John H. McFadden and His Age

Prologue

Will

 1917

On an unusually balmy December day in 1917, John H. McFadden signed his will with a sense of success and modesty. His valet Robert Potts dutifully added his name as one of several witnesses. In 21st-century dollars, the Philadelphia cotton grandee and art patron was a multimillionaire; his estate, at more than $5.2-million ($73-million), [1] was bequeathed to his ‘beloved’ wife Florence and their three adult children. The eldest, Philip, was a high-goal polo player. Alice, the middle child, had a dilettante’s interest in the theatre. The youngest, John H. McFadden, Jr., or ‘Jack,’ was a former U.S. Army officer.

Despite his immense wealth, McFadden was a man of probity. He once told a friend that his aim in life was to create ‘lasting good.’ ‘Then I could die happy.’[2] On 2 December, a day before his 67th birthday, McFadden had that last mission in mind when he put a pen from his favorite stationer, Bailey, Banks & Biddle, to foolscap, and forever sealed the fate of his art collection as a gift to Philadelphia’s cultural patrimony. Or, maybe.

McFadden was an international ‘cotton man.’[3] Among only a handful of such commodity moguls in the late 19th century, he and his older brother, George, reigned over an empire that brokered and shipped raw American and Egyptian cotton worldwide. Millions of cotton bales made their way to mills in England and in New England, and millions of dollars made their way to the coffers of their family firm, Geo. H. McFadden & Bro., Cotton Merchants. [4] By the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the McFadden partnership, headed by George as managing director, had become the country’s largest cotton trading venture.

It further established itself as one of America’s first truly multi-national conglomerates,

with shipping and trading interests in Europe, Africa, and in South America. As the otherwise anonymous ‘Bro.,’ John McFadden headed the company’s key Liverpool subsidiary. A third brother, the youngest, got no billing. J. Franklin McFadden, was, like George, Philadelphia based. Like his nephew Philip, Frank, as he was known, was a poloist, enjoying the sport in the city’s Main Line suburbs and in Florida. Whatever their individual contribution, Geo. H. McFadden & Bro. ballooned into a prodigiously remunerative entity, making the three siblings millionaires many times over.

The 'New' Penn Museum

The PJ depends on reader support. Please help us by contributing directly via PayPal, or by contributing editorial content via PhiladelphiaJunto@ymail.com. Empowered by WritersClearinghouse | S.P.Q.R. 1976 Richard Carreño, Editor Copyright MMXVIII. All Rights Reserved.

Penn Museum Biblical Exhibit

 HONORS POPE FRANCIS
VISIT TO PHILADELPHIA

By Pam Kosty

Penn Museum

[Special to WC News Service] 
They are treasures that have survived centuries and even millennia: one of the world¹s oldest fragments of the gospel of Saint Matthew; the first Bible printed in the Americas, in the Native American Massachusett language; a New Testament Bible published in twelve languages in Nuremberg, Germany, 1599; the earliest version of the Mesopotamian flood story, pre-dating the Biblical story of Noah, written on clay over 3,500 years ago.

In honor of the first visit by Pope Francis and the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next month, the Penn Museum, in conjunction with the Penn Libraries, offers Sacred Writings: Extraordinary Texts of the Biblical World, a special exhibition of rare artifacts from the Museum Collection and rare books and manuscripts from the Penn Libraries. On view August 15 through November 7, Sacred Writings provides the centerpiece experience for a Museum visit, where a special focus on the ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Canaan and Ancient Israel galleries and beyond affords visitors a unique opportunity to delve into ancient cultures and Bible-era art and artifacts.

Kicks Off Saturday

Native American Voices
The Old ... The New
Schedule Follows Below
New Native American
Exhibit at Penn Museum

Saturday, March 1, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Exhibition Opening
Native American Voices: The People—Here and Now
Native Americans from around the region and across North America come to the Penn Museum Saturday, March 1, 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, to share their art, culture, and perspectives and to celebrate the opening of 'Native American Voices: The People -- Here and Now,' a new exhibition at the Penn Museum. Native Nations Dance Theater performs in an afternoon that features talks, demonstrations and storytelling by Native American leaders in film and journalism, scholarship, community development, archaeology, sports, language retention and social activism. Mini-workshops, special activities for families, and Native American foods on the Pepper Mill Café menu, round out the day. The celebration is free with regular Museum admission.

