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Founder's Hall, Girard College
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History
Girard College combines various under-known narratives in one building, Founder's Hall. The life of Stephen Girard is an amazing tale: merchant, mariner, and philanthropist, he died as one of the wealthiest men in America. He left millions of dollars in his contested will to various organizations and for the creation of Girard College, a boarding school for "poor, white, male orphans." Founder's Hall, the columned, Greek Revival centerpiece of the campus - it's bigger than the Parthenon - was designed as a classroom building by architect Thomas U. Walter, famous for later constructing the United States Capitol building's domes. Girard wanted no "needless ornament," in the structure, but Founder's Hall was both grandly designed and the most expensive building project in America pre-Civil War. But architecture and philanthropy are only two parts of the story. During the Civil Rights era, when many began questioning Girard's “whites only” policy. When one African-American woman's attempt to enroll her two sons was refused, a legal battle and daily protests, some led by Martin Luther King, Jr., around the walls of the college, ensued for months before the Supreme Court ruled that Girard College must allow children of all races into the school. Today, Girard College's student body has a strong African-American component, as well as a majority of females-- a group not permitted at Girard until 1984.
Research: Sarah L. Hunter
Site Photos: Joseph E.B. Elliott
nothing but what is therein contained
Event Info
Saturdays & Sundays 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
May 30 - June 28, 2009
May 30 - June 28, 2009
A combination of sculpture and sound installation, Artist Steve Roden’s work is inspired by the students, teachers and classes that once occupied the four square rooms at the top of the grand staircase of Founder’s Hall. Through a project that remixes Amish craftsmanship, the glass harmonica, and honeybees, you can come experience the Thomas U. Walter-designed building at Girard College. There you’ll find a stack of postcards written by former students and found by the artist in the archives that help to tell the story of the “poor, white, male orphans” the school once served.
Co-Producer: Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
Webpage: http://www.preservationalliance.com
Support for development and planning of this project has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative.
Artist
Steve Roden
http://inbetweennoise.com/Steve Roden is a visual and sound artist from Los Angeles. His work includes painting, drawing, sculpture, film/video, sound installation, and performance. Roden has been exhibiting his visual and sound works since the mid 1980's, and has had numerous solo and group exhibitions, including museums, galleries and arts spaces in the USA, Italy, France, Japan, Bulgaria, Slovenia, England, etc. Recent solo shows and projects include Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects; Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery (New York); San Francisco Art Institute; Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science; Gallery E/Static Torino and Studio La Citta Verona, Italy. Recent group exhibitions include the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art; the UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; The Sculpture Center, New York City, and the Drawing Room, London. Roden has performed his soundworks at various arts spaces and festivals worldwide including the Serpentine Gallery, London; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; MIT Boston; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the DCA, Dundee, Scotland; as well as performance tours of Brazil and Japan. He has also released over 20 CDs of audio works on labels worldwide.
