Preservation Alliance and Friends of the Tanner House partner to save historic Philly landmark

Last summer, Philadelphia city officials deemed the home of renowned artist Henry Ossawa Tanner, “unsafe.”

Friends of the Tanner House and Painting in the Park volunteer, Christopher Rogers (center), talks to event guest during the Juneteenth celebration at the Hatfield House in Fairmount Park on Sunday, June 19, 2022. The Painting in the Park event sought to raise awareness for funding to save the Tanner House on Diamond Street in North Philadelphia. Henry Ossawa Tanner was a renowned artist whose works are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and PAFA.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Published Jul. 20, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET

Alarmed that the North Philadelphia home of famed artist Henry Ossawa Tanner was in danger of demolition, a group of community advocates launched an online crowdfunding campaign to save the house.

Last summer, Philadelphia city officials attached a yellow notice that Tanner’s former home, a National Historic Landmark at 2908 W. Diamond St., was “unsafe.”

The city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections noted that its roof needs replacing, the walls have buckled and the floors are damaged.

After the Inquirer wrote about the house and its history last December, the Friends group went into action and initiated its online fundraiser on Feb. 25.

So far, the Tanner House campaign has raised nearly $26,000 in cash, and has also received an additional $5,000 pledged donation. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has also pledged to donate proceeds of a fundraising event of its own to the Friends’ project.

Last week, organizers of the Friends of Tanner announced that they have signed an agreement with the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia to temporarily act as the fiscal sponsor of those monies.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia for partnering with the Friends of the Tanner House to serve as the temporary local fiduciary to ensure swift repairs on the Henry O. Tanner House until a longterm nonprofit steward has been identified,” Christopher Rogers, a member of the Friends group said.

The relationship with Preservation Alliance was described as a temporary one because the Friends group, Preservation Alliance and Michael Thornton, the current primary owner of the house are exploring ways to both stabilize the house, and, hopefully sell it to a nonprofit steward.

“It’s a fiscal sponsor agreement because Friends of the Tanner House is not an official nonprofit and they are raising money to do work on the house,” said Jennifer Robinson, who is director of preservation services for Preservation Alliance.

“We are going to serve as a conduit for the funds so people can receive a tax deduction for their donation and support this cause.”

Originally, The Friends of Tanner had intended to end its campaign on the website on June 21, which would have been Tanner’s 163rd birthday.

Rogers and Robinson said that potential donors may continue to donate to the Tanner House project by making donations directly to the Preservation Alliance. For now, people are asked to mail checks to: Preservation Alliance, 1608 Walnut Street, Suite 1702, Philadelphia, PA 19103. They asked that donors explicitly name “Tanner House Campaign” within the memo.

Robinson said her organization is working on the details of making sure people who want to donate to the Tanner House on the Preservation Alliance website will be clear about whether they are making donations to Preservation Alliance, or to the Tanner House .

Judith Robinson, a North Philadelphia resident and member of the Friends of Tanner group , said group members, Preservation Alliance staffers, and Thornton, will be meeting by Zoom with Justin Spivey, a well-known historic preservation expert this Friday,

She said Spivey, who works for Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, an engineering consultancy firm, wants to meet with them before he presents a preliminary report on what exactly needs to be done to stabilize the house.

Thornton, who inherited the house from his father, Robert Thornton, is the executor of his father’s estate.

He has been working with a Philadelphia attorney since last year to clear the “tangled title” on the house. He said last week that he hopes to sell the house to a nonprofit organization by September.

Thornton, a biology professor at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, said that because his father had added his elderly mother’s name to the deed, Thornton had to get signatures from all of his grandmother’s heirs to get the right to sell the property.

Thornton’s grandmother, Emma Thornton, had seven other children besides Robert, and left no will. So, technically, all of Robert’s siblings’ descendants could have a claim on a share in the house.

Tanner, who is known for such major works as “Nicodemus,” “The Annunciation,” “The Banjo Lesson,” and “The Thankful Poor” lived at the Diamond Street house from 1872 to 1888, from the ageof 13 to 31.

In 1891, Tanner, who first studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, moved to Paris to study at the Académie Julian. Within a few years, he was exhibiting and winning awards at the Paris Salon

Tanner’s works are currently among the collections of both PAFA and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Acknowledgment

The work produced by the Communities & Engagement desk at The Inquirer is supported by The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project's donors.