Permission to reproduce material from Athenaeum collections must be granted in writing and is at the discretion of The Athenaeum staff. All permission is granted on a per-use basis. Images may not be altered (aside from cropping) without special permission. The user of supplied reproductions assumes all responsibilities for citing sources properly, and using images in conformity with existing copyright laws, and may be required to supply The Athenaeum with a copy of any publication or project in which the images appear. The Athenaeum reserves the right to refuse to reproduce any item in its collections.
For information on ordering reproductions of Athenaeum drawings, please see http://www.philaathenaeum.org/rights.html.
Philadelphia-born church architect Charles M. Burns was the son of Charles M. and Eliza Van Dyke (Rousseau) Burns. Although he entered the University of Pennsylvania in the Class of 1859 as a second-semester freshman, his academic career was finished by the end of his junior year when he volunteered for Civil War action. By 1862 Burns was in battle at Mobile, AL with Admiral Farragut; he would return with Farragut to New Orleans in 1864. Therefore, although city directory listings for Burns commence in 1863, it is doubtful that Burns would have returned to Philadelphia before 1865. Once he did return to Philadelphia, he launched a distinguished architectural career, with a specialty in ecclesiastic buildings, especially Protestant Episcopal churches.
While managing a steadily growing practice, Burns still attempted to further his own education by enrolling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1876. His own talents were soon recognized, however; and by 1879 he had left off his own student activities in order to become a member of the faculty of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, with responsibility for "Theory and Practice of Freehand Drawing and Design." According to artist Joseph Pennell, who attended Burns's class and wrote a memorial article (really more a diatribe against Philadelphia) after Burns's death, "If he found that you could accept [his criticism], his interest in you was endless and tireless. But if you did not, the heavy black eyebrows and bristling black mustache, with the flaming red necktie underneath, passed you by -- and that was worse than anything." After this stint at the PMSI, Burns would continue as instructor of drawing at Haverford College through 1885.
Burns was among the first group of architects proposed for membership in the Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA in 1870 and later served as treasurer for the group. Widely known as a portrait painter of some distinction and as a watercolorist, he exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876; and his architectural drawings appeared in exhibitions at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1887, 1888, 1890, 1892 and 1894. After his retirement to Camden, NJ, Burns passed some of his ecclesiastical work along to Henry Macomb.
On 21 April 1870 Burns was elected an associate member of the AIA, but his membership "lapsed" in October 1875, according to the bulletin published for the 17th Annual Convention of the AIA (1883).
Letter to Virginia Camden from Pvt. Walter Dietrich, Jan. 16, 1919
Letter to Virginia Camden from Pvt. Walter Dietrich, Feb. 3, 1919
Letter to Virginia Camden from Pvt. Walter Dietrich, April 16, 1919
Permission to reproduce material from Athenaeum collections must be granted in writing and is at the discretion of The Athenaeum staff. All permission is granted on a per-use basis. Images may not be altered (aside from cropping) without special permission. The user of supplied reproductions assumes all responsibilities for citing sources properly, and using images in conformity with existing copyright laws, and may be required to supply The Athenaeum with a copy of any publication or project in which the images appear. The Athenaeum reserves the right to refuse to reproduce any item in its collections. For information on ordering reproductions of Athenaeum drawings, please see http://www.philaathenaeum.org/rights.html.
Ladies and Gentlemens Restaurant, Green's Hotel
Receipt from Drs. H.A. and C.H. Arnold, Dr.
Elephant Hotel, an old landmark on the beach
Postcard to Miss Elizabeth Snader from Ruth
College Hall, University of Pennsylvania
Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, Pennsylvania State Building
Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, Palace of Agriculture and Fashions
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Pylons of the Original Colonies
Sequi-Centennial International Exhibition, View of Grounds Taken from Airplane
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, One of the Thirteen State Columns
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Light Effect, Double Aurora
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Treasure Island
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Palace of Liberal Arts
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Administration Building
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Auditorium
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Florida Building
Sesqui-Centennial International Exhibition, Japanese Tea Pavilion
Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition, Fine Arts Building
Scene in front of St Charles and Breakers Hotels, Showing Garden Pier
Postcard to Mr. E O Chamberlain from Florence
America's Leading Bands, Minstrels, Dancing, Photo Plays
Postcard to Mr. Otto Chamberlain from Nancy Smith
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.
