Collections & Research

About the collection

The Founder’s Hall collections are significant in both quantity and content. They include approximately 700 pieces of fine and decorative art, 500 rare books, 750 architectural drawings, 1450 linear feet of boxed manuscript and photographic material, and 1200 bound manuscripts. Stephen Girard’s will left his papers and possessions to the school; as a result, the Stephen Girard collection is one of the country’s greatest intact collections from the early national period. It includes furniture made by notable cabinetmakers, silver from Philadelphia and abroad, Chinese Export portraits and American paintings. This collection is nearly unique in the synergy created by having Girard’s documents remaining with his artifacts and allows an unparalleled exploration of craftsmanship, trade, patronage and migration. At the same time, Girard’s voluminous papers preserve his own story and those of ordinary citizens, from Black sailors on his ships to the unfortunate sufferers in Philadelphia’s 1793 yellow fever epidemic.

Founder’s Hall also maintains important collections on the history of the unprecedented school itself. Within these, hundreds of architectural drawings and manuscripts document the 1832 architectural competition to design the school, the first American competition to draw a truly national participation, and the subsequent construction by architect Thomas U. Walter, who would later design the dome of the U.S. Capitol. Founder’s Hall was the second most expensive building in America when it was completed, and surviving materials make it among the best documented buildings of its time and scope. Archival materials and objects ranging from curricula to cookies also explore how the school has operated and changed over time and has experimented with teaching an underserved population. Among our most used collections are those that record the school’s role in the American Civil Rights movement in the mid-20th century.

Please contact Kathy Haas, Director of Historical Resources with any questions about the collections or for more information.