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Greetings,
Although it may be the “dog
days” of summer, your Athenaeum is still hopping with activity.
Our Art Bound exhibition with
its book workshops and gallery talks has attracted a number of new people to the
gallery. Catching a glimpse of the poster for the show, tourists from as far away as Israel,
France, Italy, Austria, Spain, and even Belize have toured our gallery and the
building, leaving comments in the gallery visitors’ book, such as “Wow!
By and about people who love books – glad to see ‘used ones.’”
If you have not had time to
visit the gallery for this show, I urge you to come to the Athenaeum before the
exhibition closes on August 28th.
Better yet – attend the final gallery talk on August 13th at
5:30 PM or attend the last book workshop (Tunnel Book) on Saturday, August 9th,
from 10AM to 1PM. Please reserve
your place for the gallery talk by contacting Susan Gallo at either 215-925-2688
or sgallo@philaathenaeum.org.
Registration for the book workshop can be completed online:
Book
Workshop Registration
Let
me also remind you that Coffee Day
for August is this coming Monday, August 4th.
Since this also corresponds to New Book Week, you will have an
opportunity to look over the new books, chat with friends, and have a bit of
refreshment from the heat of the day. Last
month’s Coffee Day for Mrs. G. was a great success, and Mrs. G. enjoyed seeing
so many old friends.
Banner Image: Athenaeum Members' Reading Room, c.
1940.
Peterson Fellowship Lecture
 Gather
with us on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at
5:30 PM, for a final report from one of the Charles E. Peterson Fellows.
Greg Huber, whose research focuses on the Germanic liegender
Stuhl roof form, will bring his investigation to the Athenaeum
with an illustrated lecture. Mr.
Huber has found and examined more than 40 examples of the roof form, including
barns, houses, mills and a rare church west of the
Susquehanna River
. His lecture is entitled “Barn
Roof Timbers That Helped Build the Early German Nation in
Pennsylvania
– Liegender Dachstuhl and Other
Roof Supports.” Please reserve
your place by contacting Susan Gallo at 215-925-2688 or by e-mailing her at sgallo@philaathenaeum.org.
Light refreshments will be served.
Photo: Courtesy of Greg
Huber
Athenaeum Launches New Interface for
Viewing Historic Maps
 Since
2005, the Athenaeum has been scanning thousands of historic maps and making them
available through its Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network (GPGN) website.
Now there is a new, user-friendly way to view these rare items. The interactive
maps viewer employs the nearly universal Google Maps technology and allows users
to overlay and switch between current and historic maps. In addition to
materials available from the Athenaeum and Free Library of Philadelphia, the new
viewer provides access to historic and contemporary aerial photos as well as
historic topographical maps from the United States Geological Survey.
In addition, links have been created between the
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings (PAB) and GPGN so that each project in PAB
will feature a growing number of historic map images that depict the site
changes over time.
The Athenaeum continues to scan and post geographic
material to the site and expects to add at least 1000 additional images within
the next year. The GeoHistory Network can be visited at www.philageohistory.org
Summer Interns
 The
work of the Athenaeum has been greatly assisted this summer by the hard work of
three bright interns. The interns have assisted in the retrieval, accessioning,
inventory and processing of new book and archival collections. They have also
initiated the computerization of our museum collection holding records using the
PastPerfect software program. They
even lent their hands and shoulders in the demolition and removal of outdated
and overloaded shelving on the Athenaeum’s third floor.
Kevin McMahon is a senior in the Architecture program at
Cornell
University
where he expects to graduate in January of 2009. In addition to his work at the
Athenaeum, Kevin has interned this Summer at the new offices of the American
Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter. His internship is underwritten by
the Charles E. Peterson Fellowship Fund.
Christina Rissell is a Spring 2008 graduate of
Ohio
Wesleyan
University
, where she majored in Fine Arts. Her association with the Athenaeum began in
2007 when she volunteered for the summer. Her internship is underwritten by the
Charles E. Peterson Fellowship Fund.
Hannah Christensen is a senior English major at
Swarthmore
College
. She comes to the Athenaeum as part of an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
internship program with Swarthmore’s McCabe Library.
L-R: Hannah, Christina and
Kevin. Photo by Jim Carroll
Chess Returns to the Athenaeum
 The
game of chess has a long history at the Athenaeum, dating at least to
1845. Mr. Charles Vezin was the father of chess at the Athenaeum. In
his peak playing days, he was said to be on par with the American chess
champions of the time. Vezin mentored fellow Athenaeum members such as Benjamin
Tilghman, Lewis Elkin, and Philip P. Randolph. In 1847 the Athenaeum
played two correspondence games against the Boston Chess Club which resulted in
one win, and one draw. A similar contest took place in 1855-56 against the
New York Chess Club, with the Athenaeum taking a 2-0 victory. The
importance of the Athenaeum players to the world of chess led American
Chess Magazine to refer to the institution as "the classic chess ground
of Philadelphia."
For a number of years, the Chess Room has served as the place to access the
library catalog--first housing the card catalog, and then public access
computers. The computers have recently been relocated and one of the
Athenaeum's historic chess tables has been made available for members who wish
to play chess.
Hyman Myers and Ilene Lefko have each donated chess sets which are available
for use. Please see a staff member at the circulation desk or the
reference desk to obtain a set.
Photo: Chinese
chess pieces donated by Hyman Myers, and traditional pieces donated by Ilene
Lefko. Photo by Jim Carroll.
Socrates Cafe Reminder:
The first Socrates Cafe will take place at 11AM on Tuesday, September 16. Please RSVP to Gil Feinberg at
gsfesq@verizon.net if you plan to attend. Full details about the Socrates Cafe were reported in the
July Newsletter.
Save
The Date: Cordelia Biddle’s lecture on Deception’s
Daughter, the latest of her Martha Beale Mysteries, Wednesday, September 17, at 5:30PM; Opening for
Design Projects exhibition Friday, September 19th, 6PM to 8PM, in the gallery.
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