Athenaeum of Philadelphia- More about the Archives

More about the Architectural Archives

Regional Records Repository

The Athenæum serves as the architectural records repository for more than a dozen libraries and not-for-profit institutions ranging from the Academy Natural Sciences to the Zoo. This program of long-term loans is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts to encourage the conservation of rare architectural records and to make them accessible to the public.

Organizations with Architectural Materials on Deposit at the Athenæum

Pew Museum Loan Program:: Academy of Natural Sciences
Atwater Kent Museum
Elfreths Alley Association
Hahnemann University Hospital
Pennsylvania Hospital
Presbyterian Historical Society
Radnor Historical Society
Southern Home Services
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Zoological Society of Philadelphia

Other gifts, deposits, and long-term loans:: American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter
Episcopal Church of the Advocate
Friends of the Grange
German Society of Pennsylvania
Partners for Sacred Places
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks
Rodeph Shalom Synagogue
Venturi, Scott Brown & Rauch
Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades
YWCA of Germantown

The American Institute of Architects

Between 1847 and 1870, when the new Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects established offices in the Athenæum building, architectural acquisitions were those expected for a clubbish library of the time. In 1870, however, a committee of the architects announced, "being impressed with the importance of providing an Architectural Library and Reading Room, for the use of all persons connected with architecture and the cognate arts, they had "founded such an establishment in "the third story of the Athenæum building in this city to be denominated the 'Architectural Library of Philadelphia.'"

AIA Sign, from front Hall of Athenæum
Building, c. 1871

"In thus making architecture a specialty," the AIA Library Committee continued, "the collection will very soon be far more complete than any comprised in our larger libraries, and will afford the student, as well as the amateur, facilities for reference and for study than no miscellaneous library either public or private, can be expected to furnish."

Unfortunately the AIA and the Athenæum did not continue to collect; the nineteenth-century concept of an architectural library eventually languished. The Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA no longer maintains a library, and its own archives are permanently deposited in the care of the Athenæum. Yet the seed had been planted. In the mid-1970s the Athenæum quietly reorganized its staff, collection, and building to place greater stress on architecture. The Athenæum now identifies, acquires, and preserves architectural records to make them available for research, publication, and exhibition. The objective is to heighten public awareness of our built environment--not only to encourage historic preservation and good contemporary architecture, but to foster knowledge and appreciation of the creative process that is often best revealed in the architect's correspondence, sketches, and drawings.

You can also visit the Philadelphia chapter of the AIA's Website.

International Confederation of Architectural Museums

The Athenæum is a founding member of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM), which links approximately one hundred architectural museums, libraries, and other institutions throughout the world that promote architecture and fulfill the conditions of the International Council of Museums (ICOM): a permanent institution that conserves and displays, for the purposes of study, education and enjoyment, collections of objects of cultural or scientific interest.

Pennsylvania Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records [PaCOPAR]

In 1973 a group of concerned architects, librarians, architectural historians, museum curators, and preservationists established the Committee for the Preservation of Architectural Records (COPAR) to serve as a national clearinghouse. Through COPAR a national catalogue of American architectural records was begun; location guides for architectural resources in New York State, New York City, Boston and Philadelphia were published; and regional groups with similar objectives were encouraged.

Recognition of the need for a local effort led to the organization of a Pennsylvania Committee based at the Athenæum to serve as a state-wide center for architectural information: to locate, record, index, and help in the preservation of architectural documents in the state. Wherever necessary, the Pennsylvania Committee will suggest suitable repositories for endangered architectural records. The Pennsylvania Committee encourages all interested persons who know of original architectural drawings, photographs, or manuscripts to report their locations by contacting the Pennsylvania COPAR Committee, c/o Bruce Laverty, The Athenæum of Philadelphia, 219 S. Sixth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3794 or by e-mail laverty@PhilaAthenaeum.org.