“Our Seventy-Seventh Year”
Times & details for all events may be subject to change. Check back for latest information.
Next Events:
Radnor’s Road to 250: Celebrating an American Milestone
Just a half year to go now before we hit the big 2-5-0 as a country, but since we do call ourselves Philly people, our hearts and minds are already in the right place. Please join Radnor Memorial Library & Radnor Historical Society for 6 lectures on some celebration history beginning in 1876, including some local art and cultural topics, too. The talks will be presented by those familiar and knowledgeable history lovers; Thomas H. Keels and Jim Segrave-Daly.
Please note the locations: Segrave-Daly at The Finley House and Keels at Radnor Memorial Library. There is no registration and all talks are free to the public.
Rogues Gallery: When Rich People Spend Good Money On Bad Art
Presented by author Thomas H. Keels
Tuesday, July 22, 6:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Tom Keels returns to RML in July for a talk on early 20th century Philadelphia, when both multi-millionaire P.A.B. Widener and legal eagle John G. Johnson paid a not-so-small fortune to a European grifter who supplied them with daVinci’s, Rembrandts, Vermeers and other Old Masters–all of which were completely bogus.
Bicentennial Philadelphia 1976: Were you there, too?
Presented by local historian Jim Segrave-Daly
Monday, July 28, 6:30pm
At the Finley House, 113 West Beechtree Lane
In 1976, America was having its 200th birthday and Philadelphia’s celebration drew an estimated two million visitors. The Bicentennial in Philadelphia laid bare some of the most pressing questions of America’s national identity. As we remember the good times, we’ll also revisit this fraught history, too. Philadelphia’s famous Liberty Bell came to embody the deepest fissures in American life: there’s a crack in the bell.
Philadelphia 2026: In Pursuit Toward a More Perfect Union
Presented by local historian Jim Segrave-Daly (with Jennifer Beacom, partners/supporters of America250PADelco)
Tuesday, August 19, 6:30pm
At the Finley House, 113 West Beechtree Lane
If you want to be immersed in the living history of a 250-year pursuit toward a more perfect union, and if you believe in a brighter future fueled by passion and creativity, raise your hand. America’s 250th anniversary isn’t just a party thrown for us, it’s a party thrown by us!
Get involved, own your piece of history, and let’s show the world the power of Delco pride, united in spirit, history, and community!
Thomas H. Keels, author of Philadelphia Graveyards and Cemeteries
Tuesday, August 26, 6:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Tom Keels refers to this talk as Designing for the Dead: Art and Architecture in Philadelphia Cemeteries. Keels explores how the birth of the rural cemetery in Philadelphia provided local designers such as John Notman, William Strickland, Alexander Milne Calder, Frank Furness and others with a novel outdoor laboratory where they could exhibit their works. Books will be available for purchase.
This Year’s Previous Events:
Meg Butterworth, author of Strawbridge & Clothier: From Our Family to Yours
Tuesday, October 1, 2024, 6:30-8:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Author Margaret Strawbridge Butterworth charts the history of Philadelphia’s Strawbridge & Clothier through vivid stories from past employees and customers alike as she invites readers to join the “store family”. From its flagship store on Market Street in the heart of Philadelphia, Strawbridge & Clothier strove to meet the needs of its customers for over a century. At the time of its sale in 1996, Strawbridge & Clothier was the oldest department store in the country with continuous family ownership. Books will be availabe for purchase.
Sonia Purnell, author of Kingmaker
Sunday, October 13, 2024, 5:00-6:00pm
Main Point Books, 116 North Wayne Avenue, Wayne
Main Point Books and the Radnor Historical Society welcome biographer and journalist Sonia Purnell and her newest book “Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue.”
When Pamela Churchill Harriman died in 1997, the obituaries that followed were predictably scathing – and many were downright sexist. Written off as a mere courtesan and social climber, her true legacy was overshadowed by a glamorous social life and her infamous erotic adventures. Much of what she did behind the scenes – on both sides of the Atlantic – remained invisible and secret. That is, until now: with a wealth of fresh research, interviews and newly discovered sources, Sonia Purnell unveils for the first time the full, spectacular story of how she left an indelible mark on the world today.
