Contributors

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia is a member supported, not-for-profit, special collections library founded in 1814 to collect materials "connected with the history and antiquities of America, and the useful arts, and generally to disseminate useful knowledge" for public benefit. Annually the Athenaeum's nationally significant collections attract thousands of readers: graduate students and senior scholars, architects, interior designers, museum curators, and private owners of historic buildings. It provides the Philadelphia region with a resource of first resort on matters of architecture and interior design history, particularly for the period 1800 to 1945.

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (formerly Fairmount Park) is the muncipal park system of the City of Philadelphia, encompassing more than 63 parks and 9,200 acres. The Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Historic Archives is a repository for information on Fairmount Park's evolution. The primary goal of the Archives is to help preserve park resources and provide information to the public. The collection is key to understanding the architectural and landscape resources of the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation system.

The Free Library of Philadelphia, in addition to 49 neighborhood and 3 regional branches that provide library access to the people of Philadelphia, holds significant research and special collections at the Parkway Central Library. The Map Collection provides researchers and explorers with more than 130,000 current and historical maps, as well as other geographical resources, covering every part of the world. The collection is especially strong in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania maps and atlases, and an extensive collection of aerial photos of the Delaware Valley provides a fascinating view of the development of our region over the past 70 years.