Philanthropy, Society, and Preservation
A Lasting Legacy
The Drexel family used their familial wealth and affinities to contribute to the arts, humanities, and the public good in many ways. From founding heritage institutions to drafting legislation that created our modern federal funding for the arts, to assisting the war efforts, the Drexels ensured that their privilege would benefit the arts and humanities in their home city of Philadelphia and the nation.
Jump to the following sections:
Anthony J. Drexel and the Fairmount Park Art Association
Joseph W. Drexel and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mary S. Irick Drexel: Charity and “Women’s Work”
Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. and the National Endowment for the Arts
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Katharine, Louise, and Elizabeth Drexel and Catholic Education
ANTHONY J. DREXEL AND THE FAIRMOUNT PARK ART ASSOCIATION
Anthony J. Drexel was the first president of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park Art Association, the first private, non-profit organization dedicated to public art and public planning in the United States. The association, now the Association for Public Art (aPA), has loaned Drexel University a statue of him indefinitely. It can be found on campus at the intersection of Market Street and 32nd Street.
More information about aPA can be found on their website.
JOSEPH W. DREXEL AND THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
Joseph W. Drexel’s preservation interests extended beyond the arts. He was elected as a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences (now part of Drexel University) in 1860. He was an early trustee of both the American Museum of Natural History (founded in 1869) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (founded in 1870), in New York. Joseph donated Egyptian sculpture, pottery, and artifacts to the Met’s collection during his time on the Board and bequeathed additional artifacts to the museum in his will. He founded the Met’s musical instrument collection, with a donation of 44 musical instruments; it is now known as the Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments in honor of a major donor, Mrs. Crosby Brown. And Joseph donated his sheet music collection to the Lenox Library, which eventually became part of the New York Public Library.
The NYPL’s Music and Recorded Sound Division was formed on the basis of his extraordinary 6,000-plus piece collection.
MARY S. IRICK DREXEL: CHARITY AND “WOMEN’S WORK”
The caption of the newspaper item reads:
A troop train halted yesterday at North Philadelphia station. As is the usual procedure when a trainload of soldiers pass through the city, members of the Southeastern Chapter of the Red Cross were on hand with food and other comforts. Mrs. George W. Childs Drexel [Mary S. Irick Drexel], Chairman of the canteen department, is shown, probably the first time a photographer caught her at the daily routine of her committee work.
While the men of the family are remembered for their work with prominent new institutions, gender divisions limited the types of work for which Drexel women were known, if not their philanthropic drive.
Mary Stretch Irick Drexel (1864-1948) was married to Anthony J.’s youngest son, George W. Childs Drexel, editor and publisher of the Public Ledger newspaper following the death of his namesake George W. Childs. Mary channeled her philanthropic urge into direct service during World War I as the director of the American Red Cross Canteen Service for the Pennsylvania-Delaware Division. According to Mary’s calculations as reported in the newspapers, between September 20, 1917 and November 1, 1919, her division of 2,700 workers and volunteers fed 2,033,375 people related to the war effort. Drexel University’s oldest, continuously offered alumni award is named in her honor.
Read about Emma Bouvier Drexel’s direct charity work with women in need following the Civil War and the lasting influence it had on her stepdaughter, Saint Katharine Drexel.
LIVINGSTON L. BIDDLE, JR. AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS
Livingston L. Biddle, Jr. was perhaps the most politically active member of the Drexel family in this area. He drafted arts legislation to establish the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in 1963-64 while working for Senator Claiborne Pell, and once the NEA was created in 1965, Livingston then served as deputy to the first chair to the endowment in 1966-67. In 1977 President Jimmy Carter appointed Biddle as NEA chair, a position he held until 1981. The endowment provides grants to keep arts and humanities programs active in communities nationwide.