At age 20 Churchill’s beloved daughter-in-law became a “secret weapon” during World War II, strategically wining, dining, and seducing diplomats and generals to help win over American sentiment (and secrets) to the British cause against Hitler. After the war, she helped to transform Fiat heir Gianni Agnelli into Italy’s ‘uncrowned king’ on the international stage and after moving to the US brought a struggling Democratic party back to life, hand-picking Bill Clinton from obscurity and vaulting him to the presidency.
Picked as Ambassador to France, she deployed her legendary subtle powers to charm world leaders and help efforts to bring peace to Bosnia, playing her part in what was arguably the high-water mark of American global supremacy.
There are few at any time who have operated as close to the center of power over five decades and two continents, and there is practically no one in 20th Century politics, culture, and fashion whose lives she did not touch, including the Kennedys, Truman Capote, Aly Khan, Kay Graham, Gloria Steinem, Ed Murrow, and Frank Sinatra. Written with the novelistic richness and investigative rigor that only Sonia Purnell could bring to this story full of sex, politics, yachts, palaces and fabulous clothes, KINGMAKER re-asserts Harriman’s rightful place at the heart of history
This event will be in Main Point Books’ lower level event space. Reservations are requested via Eventbrite; walk-ins are welcome as space allows.
Paul Kahan, Ph.D., author of Philadelphia: A Narrative History
Wednesday, November 6, 6:30-8:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Paul Kahan is the author of a new book, Philadelphia: A Narrative History, the first single-volume history of the City of Brotherly Love to be published in nearly half a century.
The author presents a comprehensive portrait of the city, from the region’s original Lenape inhabitants to the myriad of residents in the twenty-first century.
Paul Kahan is an expert on U.S. political, economic, and diplomatic history. He earned his Ph.D. in U.S. history from Temple University and lives outside of Philadelphia with his family.
Books will be available for purchase at the event.
Christopher Cox, Author of Woodrow Wilson
Monday, November 11, 6:30-7:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Main Point Books welcomes former United States Representative Christopher Cox with his new book on the long shadows cast by President Woodrow Wilson. This event is in the Winsor Room at Radnor Memorial Library, and is co-sponsored by the library and Radnor Historical Society.
Reservations are requested via Eventbrite. Books are for sale in advance and at the event, and can be shipped within the US.
About the Author
Charles Christopher Cox is an American attorney and politician who served as chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, a 17-year Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, and member of the White House staff in the Reagan Administration. Following his retirement from government in 2009, he returned to law practice and currently serves as a director, trustee, and advisor to several for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
About the Book
Even a decade ago, Wilson was still revered as a great progressive icon. Historians had long buried his obdurate racism and misogyny. Christopher Cox’s broad and deep research (and personal experience of how business is accomplished in in the White House and on Capitol Hill) shows that Wilson’s attitudes on race and sex were essential to his world view and cast a long shadow over the 20th century.
Annual RHS Holiday Party
Sunday, December 8, 2024 @ 4:00 pm
The Finley House, 113 West Beechtree Lane, Wayne 
- Holiday music sing-along lead by vocalist Pat Jordan and pianist Jay Chadwick
- Holiday treats with cocoa and spiced cider
- Our beautifully decorated Finley House and lawn
- Fire pit with s’mores (if permitted by local authorities)
- A visit from Santa, who will have a small gift for each child in attendance
This event will take place rain/snow or shine. We look forward to celebrating the holiday season with all of the members of our community!
Paul Kahan, Ph.D., author of The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant
Tuesday, December 17, 7:00pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
In partnership with Radnor Memorial Library
Grant’s two terms in office had lots of drama. Kahan returns to RML to take a look at the military leader who became President in one of the nation’s most troubled decades. A timely reassessment, Kahan’s work,The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant sheds new light on the business of politics in the decade after the Civil War. On a lighter note, it was during Grant’s first term as president that he signed a Congressional bill authorizing as legal holidays, for federal employees, not just Thanksgiving Day, but Christmas, New Year’s and Fourth of July holidays.
Rich Sherman, Author of Never Home: Remembering the Military Heroes Who Never Returned
Tuesday, February 25, 6:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
In partnership with Radnor Memorial Library
Richard Sherman, U.S. Navy veteran and professional photographer, takes you on an emotional journey to all 23 of America’s overseas World War I and World War II cemeteries through his powerful images carefully curated for his new book. Sherman’s photographs are coupled with more than 50 individual biographies of individuals who perished during the wars and even in death, have still not made it home. From Normandy to Manila, from Tunisia to Florence, and from Luxembourg to Provence, Never Home honors those who sacrificed everything to ensure our freedom.
