Woodward, Blanche Wendell (d. 1895)
Blanche Wendell Woodward (d. 1895) was married to Dr. Joseph Janvier Woodward (1833-1884), the Civil War surgeon who participated in the autopsies of Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth and attended President Garfield. Woodward was a shareholder in the Athenaeum from 1839-1879.
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2011.32.01
Woodhouse, Thomas Roberts (1821-1885)
Thomas Roberts Woodhouse (born c.1821) served on the Board of Directors of the Athenaeum, from 1869 until his death in 1885. Woodhouse, who lived at 1111 Walnut Street, was a supporter of Philadelphia's hospitals, churches, and charities. He was a member of the St. Andrews Society, founded in 1749 by men of Scottish birth or descent for the relief of their "poor and distressed countrymen."
The portrait is signed and dated by Edward Bowers (c.1822-c.1865), a Maryland-born artist. Living in Philadelphia from 1854 to 1858, Bowers participated in the exhibitions at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Bowers, Edward
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1939.02..01
Vezin, Emilie Kalisky (1803-1858)
Wife of Charles Vezin.
1835-1840
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2001.M07.02
Vezin, Charles (1782-1853)
Charles Vezin was extremely influential in the development of chess in Philadelphia. He came to the United States from France in 1813; and for over twenty years, Vezin conducted an informal chess "school" with his friend Henry Vethake, a chess prodigy. The school was held in the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and produced many talented chess players. Students of Charles Vezin were sometimes known as "Men of the Athenaeum." Charles Vezin became a stockholder of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia in 1815. He was an ancestor of the donor.
1835-1840
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2001.M07.01
Vaux, Roberts (1786-1836)
Roberts Vaux (1786-1836) was a successful Philadelphia businessman, politician and philanthropist. He was a moving force among Philadelphia Quakers behind the change of penology, inventing the concept of correctional institutions. He was a founder and early director (first Treasurer) of the Athenæum.
Inman, Henry (attributed)
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1999.M05.01
Vaux, George, X (1908-1996)
George Vaux (1908-1996) became a member of the Athenaeum in 1947 and was elected President of the Board of Directors in 1965 a position he held until a few months prior to his death in 1996. During the Vaux administration, the Athenaeum building was restored, expanded, the institution given new direction as a special collections library with museum collections. This portrait was presented to the Athenaeum at the 178th Annual Meeting in April, 1993.
Kennedy, Stephen
1993
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1993.M01.01
Vaux, Anne Hawks (1913-1978)
Anne Hawks Vaux (1913-1978) was closely associated with the Athenaeum for many years. Her husband, George Vaux, served as President of the Board of Directors from 1965 to 1996. The Vaux family’s Athenaeum connections date back to the institution’s founding: lawyer and abolitionist Roberts Vaux held Share #3 from 1814 to 1836.
Page, Marie Danforth
1929
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2012.30.01
Stork, Charles Wharton (1881-1971)
Charles Wharton Stork (1881-1971) was a Philadelphia born poet and dramatist educated at Haverford College (A.B., 1902), Harvard (M.A., 1903) and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D., 1905). From 1903-1916 he taught in the English department at the University of Pennsylvania. For the next twenty years Wharton, as he was called, devoted his time to private literary endeavors, translating and editing verse and writing poetry, plays, critical essays, book reviews and fiction, in addition to lecturing and poetry reading. From 1935-1951 he taught again, this time at Harcum Junior College in Bryn Mawr, and continued writing and publishing until the 1960's. He served on the Athenaeum Board of Directors from 1919-1968.
Oakley, Violet
1943
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1972.42.01
Smith, Lydia Leaming (1789-1869)
Lydia Leaming, the daughter of Thomas Leaming and Rebecca Fisher, was born in Philadelphia in 1789. In 1808, Lydia married James Somers Smith, a prominent Philadelphia attorney who served on the Board of Directors of the Athenaeum from 1826 to 1831. The couple had six children and it was at some point well into their marriage, that Henry Inman was commissioned to paint his portrait of Lydia Leaming Smith.
Inman, Henry
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2011.36.02
Scott, John Morin (1858-1945)
Son of Lewis Allaire Scott (1819-1896)
Grandson of John Morin Scott, mayor of Philadelphia during 1840's riots, who lived on Washington Square and was an Athenaeum shareholder (Share #181) from 1816-1863.