Letter to Mrs. E.R. Camden re: Monro & Co. knitting yarns
Central City branch of the Philadelphia Saving Fund Society
One of the most influential forces in Philadelphia architecture during the early part of the twentieth century, Paul P. Cret was born in Lyons, France. He first studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Lyons; and there won the Paris Prize, which enabled him to move to Paris and attend the Ecole there as well as become a member of the Atelier supervised by Pascal. In 1903 when many schools of architecture in the United States were importing teachers from the Ecole, Cret was persuaded to move to Philadelphia and become a Professor of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, arriving in August 1903. Throughout his 34 year tenure, Cret trained many of the students graduating from the University's Department of Architecture and acted as patron of the T-Square Club Atelier; the Beaux-Arts stamp could be seen on the work of those students long after they had graduated and dispersed to various parts of the world.
In 1907 Cret, in partnership with Philadelphian Albert Kelsey, won the first of many national architectural competitions which he would enter, the design of the International Bureau of American Republics in Washington, DC (the Pan American Union). Before the first World War interrupted his career, Cret would participate in several other competitions, including the Robert Fulton Memorial Competition (1909: Third Place), the Perry Memorial Competition (1911: Third Place), and the Indianapolis Public Library (1914: First place, with Zantzinger, Borie & Medary).
Cret was in France when World War I broke out, and he simply remained there in the army for the next five years, returning to Philadelphia when he was discharged. At the end of his time in the service, Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt asked him to design a memorial to her son, Quentin, who had been killed in the War. This was designed in 1919 for a site at Chamery, France. For his work during the war, Cret was awarded the Croix de Guerre and made an officer in the Legion of Honor.
Upon his return from France, Cret was again engaged in an active practice combined with his teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. It was during this time that he designed his first bridge, the Delaware River Bridge in Philadelphia, on which he collaborated with engineer Ralph Modjeski. The 1920s were a thriving time for Cret's work and included work on the Detroit Institute of Arts (with Zantzinger, Borie & Medary), the Frankford War Memorial in Philadelphia, the Barnes Foundation Gallery, Merion, PA, and the Integrity Trust Co., Philadelphia. He was also called upon to use his planning skills for several major campus plans (Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and, later, the University of Texas at Austin).
In his capacity as Consulting Architect for the American Battle Monuments Commission from 1923 to 1945, Cret was in a role where he could affect the image of the United States which was projected abroad through the design of memorials, chapels, and cemeteries in honor of the dead of the first World War. He would continue in this capacity until his death and be followed in this position by his student and colleague John F. Harbeson.
Cret's firm flourished until his death. Over the years he designed many memorials, civic and commercial buildings, and, beginning in 1933, even railroad cars. His practice was chiefly non-residential, perhaps because his designs were better suited to the monumentality required by public structures; however, a few residences such as the James M. Cameron residence in Harrisburg, PA (1927) attest to his firm's abilities in that area.
Cret's memberships included the National Academy of Design, National Institute of Arts and Letter, American Philosophical Society, Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the T-Square Club, the American Institute of Architects, and the French Benevolent Society, among others. His areas of public service included serving as a member of the Art Jury of the City of Philadelphia from its foundation until his death, serving on the National Fine Arts Commission for two terms, and chairing the American Institute of Architects National Committee on War Memorials.
A great number of awards came to Cret in recognition of his contributions to city planning, American architecture, and architectural education. These included the Bok Award (1931), the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects (1938), the medal of honor of the Architectural League of New York (1920), the Paris Grand Prix, the Prize of Honor at the 5th Pan American Congress of Architects at Montevideo (with Zantzinger, Borie & Medary), and the Award of Merit of the Pennsylvania Alumni Society. He received honorary degrees from Brown University (Master of Arts, 1929), the University of Pennsylvania (1913), and Harvard University (1940). In addition to his architectural design and city planning work Cret published several articles which described the Beaux-Arts method and reacted to the modernist principles of design.
Elliott, Arthur, from the original by Adolphe Borie (1914)
Dog sled team, "On the Trail," Little America
Park trolley bridge from Strawberry mansion
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).
Series No. 19 "After the rain" New United States Mint
Independence Hall "President's Chair and Desk"
Chestnut Street and Benjamin Franklin Hotel
Benjamin Franklin Parkway from PSFS Building
Postcard to Miss Patsy Eaton from Mammie
Postcard to Mr. and Mrs. J Q Carr from Margaret (Fieller)