ONLINE! John Wanamaker and Family in the Gilded Age
Code: SL41004
Dates: November 12, 2020
Meets: 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM
Sessions: 1
Course Fee: $35.00
Sorry, we are no longer accepting registrations for this course. Please contact our office to find out if it will be rescheduled, or if alternative classes are available.
One of the most illustrious citizens of Philadelphia’s Gilded Age was the merchant, John Wanamaker, best known for his invention of “a new kind of store." This presentation tells the story of his accomplishments and rise to prominence, and will also review his celebrated Lindenhurst estate in Chelten Hills, first outpost of the Gilded Age in Philadelphia. The narrative includes the story of several of his children, also residents of Chelten Hills, and how they achieved their own notable fame and fortune. Their exploits included aviation, golf, and the development of Florida as a winter resort.
Thomas Wieckowski
Thomas J. Wieckowski is Vice-President of the Old York Road Historical Society and Chair of the Cheltenham Township Historical Commission. He received his B.S. at Villanova University and Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is retired from Drexel University in Philadelphia after twenty-seven years where he was Associate Dean of the College of Business and Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems, among other positions. He was also Director of the Masters Programs in Business for the LeBow College of Business. In that role, he conceived, developed, and managed one of the first completely online and AACSB-accredited MBA programs in the country, MBAOnline, which opened in 2000. He currently devotes his time to his lifelong hobby, historical research and writing, and is the author of Making Marathon, published in 2009 by Infinity Press, a history of the village of Wyncote that was the first outpost of the Gilded Age, and, A Spectacle for Men and Angels, a narrative documentary of Camp William Penn, published in the fall of 2013. His forthcoming book, Hitherto Invincible, is the story of three generations of the Barker family, influential 19th century Philadelphia bankers.N/A
