Creative Synergies

The Society envisioned Library Hall as the embodiment of Philadelphia’s glorious cultural past and Benjamin Franklin’s heritage. When Librarian William E. Lingelbach suggested the reconstruction in modified form of the old building of the Library Company, another Franklin institution, the Society approved enthusiastically. Architect Sydney E. Martin blended history and pragmatic library storage requirements in his design: the facade of the building towards Fifth Street was an exact replica of the Library Company, while the whole structure exceeded the original in size by more than half. Faced with the absence of any architectural drawings of the original Library Company building, Sydney E. Martin made inventive use of an insurance plan that included the dimensions of the ground floor perimeter, small faded photographs and in-depth study of buildings contemporary with Library Hall, such as Philosophical Hall and the Old City Hall.


In keeping with the promise to faithfully reproduce the Library Company’s old building, the Society commissioned New York sculptor Lewis Iselin, Jr. to make a copy of Francesco Lazzarini’s statue of Benjamin Franklin from 1792. Located in a niche in the building’s facade and therefore exposed to urban air pollution and inclement weather, the marble statue deteriorated and was replaced in the late 1980s with another copy. The size of the plot of land obtained from the National Park Service at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut, offered the Society the opportunity to design a garden. Thomas Sears, the main landscape architect, worked with Henry Francis du Pont to create a green space dedicated to the memory of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and the American Philosophical Society. Today, the garden hosts receptions, public programs and exhibitions.

Galleries

Click on the images below to learn more about the desiging of library hall.

1. Sydney E. Martin, Architectural Rendering of Library Hall, 1954
2. Contract for the Construction of Library Hall, November 11, 1954
3. Sketches of Library Hall by Sydney E. Martin, 1956
4. Sydney E. Martin, First Floor plan of Library Hall, 1956.
5.Library Hall, 1985
6. In 1988, the Franklin statue was replaced with an epoxy version, more resistant to deterioration. The new statue portrayed the Society’s founder with a reverse scepter in his right hand rather than a baton as the first copy had erroneously displayed.
7. Thomas W. Sears prepared the first planting plan for Library Hall’s Jefferson Garden, in 1959.
8. Due to the nature of the soil, in 1981 the Society had to pursue a major replanting campaign in the garden. They followed Henry Francis du Pont’s recommendations from 1959, and restored the garden to its beauty, as seen in this 2006 image.
9. The Jefferson Gardens regularly features art installations, such as the “Greenhouse and Cabinet of Future Fossils,” exhibited by architect Jenny Sabin in 2011.