Memorial Hall is a

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporat ...

building in the Centennial District of West

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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, ...

. Built as the art gallery for the

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

Centennial Exposition The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair to be held in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the ...

, it is the only major structure from that exhibition to survive. It subsequently housed the Pennsylvania Museum of Industrial Art (now the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

). Since October 18, 2008, the Hall has served as home to the

Please Touch Museum The Please Touch Museum is a children's museum located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The museum focuses on teaching children through interactive exhibits and special events, mostly aimed at children seven years ...

. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1976. The building is located west of the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river running northwest to southeast in eastern Pennsylvania. The river was improved by navigations into the Schuylkill Canal, and several of its tributaries drain major parts of Pennsylvania's Coal Region. It fl ...

, at the corner of East Memorial Hall Drive and the Avenue of the Republic.

History

Memorial Hall was designed by Herman J. Schwarzman, and is an early example of monumental

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...

in the United States. Schwarzman, the chief engineer of the

Fairmount Park Commission Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

, also designed the temporary Horticultural Hall for the Exposition. The building cost $1.5 million to construct and was made without wood, making it fireproof, which was innovative for the time. The exterior is finished with granite and the interior is decorated with marble and ornamental plaster. The building is by with basement and ground floor, and tall at the top of the building's most distinctive feature, an iron and glass

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

. Surmounting the dome is the statue of Columbia (the poetic symbol of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) holding a laurel branch. At the corners of the dome stand four statues symbolizing industry, commerce, agriculture and mining. Memorial Hall was the inspiration for the

Reichstag building The Reichstag (, ; officially: – ; en, Parliament) is a historic government building in Berlin which houses the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament. It was constructed to house the Imperial Diet (german: Reichstag) of the ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Vestibule, Memorial Hall, by Centennial Photographic Co

Centennial Exposition

Construction of the hall began on 6 July 1874 and was completed for the opening ceremonies on 10 May 1876. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

dedicated the building with a

ribbon-cutting ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. The President was joined by both Houses of Congress, and Supreme Court, and the Emperor

Pedro II of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...

to kick off the event. Nearly 10 million visitors walked through Memorial Hall during the exhibition that lasted from May to November. Memorial Hall was designed to house the Centennial Exposition's art exhibits. The exposition received so many art contributions that a separate annex was built to house them all. Another building was built for the display of

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

. The hall was one of over two hundred buildings constructed on the property of

to display exhibits.

After the Exposition

Memorial Hall reopened in 1877 as the museum portion of the

Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), also referred to as the School of Applied Art, was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on February 26, 1876, as both a museum and teaching institution. This was in response to t ...

. The building closed in 1928 when the

opened on the

Benjamin Franklin Parkway Benjamin Franklin Parkway, commonly abbreviated to Ben Franklin Parkway and colloquially called the Parkway, is a boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia. Named for founding father Benjamin Franklin, the mile-long Parkway c ...

. The Fairmount Park Commission took over the building in 1958 where it made its offices. The hall was used as a police station for a period of time and has also housed a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium and a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

in its wings. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 8, 1976. The building had fallen into great disrepair by 2000 and was used mainly for art storage. The Fairmount Park Commission sought a new tenant to help restore the building to its former glory. The

signed an eighty-year lease for the building in 2005 and began extensive renovations.

Key Events and Usage

Philadelphia Orchestra recordings

In the 1980s and 1990s, the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

made a number of recordings in a basketball court in Memorial Hall under the batons of

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti, (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He currently holds two music directorships, at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and at the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale ...

and

Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch (26 August 1923 – 22 February 2013) was a German conductor and pianist. Biography Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Munich, the son of Maria and Wilhelm Sawallisch. His father was director of the Hamburg-Bremer-Feuerversich ...

. Memorial Hall was used because the Academy of Music, the orchestra's home at the time, was considered not

resonant Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscilla ...

enough.

Richie Ashburn viewing

In September 1997, a viewing for former

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

baseball player and long-time broadcaster

Richie Ashburn Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. (Some sources give his ...

was held shortly after his death from a heart attack in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Several hundred thousand people mourned his death as they walked by his casket in the Grand Hall.

Please Touch Museum

In 2005, the

began an $85-million renovation to convert it into its new home. The museum opened its doors to the public on October 18, 2008. Memorial Hall's eastern lawn serves as the home field for

Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia is a vintage base ball team based in Philadelphia, which plays by 1864 National Association Rules. Athletic is a member of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Base Ball League, competing in the Eastern Division. The cl ...

, a

vintage base ball Vintage base ball is baseball presented as if being played by rules and customs from an earlier period in the sport's history. Games are typically played using rules and uniforms from the 19th century. Vintage base ball is not only a competiti ...

team which plays by 1864 rules.

Gallery

File:Memorial hall and annex ground floor plan.jpg, Ground plan of Art Gallery and Annex (1876). File:Art Gallery and Memorial Hall, March 7, by Centennial Photographic Co..jpg, Nearing completion (March 7, 1876). Image:Memorial Hall%2C Phila new.jpg, East facade File:HABS PA,51-PHILA,265B-20.jpg, Southwest vestibule File:Memorial Hall rotunda.jpg, Rotunda File:L winged horse Philly.jpg, Statue near entrance File:Beaux-arts doorway at memorial hall.jpg, Beaux-Arts doorway

References

Notes

External links

*
Memorial Hall
- a walking tour by the Independence Hall Association *\
International Exhibition of 1876 Memorial Hall
at the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project, The

Athenaeum of Philadelphia The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located at 219 S. 6th Street between St. James Place and Locust Street in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library and museum founded in 1814 to collect materials ...

Fairmount Park Commission page (archive)
{{Authority control Historic American Buildings Survey in Philadelphia Buildings and structures completed in 1876 Beaux-Arts architecture in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania World's fair architecture in Pennsylvania Centennial Exposition Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Art galleries established in 1876 West Fairmount Park West Philadelphia 1876 establishments in Pennsylvania