Meet the Authors of Bryn Athyn Historic District Book At Glencairn Museum

The following is the official press release courtesy of Bryn Athyn:

“The Bryn Athyn Historic District,” distributed by Arcadia Publishing, was written by Ed Gyllenhaal, a historian and Glencairn’s curator, and his wife, Kirsten Hansen Gyllenhaal, a researcher and writer. They will greet guests at a book signing from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Glencairn museum, 1001 Cathedral Rd., Bryn Athyn.

The 128-page book, with text and photographs, examines (completed in 1895), Bryn Athyn Cathedral (dedicated in 1919), Cairncrest (completed in 1928), and Glencairn (completed in 1939), which comprise a district the U.S. Secretary of the Interior designated a National Historic Landmark in 2008. The district was one of only 17 sites - and one of only two in Pennsylvania - that year to earn the designation, which is awarded to structures significant in American history and culture.

Kirsten Hansen Gyllenhaal said she anticipates that, through the book, more people will visit the venues.

“When I lead tours at Glencairn Museum, visitors often tell me they have driven past the buildings in the historic district for years, but never knew what a treasure was waiting for them until they stepped inside,” she said. “I hope our book will raise awareness about these buildings and their remarkable history so that more people will come and enjoy them.”

The buildings reflect the vision and religious faith of the community’s earliest residents. Three of them are former homes of the Pitcairn family. Featured are:

• Cairnwood, 1005 Cathedral Rd. Built in the Beaux-Arts style, it was the home of John Pitcairn, one of America’s leading industrialists and now is a venue for weddings, tours and educational programs. The house was designed by the New York firm of Carrère & Hastings, which produced some of the best-known and most recognizable buildings of the era, including the New York Public Library and the original House and Senate office buildings on Capitol Hill. Its grounds were designed by Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot of Brookline, Massachusetts. Frederick Law Olmsted had earlier designed Central Park in New York City.
• Bryn Athyn Cathedral, 900 Cathedral Rd. This medieval-style house of worship has been called “an epoch-making masterwork of architectural art, created with joy, full of artistic conscience.” (A. Kingsley Porter, “Beyond Architecture.”) Known for its stained glass windows and distinctive architecture, it serves as the central place of worship for the Bryn Athyn New Church congregation.
• Cairncrest. The home of Harold F. Pitcairn, one of the foremost pioneers of early American aviation, it now serves as a private office building for the General Church of the New Jerusalem, a world-wide New Church organization.
• Glencairn, 1001 Cathedral Rd. Now the home of a museum of religious history and art, this magnificent castle-like structure was built in the Romanesque style during the Great Depression by Raymond Pitcairn as a home for his family and art collections. It includes a 149 ½-foot tower from which visitors can view the Philadelphia skyline and surrounding area.

A large archive of photographic prints and negatives connected with the Bryn Athyn Historic District, including thousands of glass negatives, is stored in the Glencairn Museum archives. Many have been reproduced and appear in the book.

Philadelphia was one of the earliest centers of New Church activity in the United States and Bryn Athyn, a New Church community, is home to some of the most remarkable architecture in the Philadelphia area. As the book notes, the origins of the New Church lie in 18^th century Sweden with the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), a scientist, philosopher and Christian theologian. He believed faith resided not only in belief and knowledge, but in living a useful life related to family, community, nation and church. Swedenborg called this approach to Christianity the New Church - a denomination he never sought to establish but which was organized by followers after his death. In 1889, the Pitcairn family of Philadelphia began purchasing enough farmland to establish a New Church community and a campus for the Academy of the New Church. In 1899, residents called their community Bryn Athyn, or “Hill of Unity.”  

“The Bryn Athyn Historic District” is part of the “Images of America” series by Arcadia Publishing, based in Mount Pleasant S.C., which says it is the leading local-history publisher in the United States, with a catalog of more than 6,000 titles.

The Gyllenhaals’ book is significant to area history, said David Rowland, president of the Old York Road Historical Society.

“It is the first book to examine the fascinating history of all of the buildings within the historic district,” he said. “Ed and Kirsten have done a wonderful job of setting the historical record straight with their great research and fine writing. The book is an excellent introduction to this regional treasure.”

Ed Gyllenhaal has been curator of Glencairn Museum since 1987, is on the faculty of Bryn Athyn College, and has written and produced two award-winning documentaries, “Cairnwood: A Home in the Country” (2003) and “Embracing the Sacred: The Story of Glencairn Museum” (2007). Kirsten Hansen Gyllenhaal was researcher and project manager for a new edition of E. Bruce Glenn’s 1971 “Bryn Athyn Cathedral: The Building of a Church” (2011), and was publishing coordinator for “Harold F. Pitcairn: Aviator, Inventor and Developer of the Autogiro” (2009). She also is a historical researcher and tour guide at Glencairn Museum. The couple was married at Bryn Athyn Cathedral in 1985.

The June 24 book signing, open for ages 21 and older, features wine in Glencairn’s cloister garden with an opportunity to meet Ed and Kirsten Gyllenhaal, who have produced a slideshow of some of the most interesting photographs in the book. Plus, visitors can view the exhibition “From Gutenberg to Kindle: The Art of Bible Making,” and see live demonstrations on a working Gutenberg printing press replica and take a cell phone audio tour of Glencairn’s first floor. They also can take an elevator ride to the top of the tower for a nighttime view.

Copies of “The Bryn Athyn Historic District” will be on sale. The book retails for $21.99, but will be sold for $20 within the historic district. The authors’ royalties and a portion of the profits from books sold at Glencairn Museum go toward the care of historic photographs in the Bryn Athyn Historic District archives. New and renewing members of Glencairn Museum receive a copy of the book for free. The offer is good until May 30, 2012, and applies to Individual ($30), Family ($40) and Frequent Visitor ($80) memberships.

Admission to the June 24 event is free, but donations are welcome. Visits to the tower are $2. For additional information, call Glencairn Museum at 267-502-2600 or visit www.glencairnmuseum.org. Additional information about the Bryn Athyn Historic District may be found at www.bahistoricdistrict.org.