Married Anna F. Barker
Oct. 8, 1923-Elected Vice President of the Athenaeum
Oct. 14, 1924-Selected to present the Athenaeum address to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.
Dec. 21, 1925-ELected President of Athenaeum at special meeting to succeed George Harrison Fosher on his death.
Hopkins, Kendle
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1954.01.01
Paul, Comegys (1785-1851)
Comegys Paul was a shareholder of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia (share certificate #364 - December 19, 1820)
1835 (circa)
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2010.25.01
Mease, Dr. James (1771-1846)
Dr. James Mease (1771-1846) was a prominent Philadelphia physician, scientist and author with wide-ranging intellectual interests. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1792; served as a hospital surgeon during the War of 1812; corresponded regularly with notable figures in the United States and abroad; and published on topics including medicine, agriculture and geology. In 1814 he published the first-known ketchup recipe to include a tomato base, effectively transforming the sauce that had previously existed in various forms to the now familiar condiment.
Dr. Mease was a member of the American Philosophical Society and the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, and a founding member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. In 1814 he helped found the Athenaeum of Philadelphia; among the original 139 charter shareholders, Dr. Mease held share number 7, and served as the Athenaeum’s first vice-president.
In 1800, Dr. Mease married Sarah Butler, the daughter of South Carolina Senator Pierce Butler. They had two sons who later changed their last names from Mease to Butler as a prerequisite for inheriting their grandfather Senator Butler’s vast fortune. One of the sons, Pierce Butler, married the renowned English stage actress Fanny Kemble.
Dr. James Mease died in Philadelphia in 1846.
Attributed to John Neagle
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2018.11.02
Lewis, Howard W. (1854-1940)
Howard W. Lewis was a member of the Athenaeum Board of Directors for fifty-two years, serving as Treasurer from 1888 to 1926 and as Vice President from 1926 until his death in 1940. A banker by profession, Lewis was also a philanthropist, historian, and sports enthusiast. This portrait was acquired in 1949 by bequest of Lewis's widow, Mabel Potter Lewis, who also served on the Athenæum Board of Directors. Molarsky, born 1885 in Kiev, emigrated to Philadelphia where he became a student at the School of Industrial Arts. An accomplished portrait and still life painter, he won many awards, including a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco (1915), a gold medal from the Art Club of Philadelphia (1919), and a silver medal at the Sesqui-Centennial Exposition (1926).
Molarsky, Maurice
1936 (circa)
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1949.02.01
Lewis, Hon. Edwin O. (1879-1974)
Edwin O. Lewis (1879-1974) was a long-time member of the Athenaeum and its President from 1950 to 1955. Born in Richmond, VA, Lewis came to Philadelphia at the age of eighteen to attend the University Of Pennsylvania Law School. In 1923 he was elected Judge of Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas, a position he held for thirty-four years.
Lewis's distinguished record of public service is highlighted by his efforts to restore the Independence Hall area. He was the leader of the drive which created both Independence Mall and the Independence National Historical Park in the 1950s. The Mall's Lewis Quadrangle and the Lewis fountain were named for him.
In this portrait, by Agnes Allen (b. 1897), Lewis holds the Independence Mall blueprints. A native Philadelphian, Allen specialized in portraiture; she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Barnes Foundation. Frame is an early 20th-century reproduction, installed in 2001.
Allen, Agnes
1959 (circa)
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1959.03.01
Leaming, Lydia (1789-1869)
Lydia Leaming, the daughter of Thomas Leaming and Rebecca Fisher, was born in Philadelphia in 1789. In 1806, Lydia’s mother commissioned artist Thomas Sully to paint a portrait of her 17 year old daughter.
Sully, Thomas
1806
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2011.36.01
Carr, Benjamin (1768-1831)
Benjamin Carr was born in England and received a good musical education in London. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1793. There he opened a music store and promoted music. He was a publisher, editor, organist, pianist, singer, composer, teacher and conductor, as well as one of the founding members of the Musical Fund Society in 1820. He was also a member of the Atheneaum. Carr never married. When he died he was living at 72 South Fifth St.
Darley, Jane Cooper (nee Sully) or John Clarendon Darley
1831
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1957.02.01
Busch, Henry Paul (1873-1942)
Mr. Busch (1873-1942) was President of the Welcome Society at the time Pennsbury Manor was reconstructed, thus the reason the artist included that house in the background.
