Wyck House and Rose Garden

Philadelphia, PA · est. 2021

John S. Trower built one of the most successful catering businesses of his day here in Philadelphia, becoming one of the wealthiest African Americans of the late nineteenth century. He turned his success into service, founding the Downingtown Industrial & Agricultural School and a building-and-loan association to help Black families become homeowners. A devout man, he gave generously to Baptist charities throughout his life.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 1969

Founded in 1884 as the Philadelphia Textile School, this was the first institution in America devoted to training workers for the textile industry. In an era when Philadelphia was a powerhouse of American manufacturing, the school aimed to lift the quality and competitiveness of domestic fabrics through technical education. It grew over the following century into a full college on this campus.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 2005

On October 30, 1930, the Wyoming Avenue Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia opened its doors as the very last of the public libraries funded by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Over his lifetime the Pittsburgh industrialist endowed more than 2,500 libraries across the globe, convinced that free access to books was the surest ladder out of poverty—a philosophy he had lived himself as a self-taught immigrant boy.

Philadelphia, PA · est. 2007

Founded in 1892 by Isaac Jones Wistar, this Philadelphia institution became the nation's first independent center devoted to biomedical research, growing out of an older anatomical museum. Within its walls scientists developed important vaccines and bred the albino 'Wistar rat,' a standardized laboratory animal that spread to research labs around the world. It marked a turning point in American science, when discovery moved from lecture halls into dedicated research institutions.