new church life: jan uary / february 201 4
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The place of a museum within the foundation of the Academy
How the museum today enriches the education of our students
How Glencairn is enthusiastically embracing the challenge to extend
the reach of the Academy and its mission
The Academy received its legal charter on November 3, 1877. A Theological
School was established in Philadelphia, and the following year a college was
added, with a boys school to follow three years later, and a girls school in
another three years (in 1884). Some of you may not be aware, however, that
within two years of its founding, the Academy had established a museum –
before either the boys or girls schools had opened its doors.
When the Academy officially opened in 1877, John Pitcairn and William
Henry Benade, two men who had played such
a significant role in the Academy’s founding,
were not in Philadelphia to witness it, having
left the country on a tour of Europe, Egypt
and the Holy Land.
While on this trip, they purchased more
than 1,000 artifacts from the ancient world for
the purpose, Benade wrote, of “the beginning
of a Museum for the Academy.”
Benade further wrote home that, “we shall
need a museum,” and that, “a good museum
is a necessary adjunct of a good school.” He
believed that a museum could teach Academy
students about ancient cultures from a New
Church perspective, with a particular focus
on religion and mythology.
The founders of the Academy had a
vision for a comprehensive system of New
Church education that taught students about
the vital connection between the spiritual
and natural worlds. For John Pitcairn and
William Henry Benade, this vision included a
museum. Perhaps this vision was influenced
by other academies in relative proximity to
their new Academy in Philadelphia, such as
the Academy of Fine Arts and the Academy of Natural Sciences – centers of
learning and intellectual pursuit that included museums.
The Academy’s Museum was initially housed in the parlor of Benade’s
home on Friedlander Street in Philadelphia. Over the next several decades, the
school, and with it the museum, moved from place to place in Philadelphia.
The founders
of the Academy
had a vision for
a comprehensive
system of New
Church education
that taught students
about the vital
connection between
the spiritual and
natural worlds. For
John Pitcairn and
William Henry
Benade, this vision
included a museum.
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