Glencairn Museum

Glencairn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property
Location:	1001 Papermill Rd., Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Area:	6.2 acres (2.5 ha)
Built:	1929
Architect:	Raymond Pitcairn
Architectural style:	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Other
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	78002434
Added to NRHP:	August 31, 1978

Glencairn Museum, located on 1001 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, is a New Church-affiliated museum of religious history on the National Register of Historic Places. It houses a collection of about 8,000 mostly religious artwork from many cultures as diverse as ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek and Roman, medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian, and Native American. It consists of more than 100 rooms on 11 floors, adjacent to Ralph Adams Cram's Gothic Revival Bryn Athyn Cathedral (1913–19).

The castle-like building was the former house of billionaire businessman Raymond Pitcairn (1885–1966) and his wife, Mildred Glenn (died 1979). The name of the museum is a combined form of Raymond's last name and Mildred's maiden name. Pitcairn, a member of the New Church himself, had no formal training in architecture and built it in the Romanesque style between 1928 and 1939. After Mildred's death in 1979 (Raymond had previously died in 1966) the house, with its collections and Pitcairn archives was given to the Academy of the New Church.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is a contributing property of the Bryn Athyn Historic District (a National Historic Landmark District).

Collections

The museum displays a replica of the Biblical tabernacle.

See also

• Bryn Athyn College

External links

• Glencairn Museum official site