American Antiquarian Society
| American Antiquarian Society | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| National Historic Landmark | |||
 The building in 2012 |
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| location | Worcester , Massachusetts , United States | ||
| Coordinates | 42 ° 16 '38 " N , 71 ° 48' 45.1" W | ||
| surface | 1.8 acres (0.7 ha ) | ||
| Built | 1909-1910 | ||
| architect | Winslow, Bigelow & Wadsworth | ||
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival | ||
| NRHP number | 68000018 | ||
| Data | |||
| The NRHP added | November 24, 1968 | ||
| Declared as an NHL | November 24, 1968 | ||
The American Antiquarian Society (abbreviated AAS ) is a 1812 founded Historical Society in Worcester in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . It maintains a library on the history and culture of the United States before the 20th century, which is of national importance. The company's building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark under the same name since 1968 .
architecture
The businessman Stephen Salisbury bequeathed AAS US $ 200,000 in the early 20th century , which was used to build a new building after the land needed for it was bought from the Worcester Art Museum . The two-story house was built from October 1909 to the end of 1910 in the style of the Georgian Revival on a granite foundation made of masonry bricks . It has an essentially octagonal floor plan, from which the building wings extend in several directions. The center of the building is dominated by a flat dome on top of an octagonal tower under which the two-story reading room of the library is located. Below the roof edge, a marble cornice and frieze run around the building. The portico has four columns of Doric order and thus corresponds to the Greco-Roman Tetra style . It carries an entablature with triglyphs and a triangular pediment . The main entrance is flanked by pilasters of the Doric order and thus takes up the design of the portico on a smaller scale.
The appearance of the building largely corresponds to the original condition. In 1924, the marble dome was clad with copper plates to seal it off, and in 1924 and 1950, respectively, an annex was added in the style of the existing building to increase the storage capacity for books. In 1972 the capacity for office space was increased by enlarging the basement.
Historical meaning
The American Antiquarian Society, founded by Isaiah Thomas in 1812, is the third oldest historical society in the United States after the Massachusetts Historical Society (founded in 1790) and the New York Historical Society (founded in 1804). It was also the first whose collection, which now comprises more than 3 million pieces, achieved national importance. It has the largest collection of printed sources on history, literature, and culture from the first 250 years of the United States' existence. The focus is on the period from the founding of the USA to 1877. The AAS makes its holdings available to the public for research purposes.
Members of the American Antiquarian Society have already included twelve presidents of the United States and politicians such as Thomas Hart Benton , Lewis Cass , Henry Clay , DeWitt Clinton , Robert D. Fulton , Albert Gallatin , John Jay and John Quincy Adams . Calvin Coolidge was its president in 1933.
See also
- List of entries on the National Register of Historic Places in northwest Worcester
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
literature
- Polly M. Rettig, John D. McDermott: National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form. (PDF) United States Department of the Interior , National Park Service , January 11, 1975, accessed February 8, 2017 .
- Philip F. Gura: The American Antiquarian Society, 1812-2012: a bicentennial history . American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA 2012, ISBN 978-1-929545-65-0 .
Web links
- American Antiquarian Society in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- American Antiquarian Society Library in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
- Official website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Massachusetts. National Park Service , accessed August 4, 2019.
- ↑ a b cf. Rettig / McDermott, p. 2.
- ↑ cf. Rettig / McDermott, p. 3.
- ↑ cf. Rettig / McDermott, p. 6.