Michael Vorenberg, Author of Lincoln’s Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War
Wednesday, March 26, 7:00pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Free registration via Eventbrite
Co-sponsored by Main Point Books, Radnor Memorial Library and the Radnor Historical Society
We set out on the James River, March 25, 1865, aboard the paddle steamboat River Queen. President Lincoln is on his way to General Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia, and he’s decided he won’t return to Washington until he’s witnessed, or perhaps even orchestrated, the end of the Civil War. Now, it turns out, more than a century and a half later, historians are still searching for that end.
Was it April 9, at Appomattox, as conventional wisdom holds, where Lee surrendered to Grant in Wilmer McLean’s parlor? Or was it ten weeks afterward, in Galveston, where a federal commander proclaimed Juneteenth the end of slavery? Or perhaps in August of 1866, when President Andrew Johnson simply declared “the insurrection is at an end”? That the answer was elusive was baffling even to a historian of the stature of Michael Vorenberg, whose work served as a key source of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln. Vorenberg was inspired to write this groundbreaking book, finding its title in the peace Lincoln hoped for but could not make before his assassination. A peace that required not one but many endings, as Vorenberg reveals in these pages, the most important of which came well more than a year after Lincoln’s untimely death.
Redware’s Twilight: A Family of Quaker Potters in Marple & Radnor Townships
Wednesday, April 2, 7:00pm
Marple Christian Church
475 Lawrence Road, Broomall, PA 19008
Join the Marple and Radnor Historical Societies on April 2nd for a story so big we couldn’t keep it to one township. A family of Quaker potters moved from Chester County to Delaware County in the 1830s and established pottery factories in Radnor and Marple Townships. Come learn about these craftsmen and how they served a vital function in our local communities!
Philip B. Moore, Author of John Dewey: Prophet of an Educated Democracy
Wednesday, April 9, 6:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
In honor of National Library Week, join us to consider the ideas of John Dewey, an American philosopher who celebrated the exercise of intelligence in the practice of democracy.
Why do some historical Americans become such a clear brand like Edison, Ford or Teddy Roosevelt, bringing up clear ideas for people of invention, efficiency or bravado?
With John Dewey, this is not so.
Philip B. Moore is the author of a new book on American philosopher, John Dewey. Moore tells the story of this pioneer of pragmatism, whose thinking was born out of a specific historical context, in the wake of the Civil War, and in response to the rapid changes of industrialization. For Dewey, pragmatism was the philosophy of democracy. A writer of many books and articles, Dewey lived a long time (1859-1952) interacting with a variety of historical figures like William James, Jane Addams, Frida Kahlo and Dr. Albert Barnes.
John Dewey and Albert Barnes had an intense, intellectual and personal relationship, and once traveled to Europe together in the 1930’s to look at art.
Dr. Philip B. Moore is a local author and an assistant professor at Gratz College. Moore teaches courses in creativity, leadership, and the history of education.
Books will be available for purchase.
The Philadelphia Centennial Celebration of 1876
Presented by local historian Jim Segrave-Daly
Tuesday, 6/17, 6:30pm
At the Finley House, 113 West Beechtree Lane
The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 was a resounding success with over ten million people visiting in a six month span. The Exhibition allowed the United States to show off its industrial might and identify itself with other world powers. After a bloody Civil War, and a failed Reconstruction, Americans wanted to prove their greatness once again. Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park was lined with pavilions and people gathered to hear President Ulysses S. Grant open the Centennial. However, the Centennial Exhibition was also notable for its lack of inclusion of African Americans. Why weren’t all people equally represented at the Centennial Exhibition?
The Forgotten World’s Fair of 1926: With Liberty and Justice for …A Few
Presented by author Thomas H. Keels
Tuesday, June 24, 6:30pm
The Winsor Room, Radnor Memorial Library
Tom Keels has written many books on the history of Philadelphia and his knowledge of many topics is extensive. The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926, held in South Philadelphia, was meant to be the greatest world’s fair since the 1876 Centennial. This talk will explore how our city became an unwitting battleground for just a few (there are more) of America’s social struggles in the 1920’s: racism, anti-Semitism, and the Ku Klux Klan. Philadelphia’s African Americans, Jews, and Catholics all made major contributions to the celebration yet each was treated differently by the fair’s managers and by the city government, reflecting the prejudices of America in the 1920’s.
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