The Rose Valley Museum at Thunderbird Lodge

Will Price - Grasping the Architectural Possibilities of the New Life
2025-04-27 16:00 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | The School in Rose Valley, 20 School Lane, Rose Valley, PA, 19063-4214, United States
“Will Price”
Grasping the Possibilities of the New Life
Join Bruce Laverty, adjunct professor, Pennoni Honors College and the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Drexel University.
In 1930, architect George Howe, lamented that “America has always been the land of the lone prophet, without much but posthumous honor in their own country.” He believed the first American architects to fully comprehend the “spiritual consequences” of their work were Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and Will Price. Wright and Sullivan emerged from the obscurity that Howe decried, but not Price. Laverty will examine the pivotal role that Rose Valley’s Will Price played in American art, architecture, and self-identity. He will review recent successful efforts to shine a light on this “lone prophet” and discuss what Price can teach us today.
Sunday, April 27, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

This Isn't Hull House
2025-09-28 16:00 - 18:00
“This Isn’t Hull House”
Life at Arts & Crafts Communities in the Long Twentieth Century
Thomas A Guiler, Director of Museum Affairs for Oneida Community Mansion House will discuss the vibrant community life of Rose Valley, Roycroft and Byrdcliffe, which strove to form alternative ways to live in an industrial society. Based on his new book The Handcrafted Utopia: Arts & Crafts Communities in Progressive America (for sale and signing at the lecture), he will examine the social and cultural lives of these communities and how they interacted with one another.
Sunday, September 28, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Designing for the Dead
2025-11-23 16:00 - 18:00
“Designing for the Dead”
Art & Architecture in Philadelphia Cemeteries
Join Thomas H. Keels, Author, Historian, Lecturer for a talk followed by a small reception. The birth of the rural cemetery in Philadelphia provided local architects and artists with a novel outdoor laboratory where they could exhibit their works, and experiment with new styles. Such noted architects and artists as John Notman, William Strickland, Alexander Milne Calder, Frank Furness, Horace Trumbauer, and Paul Philippe Cret all created designs for cemetery gatehouses and individual monuments. In some cases, they became “cradle-to-grave” designers for the city’s elite. The talk will discuss Quaker contributions to Philadelphia funerary heritage, including the role of Eli Kirk Price in establishing the Woodlands, one of the city’s earliest rural cemeteries.
Sunday, November 23, 2025, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.
Register Now!
Reservations:
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Adventures in Rose Valley Theater History!
2026-02-01 16:00 - 18:00
“Adventures in Rose Valley Theater History”
Join Peter Schmitz, Adjunct Professor, Temple University Department of Theater for a talk followed by a reception. Actor, author and podcaster Peter will examine aspects of the artistry and history of the “Little Theatre Movement” in early 20th century Philadelphia. He will share readings from his recent book, Adventures in Theater History: Philadelphia – as well as giving a special preview of this chapter on William L. Price and community theater production in Rose Valley.
Sunday, February 1, 2026, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.

Reservations:
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.

Howell Lewis Shay
2026-04-26 16:00 - 18:00
“Howell Lewis Shay: Formative Philadelphia Architect & Arbiter”
Join Scott Laughlin, an expert in historic real estate and an unfaltering volunteer with the Rose Valley Museum and Historical Society, as he presents the long and illustrious career of Howell Lewis Shay.
Mr. Shay was a long-term resident of Rose Valley from 1916 to 1941, then from 1953 until 1974. He is known as the arbiter of the final design for the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the young age of 31, working for Horace Trumbauer. His capability to find compromise and to guide his clients to seek better solutions through thoughtful design was his hallmark. While primarily a commercial architect, best known for his city skyscrapers, he designed eight amazing residences in Rose Valley, 2nd only to our founder, William Lightfoot Price.
Sunday, April 26, 2026, 4pm
$20 per person ($15 members)
Note location: Grace Rotzel Center at The School in Rose Valley.

Reservations:
Payment can be made online or at the door. Click here to register online.
Call 484-444-2961 (leave a message)
Email: programs@rosevalleymuseum.org
Parking at the School in Rose Valley at the end of School Lane.
