How Buildings Help Us Remember (Spring Course)

Bricks, Mortar and the Mystic Chords of Memory: How Buildings Help Us Remember, with Professor Bruce Laverty

6 Tuesdays from May 5 - June 9, 2026; 6 - 7:30pm

Location: at the Parkway Central Library, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street (between 19th and 20th streets), Philadelphia. This course meets on the 4th Floor in room 405/406/407.

This course requires pre-registration. Separate registration is required for each student. Sign up here or call 215-763-6529 x14 for assistance.

The approach of the 250th anniversary of American independence is a fitting time to reflect on the ways our Philadelphia ancestors chose to celebrate achievement and commemorate sacrifice. Bruce Laverty will examine the integral role Philadelphia’s builders, engineers and architects played in these milestone events. In 1774, they hosted the First Continental Congress at Carpenters Hall. In 1788, they built the Federal Edifice, a circular, portable, 10-columned, domed, classical temple-a physical symbol of the newly created United States. He will discuss the architectural and engineering triumph of the 1876 Centennial, an enterprise so successful, it planted the seeds of failure for both the 1926 Sesquicentennial and the 1976 Bicentennial – or so it seems. He will explore the good that emerged from these apparent failures and the challenge we face in 2026.

1. Tuesday, May 5, 2026 – Starting from Scratch, 1681-1800

2. Tuesday, May 12, 2026 – Philadelphia Realizes it has a History, 1800-1870

3. Tuesday, May 19, 2026 – Consumerism, Modernism, and the Challenge of History at the Centennial, 1876-1900

4. Tuesday, May 26, 2026 – Remember the Ladies: The Women who Organized the Sesquicentennial’s Most Successful Exhibit and Created the Historic Preservation Movement in Philadelphia, 1900-1945

5. Tuesday, June 2, 2026 – The World’s Fair That Wasn’t: The Bicentennial and the Democratization of History, 1946-1976

6. Tuesday, June 9, 2026 – Future History? The Challenge of 2026

There is no textbook for this course. Readings will be provided during the course.

Bruce Laverty is an adjunct professor at the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, where he teaches courses on the history of Philadelphia architecture. In the Pennoni Honors College, he has taught History of the Philadelphia Rowhouse; Intro to Historic Preservation, and most recently, Doing Well, and Doing Good: Fortune and Philanthropy in Philadelphia. During his 40 years as the Athenaeum of Philadelphia’s first curator of architecture, he oversaw the collection of hundreds of thousands of architectural drawings and photographs. He is the founding director of the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings Project and the Greater Philadelphia GeoHistory Network. In 2021, he received the James Biddle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Historic Preservation from the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.

What is the cost?

Wagner courses are free; donations are encouraged!

Are there minimum age requirements to enter the course?

The adult lecture courses are offered on an introductory college level. They are open to anyone seeking an introduction to various areas of the sciences as well as those familiar with the subjects who wish to broaden and update their knowledge. The courses also provide an excellent opportunity for motivated junior high and high school students to supplement their current science courses and to help prepare them for further study in these fields at a college level. The courses are appropriate as well for teachers seeking to expand their knowledge.

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the course?

The Free Library of Philadelphia Parkway Central Branch is located between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway. It is close to many SEPTA lines, including buses, Regional Rail, and the Broad Street Line Race/Vine station. Most parking near the library is metered street parking. There is also a Philadelphia Parking Authority lot behind the library on Callowhill Street between 19th and 20th Streets.

Is the building wheelchair accessible?

Yes. The Wood Street entrance (at the back of the building) is wheelchair accessible and there are elevators in the building. Enter Wood Street by going south on 19th Street and drive west towards 20th Street. If the gate is down press the buzzer and security will open the gate. There are handicapped parking places right next to the building.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Click the "Contact the Organizer" link, email [email protected], or call 215-763-6529 x14.

Images:

Pbjamesphoto, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

C.L. HILLMAN AND JOHN McCLINTOCK, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

U.S. Government Printing Office / U.S. Post Office, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Wagner Free Institute of Science is a National Historic Landmark natural history museum and educational institution. It was founded in 1855 by William Wagner, a Philadelphian who had a dream of providing free science education to anyone who wanted to learn, regardless of background or ability to pay. Today, the Wagner offers more programs to more people than ever before! Your support helps us provide free education through its museum and a wide range of courses, lectures, field trips, and children’s science programs.

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