences, creative opportunities for artists and new partnerships with other organizations. The core of the program is an exhibition/residency program in which Landmarks invites artists to explore and react to its properties and collections and create site-specific installations. By providing an experimental atmosphere in which artists are free to create new work and question basic assumptions of historical preservation, Landmarks hopes to stimulate discourse and challenge accepted approaches to both house-museums and contemporary art.
To date, Landmarks Contemporary Projects has offered opportunities to a wide range of emerging and established artists. Projects thus far have included:
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Megawords
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Candy Depew
*An ongoing partnership with Bowerbird
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David Gatten
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Roxana Perez-Mendez
Roxana (c. 340 BC – 310 BC, grc, Ῥωξάνη; Old Iranian: ''*Raṷxšnā-'' "shining, radiant, brilliant"; sometimes Roxanne, Roxanna, Rukhsana, Roxandra and Roxane) was a Sogdian or a Bactrian princess whom Alexander the Great married af ...
*
Karen Kilimnik
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Caitlin Perkins
Caitlin () is a female given name of Irish origin. Historically, the Irish name Caitlín was anglicized as Cathleen or Kathleen. In the 1970s, however, non-Irish speakers began pronouncing the name according to English spelling rules as , which ...
*
Zoe Cohen
Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to:
*ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life"
People
* Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
Film and television
* ''Zoe'' (film)
* ZOE Broadcast ...
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Virginia Maksymowicz
Virginia Maksymowicz (born February 19, 1952) is an American artist whose sculptural installations incorporate a variety of media. She lives in Philadelphia, PA and is married to artist-photographer, Blaise Tobia.
Early life and education
Maksy ...
*
Michelle Wilson
Michelle may refer to:
People
*Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael
* Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle"
* Michelle (German singer)
* Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish wi ...
*
Caroline Lathan-Stiefel
Caroline may refer to:
People
*Caroline (given name), a feminine given name
* J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player
* Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player
Places Antarctica
* ...
*
Phuong X. Pham
*
Marie H. Elcin
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J. Makary
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Nadia Hironaka and Matthew Suib
Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both.
In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...
See also
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External links
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Landmarks Contemporary ProjectsFrederick James's 1881 painting, ''Mischianza'', showing Grumblethorpe
{{Coord, 39.94409, -75.14826, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title
Heritage organizations
Organizations based in Pennsylvania
Organizations based in Philadelphia
History of Philadelphia
*Society for the Preservation of Landmarks
Society for the Preservation of Landmarks
1931 establishments in Pennsylvania
Organizations established in 1931