The Athenaeum reading room is named in Mr. Busch's honor. It was dedicated on April 6, 1992, by Mrs. deHellebranth--member of the Athenaeum board of directors, Mr. Busch's daughter, and the donor of the renovation funds.
Schule, Clifford Hamilton
1992 (circa)
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1992.M01.01
Burt, Mary (d.1908)
Mary Burt (d. 1908) was the niece of William Lehman whose legacy of $10,000 in 1829 provided the funds to construct this building. This three-quarter length portrait was painted by Bernard Uhle (1847-1929) in 1891.
Born in Chemitz, Saxony, Uhle emigrated with his family to Philadelphia in 1851 and at the age of fifteen became a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He opened a portrait studio in Philadelphia in 1877 and later became an instructor at the Academy (1886-1890). It was soon after this time that Uhle became a recluse. He lived alone (with seven cats) for nearly a quarter century. Uhle was presumed dead until 1915, when he suddenly reappeared to present a painting ordered twenty-three years before.
Uhle, Bernard
1891
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1970.01.01
Bird, Henry
Henry Bird (1803-1864), served as Secretary and sixth Librarian of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia from 1859 until his death in 1864. He was the husband of Eleanor Blaney Bird (1806-1888).
Sully, Thomas (attributed)
1830 (circa)
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2002.M02.01
Biddle, Nicholas (1786-1844)
Legislator and financier Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844) was a member of the prominent Biddle family of Philadelphia, whose ancestors came to America with William Penn. A child prodigy, Biddle graduated from Princeton at the age of 15. He spent several years traveling throughout Europe, and served as secretary to James Monroe, then the US minister to Great Britain. Upon returning to the United States in 1807, Biddle practiced law, edited the literary magazine Port Folio, and helped edit the Lewis and Clark expedition journals for publication.
Biddle belonged to many Philadelphia civic organizations, among them: the Athenaeum of Philadelphia (which he helped found in 1814), the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture. Additionally, Biddle served as President of the Girard College Board of Trustees and was instrumental in fulfilling Stephen Girard’s vision of building a school for poor orphaned boys.
As a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Biddle advocated for the reestablishment of a national bank. In 1816, the second Bank of the United States was chartered, and in 1819, Monroe, now president of the United States, appointed Biddle to the board of directors of the Bank. In 1822 Biddle became president of the Bank, serving in that role until 1839, when it became increasingly clear that President Andrew Jackson’s refusal to renew the Bank’s charter all but guaranteed the Bank’s failure. The Bank ultimately closed in 1841.
Throughout his career, Biddle often took respite at his country residence known as Andalusia. In 1811 Biddle had married Jane Craig, and in 1814 obtained her parents’ large house located 14 miles north of Philadelphia overlooking the Delaware River. He commissioned architect Thomas Ustick Walter (who had designed Girard College) to transform the existing Craig house into a Greek Revival masterpiece. Biddle applied his lifelong interest in the arts, architecture, and experimental agriculture to develop the home and gardens into a stately and serene estate. Today, Andalusia is a National Historic Landmark open to visitors.
Nicholas Biddle died at Andalusia in 1844 at the age of 58.
Circle of Thomas Sully
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2018.11.01
Armatt, Jane Caroline (1798-1856)
Born in the autumn of 1798, the younger of two daughters, Jane Caroline Armat was raised in the newly built family home of Loudon in Germantown, Philadelphia. By the age of 11, Jane and her sister Sara were left solely in the care of their grandparents following the death of their mother and father within just three years of each other.
At the age of 21, in 1819, Jane married her cousin William Armatt with whom she had two daughters. It was in the early years of their marriage that the artist Henry Inman is believed to have painted this portrait of Jane.
Inman, who had established himself as one of the prominent portraitists in New York City by 1829, was also credited with the first successful attempt of genre painting by an American-born artist. His somewhat Romanticised style is perhaps what first appealed to Jane when commissioning this portrait, however it is thought that Jane Caroline Armatt and Henry Inman were good friends too. Their friendship lasted long after the passing of William Armatt in 1822 as Inman is also attributed to painting two later portraits of Jane and her second husband, James Skerrett, an Athenaeum shareholder, after their marriage in 1825.
Inman, Henry (attributed). Alternate attribution: Jacob Eichholtz.
1820 (circa)
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2017.01.01