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Athenaeum of Philadelphia

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The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located at 219 S. 6th Street between St. James Place and Locust Street in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library and museum founded in 1814. The Athenaeum's purpose, according to its organizational principles, is to collect materials "connected with the history and antiquities of America, and the useful arts, and generally to disseminate useful knowledge" for public benefit.[3]

Athenaeum of Philadelphia
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia in 2024
Map
Location219 S. 6th St.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates39°56′49″N 75°09′03″W / 39.946871°N 75.150956°W / 39.946871; -75.150956
ArchitectJohn Notman
Public transit accessBus transport SEPTA bus: 9, 21, 42
Athenaeum of Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia
Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Athenaeum of Philadelphia is located in Pennsylvania
Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Athenaeum of Philadelphia is located in the United States
Athenaeum of Philadelphia
Built1845
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No.72001144
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 1, 1972[1]
Designated NHLDecember 8, 1976[2]

The Athenaeum's collections include architecture and interior design history, particularly for the period 1800 to 1945. The institution focuses on the history of American architecture and building technology, and houses architectural archives of 180,000 drawings, over 350,000 photographs, and manuscript holdings of about 1,000 American architects.[3]

Since 1950, the Athenaeum has sponsored the annual Athenaeum Literary Award for works of fiction and non-fiction.

Historic building

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The Athenaeum's staircase in 1972
 
The Anthenauem's façade in September 2017

The building was designed in 1845 by architect John Notman in the Italianate style, and was one of the first buildings in the city to be built of brownstone,[3] although it was originally planned to be faced in marble. Brownstone was used because it was cheaper.[4] Notman's design was influenced by the work of the English architect Charles Barry.[4]

The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976, as one of the nation's first examples of a building with a palazzo-style facade, and for its historic importance as an educational institution.[2][5] It is presently a museum furnished with American fine and decorative arts from the first half of the 19th century.

On the right of the athenaeum is the house of Richardson Dilworth, the Mayor of Philadelphia from 1956 to 1962.

Integration with Penn Libraries

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In 2019, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia entered into an agreement with the libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to integrate their two collections, giving borrowing privilege to each other's patrons and making the Athenaeum's collection, which is focused on architecture, the built environment, and the decorative arts, searchable in Penn's online catalog. [6]

Athenaeum Literary Award

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The Athenaeum Literary Award is a literary award presented by Athenaeum of Philadelphia since 1950. It is awarded to authors who are "bona fide residents of Philadelphia or Pennsylvania living within a radius of 30 miles of City Hall".[7] Eligible works are of general fiction or non-fiction; technical, scientific, and juvenile books are not included.[7] The award was established in 1950 by Charles Wharton Stork (1881–1971), who was a board member of the Athenaeum from 1919 until 1968.[7]

Recipients

Source: Athenaeum Literary Award previous winners (1949–present)[8]

1940s

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  • 1949
    • John L. Lamonte, The World of the Middle Ages

1950s

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1960s

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1970s

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1980s

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1990s

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2000s

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  • 2000
    • Susan Sidlauskas, Body, Place, and Self in Nineteenth-Century Painting
    • Patricia Tyson Stroud, The Emperor of Nature; Charles-Lucien Bonaparte and His World
    • George E. Thomas, William L. Price; Arts and Crafts to Modern Design
    • Ben Yagoda, About Town; The New Yorker and the World It Made
  • 2001
    • No award.
  • 2002
    • Jane Golden, Robin Rice & Monica Yant Kinney, Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell
    • Charlene Mires, Independence Hall in American Memory
  • 2003
    • Jack Repcheck, The Man Who Found Time
  • 2004
  • 2005
  • 2006
    • David Traxel, Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War, 1898–1920
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009
    • Richard Beeman, Plain, Honest Men: The Making of The American Constitution

2010s

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  • 2010
    • Robin Black, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This: Stories
    • Stephen Fried, Appetite For America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the West
  • 2011
    • No award.
  • 2012
    • Liz Moore, Heft: A Novel
    • Steven Ujifusa, A Man and His Ship: America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the S. S. United States
    • Robert McCracken Peck and Patricia Tyson Stroud, A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science
  • 2013
    • Adrian Raine, The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime
    • George H. Marcus and William Whitaker, The Houses of Louis Kahn
  • 2014
    • Jessica Choppin Roney, Governed By A Spirit of Opposition
  • 2015
    • David Grazian, American Zoo: A Sociological Safari
    • Barbara Miller Lane, Houses for a New World: Builders and Buyers in American Suburbs
  • 2016
  • 2017
    • Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Never Caught: the Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge
    • Carol Eaton Soltis, The Art of the Peales in the Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • 2018
    • Madeline Miller, Circe
    • Patrick Spero, Frontier Rebels: the Fight for Independence in the American West, 1765-1776
  • 2019

2020s

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  • 2020
    • Michele Harper, The Beauty in Breaking
    • Lynn Miller and Therese Dolan, Salut! France Meets Philadelphia
  • 2021
  • 2022
    • Will Bunch, After the Ivory Tower Falls
    • John Lobell, The Philadelphia School and the Future of Architecture
    • Laura Wolf-Powers, University City: History, Race, and Community in the Era of the Innovation District
  • 2023
    • David Amadio, Rug Man
    • David S. Barnes. Lazaretto

See also

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References

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Notes

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Athenaeum". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved February 16, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c "Mission and History" Archived 2013-01-07 at the Wayback Machine on the Athenaeum of Philadelphia website
  4. ^ a b Gallery, John Andrew, ed. (2004), Philadelphia Architecture: A Guide to the City (2nd ed.), Philadelphia: Foundation for Architecture, ISBN 0962290815, p.51
  5. ^ Carolyn Pitts (July 29, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: the Athenaeum of Philadelphia" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 6 photos, exterior and interior, from 1951, 1971, and undated (32 KB)
  6. ^ Salisbury, Stephan (February 14, 2019). "Penn Libraries and venerable Philadelphia Athenaeum form bookish alliance". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Athenaeum Literary Award Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine, official website.
  8. ^ "Athenaeum Literary Award previous winners (1949-present)". Athenaeum of Philadelphia. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2017.
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