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Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

1812 establishments in PennsylvaniaBiological research institutes in the United StatesBotanical research institutesDinosaur museums in the United StatesDrexel University
Institutions accredited by the American Alliance of MuseumsLogan Square, PhiladelphiaMuseums in PhiladelphiaNatural history museums in PennsylvaniaOrganizations based in PhiladelphiaOrganizations established in 1812Paleontology in PennsylvaniaResearch institutes in PennsylvaniaShell museumsZoology organizations
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The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading naturalists of the young American republic with an expressed mission of "the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences". It has sponsored expeditions, conducted original environmental and systematics research, and amassed natural history collections containing more than 17 million specimens. The Academy also organizes public exhibits and educational programs for both schools and the general public.

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Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia Center City

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N 39.957 ° E -75.1714 °
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Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

Benjamin Franklin Parkway 1900
19103 Philadelphia, Center City
Pennsylvania, United States
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Swann Memorial Fountain
Swann Memorial Fountain

The Swann Memorial Fountain (also known as the Fountain of the Three Rivers) is an art deco fountain sculpture located in the center of Logan Circle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.The fountain, by Alexander Stirling Calder designed with architect Wilson Eyre, memorializes Dr. Wilson Cary Swann, founder of the Philadelphia Fountain Society. The Society had been planning a memorial fountain in honor of its late president and founder. After agreeing that the fountain would become city property, the society was granted the site in the center of Logan Circle.Adapting the tradition of “river god” sculpture, Calder created large Native American figures to symbolize the area's major streams, the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and the Wissahickon. The young girl leaning on her side against an agitated, water-spouting swan represents the Wissahickon Creek; the mature woman holding the neck of a swan stands for the Schuylkill River; and the male figure, reaching above his head to grasp his bow as a large pike sprays water over him, symbolizes the Delaware River. Sculpted frogs and turtles spout water toward the 50-foot (15 m) geyser in the center, though typically the geyser only spouts 25 ft (8 m). The use of swans is a pun on Dr. Swann's name. Eyre designed the basin and the interlacing water jets, including the central geyser. During warm months, swimming in the fountain is a long-standing Philadelphia tradition. In the summer of 2006, the City of Philadelphia began enforcing a swimming ban with a nearly constant security presence, but the ban was eliminated in 2009. Besides serving as the center of Logan Square, the Fountain also stands as the midpoint on the Ben Franklin Parkway, which includes also sculptures by two other generations of the Calder family. Stirling Calder's father, Alexander Milne Calder, designed the statue of William Penn atop the tower of City Hall at the southeast end, while, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the northwest end, the mobile Ghosts is by Alexander Calder, Stirling Calder's son. This led to a local wit referring to the three sculptures as the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. For many years the fountain was framed by a magnificent circle of Paulownia trees, which have since been replaced. The fountain was mentioned in songs by the pop punk band The Wonder Years. The song "Logan Circle" from their album The Upsides opens with "They turned on the fountain today at Logan Circle"; there are several references to the fountain and the city of Philadelphia in the band's lyrics. It is the subject of the song "Spit Fountain" by Philadelphia emo band Algernon Cadwallader. It is also featured in the Philly level of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and in an episode of the television show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life".

Aero Memorial (Manship)
Aero Memorial (Manship)

The Aero Memorial is a gilded bronze sculpture by Paul Manship, commissioned by the Association for Public Art (formerly the Fairmount Park Art Association). Aero Memorial is located in Philadelphia's Aviator Park, across from The Franklin Institute at 20th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The memorial is a tribute to those aviators who died in World War I, and it was initiated by the Aero Club of Pennsylvania in 1917 with the help of the Fairmount Park Art Association. The Aero Club donated modest funds into the Fairmount Park Art Association in 1917 for the creation of the memorial, and after years of fundraising, the Art Association was finally able to contact Paul Manship for the commission 1939. The idea for a celestial sphere was approved in 1944, and the sculpture was completed in 1948. Aero Memorial was dedicated on June 1, 1950. Aero Memorial is one of 51 sculptures included in the Association for Public Art's Museum Without Walls interpretive audio program for Philadelphia's outdoor sculpture. The inscription reads: (Sphere is inscribed with the Latin names of constellations and planets) (Base, front:) AERO MEMORIAL WORLD WAR I 1917–1918 (Base, front:) JULIAN BIDDLE HOWARD FOULKE DAY (...transcription illegible) ON DOWNS, JR. (...transcription illegible) CHRISTIAN CLANZ WILLIAM BESSE KOEN (...transcription illegible) TON WOODWARD (A plaque with the insignia of the Fairmount Park Art Association appears on the base.)