Adam H. Fetterolf Fund

Edwin Henry Fetterolf (B.A. 1894) and George Fetterolf (B.A. 1887; M.D. 1898) established the Adam H. Fetterolf Fund in memory of their father. The fund is used for the purchase of books in support of the study of architecture, sculpture, and decoration.

The educator Adam Fetterolf was the fourth President of Girard College, the school established in 1848 by the will of Stephen Girard (1750-1831). Prior to his arrival at Girard in 1880, Fetterolf served at Freeland Seminary near Collegeville, Pennsylvania,  and Andalusia College, Bucks County.

Adam's sons Edwin and George each made his mark in Philadelphia life. George (1869-1932) was Professor of Otolaryngology at Penn. Edwin (1873-1941), who prepared at Philadelphia's Episcopal Academy, attended architectural drawing classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was employed in the offices of a number of local architects, including Wilson Eyre. By 1905 he had begun his own practice. Edwin Fetterolf became well known for his expertise in architectural lettering and was responsible for most of the architectural lettering used on the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Adam H. Fetterolf Fund has long been supportive of collection development for the Penn Libraries and the Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library. Important acquisitions include Robert Morris, Essay in Defence of Ancient Architecture (1728) and Rene-Louis, Marquis de Girardin, Promenades ou itineraire des jardins de Chantilly (1791).