Answer: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Eli Kirk Price (1860-1933) was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and an extremely active member of the Fairmount Park Commission. (His grandfather helped establish the park in the late 1860s.) Price was awarded the Philadelphia Award in 1928 for his oversight and planning of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the advancement of the Parkway. The museum, which opened the same year Price was nominated for the award, is a testament to his efforts to beautify the city.  In his acceptance speech, Price compared the mammoth project, and the devotion of those who labored for it, to the building of the great cathedrals of the Middle Ages. He observed that great tasks lay ahead, since the galleries were empty of art, and even after art had been collected, millions would have to be raised for “lectureships and curatorships” to make the collections “useful” to the public.

Price served as president of the Art Museum from its opening to his death in 1933. Under his presidency, the McFadden, Elkins, and Widener collections were installed, and the French, English, and American period rooms furnished.

HSP owns several manuscript collection pertaining to Eli Kirk Price and the Price family. Additionally, the library holds a number of publications on the history of the museum, such as The New Art Museum at Fairmount (call number UPA/Pam F 158.35 .P46 1929 Folio) and Philadelphia Museum of Art: A Landmark Renewed (call number N685.P48 1993 Folio).