Wilson Eyre: The Philadelphia Domestic Ideal

Posted by on Nov 30, 2013 in | Comments Off on Wilson Eyre: The Philadelphia Domestic Ideal At the turn of the twentieth century, Wilson Eyre was at the height of his architectural powers. For sixteen years he had had a successful practice in Philadelphia, one of America’s major architectural centers. The United States bad become a world power, with money to give con­crete evidence of this in the buildings of her great cities, and Philadelphia’s blend of conservative...
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Finding a Light in the Forest: Conrad Weiser Homestead

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Finding a Light in the Forest: Conrad Weiser Homestead More than any other, Conrad Weiser (1696-1760) captured the imagination of the Pennsylvania German community during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a time when its leaders asserted its right to be considered a major participant in the building of America. The veneration he was accorded led to the creation in 1923 of the historic park bearing his name and interpreting his...
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Mount Pleasant at Fairmount Park

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Mount Pleasant at Fairmount Park Each year the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission names an outstanding example of Pennsylvania’s history as a Commonwealth Treasure. For 2001 the Commission has designated Fairmount Park. The forty-four hundred acre park is being recognized for its wealth of manmade and natural sites, which create a rich legacy of architecture, history, culture, and ecology. Founded in 1855, with...
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“He, on the Whole, Stood First”: Gifford Pinchot

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on “He, on the Whole, Stood First”: Gifford Pinchot President Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot (1865-1946) was a talented and gifted public servant. Of his friend and adviser, Roosevelt wrote, “I believe it is but just to say that among the many, many public officials who, under my administra­tion, rendered literally invaluable service to the people of the United States he, on the whole, stood first.” Among Pennsylvania’s...
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Letters to the Editor

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Letters to the Editor Green Thumbs Up! “Green Thumbs Up!” to Pennsylvania Heritage for the story on Pennsylvania gardens [“Old World Influences of Pennsylvania Gardens” by Myra K. Jacobsohn, Spring 2005]. ram most impressed by the gardens that the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission manages, particularly those at the Weiser Homestead. I drive by the property several times a year but...
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Old World Influences on Pennsylvania Gardens

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Old World Influences on Pennsylvania Gardens Quaker merchants who followed founder William Penn (1644-1718) to his beloved colony planted formal, English-style gardens amidst the native forest landscape. An ornamental garden suitable for a family of means in Great Britain in the seventeenth century consisted of a residence with a series of three terraces descending from the rear elevation. The upper terrace, often used as an extension of...
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“With a Woman’s Instinct”: Mira Lloyd Dock, The Mother of Forestry in Pennsylvania

Posted by on Nov 20, 2013 in | Comments Off on “With a Woman’s Instinct”: Mira Lloyd Dock, The Mother of Forestry in Pennsylvania On a frosty December night in 1900, Mira Lloyd Dock (1853–1945) presented an illustrated lecture to the Harrisburg Board of Trade entitled “The City Beautiful.” Using vivid descriptions and dramatic images, Dock contrasted the “roughness, slime and filth” of the state capital and the Susquehanna River with the well-kept cities and rivers of other American states and European nations. She...
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