Billboard on Penn Museum

 

Native American Exhibit
to Open at Penn Museum
Native American Voices: The People—Here and Now, a new exhibition opening at the Penn Museum March 1, 2014, challenges visitors to leave preconceptions about Native Americans behind—and discover a living tapestry of nations with distinct stories, identities, and contemporary leaders.

The exhibition opens with a public celebration 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, featuring Native American music and dance, presentations by Native American community leaders, arts, crafts, workshops and children's activities—all free with Museum admission donation.

The richly interactive new exhibition features a wide range of contemporary Native American voices—including artists, activists, journalists, scholars, and community leaders—from around North America. They speak out in video and in audio, sharing stories, poetry, and short essays on issues that matter to them today: identity, political sovereignty, religious freedom and sacred places, language, celebrations, art, and cultural continuity. Through a central introductory video, and at dramatic touch screen towers and multimedia stations throughout the gallery, visitors encounter Native American perspectives on key themes.

More than 250 Native American objects—ranging from 11,000-year-old Clovis projectile points to contemporary art—drawn from the Museum's expansive collections from around the United States and Canada, help to tell the stories of Native American peoples today, their aspirations,

Penn Museum

 

 

 

Penn Museum Gets Floored

The Lod Mosaic at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. www.penn.museum. February 10-May 12

 

By Jackie S. Akins

[Writers Clearinghouse News Service]

In the year 300 A.D. in the Roman Empire colony of Diospolis in Palestine area of Judea, fifteen miles southeast of Tel Aviv, business was thriving. The colony stood on the former Jewish municipality of Lod and while the Roman citizens were primarily Christians, it being a day’s walk to Judea, the city after the fall of Jerusalem became famous as a seat of Jewish scholarship.

Penn Museum

Molly Gleeson at work in new Penn Museum Lab.
Photos: Jim Graham/Penn Museum

Penn Museum Conservation
Now Front and Centre
The Penn Museum has launched a new, public conservation workshop space, staffed by a project conservator on duty during museum hours.

Called the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies, the workspace is a collaborative project between the museum's Conservation Department and its Egyptian section. The principal project conservator staffing the lab, Molly Gleeson, will focus her work on cleaning, restoring, and preserving about thirty pieces from the museum's ancient Egyptian collection.

Visitors will be able to watch Ms Gleeson, and other Conservation Department members, through the day, with question-and-answer periods at 11:15 am and at 2 pm Tuesday through Friday, and at 1 pm and 3:30 pm on weekends.

The lab was officially launched last week by Museum Director Julian Siggers; David Silverman, curator-in-charge of the Egyptian Section; and Head of Conservation Lynn Grant.

Merry Christmas!

Dr. Richard Hodges addresses a press gaggle in previewing the new show at the Penn Museum.
Photos/Writers Clearinghouse News Service

Or a Period of Bliss

Maya Predict World's End 23 December
Time -- how the Maya calculated it, revered it, and predicted it -- is the theme of a new inter-active exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogy and Anthropology. It's the best thing the Penn Museum, under the direction of the brilliant Dr. Richard Hodges has done, in years. That's saying a lot since Hodges -- who alas is leaving for an academic post in Rome -- has transformed the museum to a worthy companion to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, only taking a back seat to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for curatorial skill in presenting ancient civilizations.

'Maya, 2012: Lords of Time' runs to 13 January 2013. If if all goes well, that is. According to the Maya calendar, doomsday will come two days before Christmas, as the Western calendar is calculated. Or, if not doomsday, the beginning of a period of bliss. Never mind, the Maya weren't sure.

This wonderful exhibit was curated by Dr. Loa Traxler and Simon Martin. Come to learn about Maya time. Come away learning about the Maya, uniquely different from the Aztec with whom they are often confused.

P.S. Got to wondering about the almost interchangeable usage of 'Maya' and 'Mayan' in the exhibit as noun and adjective. Actually, not so. 'Maya' is the noun and adjective for all things Maya, except their language which is Mayan. The meaning of 'Maya'? Native People.
-- Richard Carreño