Save America’s Treasures Grant to Help Hagley Preserve Drawings and Images of the PSFS Building

CONTACT:    Meg Marcozzi, Marketing Manager

                       (302) 658-2400, ext. 238  mmarcozzi@hagley.org

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

            Wilmington, Delaware – February 2011 – Hagley Museum and Library was awarded a Save America’s Treasures Grant for the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS) – Howe and Lescaze Design Archives. The PSFS Building in Philadelphia, built in 1932, was the first International-style skyscraper. Architects George Howe and William Lescaze designed the “shell” in addition to its furniture, lighting, famed signage, and all other appointments. The grant will fund the conservation and preservation of the PSFS Building architectural drawings and important historical images that document this treasure.

            The PSFS collection was gifted to Hagley in 1993 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The collection measures more than 1,000 linear feet and includes publications, manuscripts, photographs, negatives, architectural drawings, and artifacts. Visit digital.hagley.org to view digitized items from the collection.

            “I am proud to acknowledge receipt of this Save America’s Treasures grant, which focuses on conserving one of Hagley’s and the nation’s true treasures,” said Hagley Executive Director Geoff Halfpenny.

            The National Park Service and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities awarded $14.3 million in federal competitive Save America’s Treasures grants. Hagley was one of sixty-one recipients of this prestigious award.

            "Each project is a thread in the great tapestry that is the history and culture of our country and our people. The Save America's Treasures program is a source of pride and a lesson in how a modest investment and a broad public-private partnership can make a vital and valuable contribution to telling the story of our nation" said Jon Jarvis, director of the National Park Service.   

            The Save America’s Treasures grants are made in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Save America’s Treasures’ private partner, the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is located on Route 141 in Wilmington, Delaware. Call (302) 658-2400 weekdays for more information or visit www.hagley.org.

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