Ahead of Sunday’s final day, families brave the rain to protest academy closure

For Christine Anderson, visiting the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is a family tradition. And she hoped to continue that ritual one last time Saturday.

As a kid growing up in the Lehigh Valley, Anderson made frequent trips to the country’s oldest natural history museum. As a mother, she brought her younger daughter, Krissy, now 21, to the museum to make her own childhood memories.

And on Saturday, the penultimate day of the museum’s operation before its planned closure due to a lack of funding, Anderson and her family squeezed in their final trip.

If for no other reason, she said, than to give her 5-month-old daughter, Lola, the chance to cross through its threshold.

“It’s a great place for kids to learn, and I think it’s great for the culture of the city,” Anderson said. “At a time when so many other museums are closing, or at risk of closing, it’s just so disappointing that a space like this is closing with them.”

Anderson and her family were among the dozens of attendees who braved Saturday’s blustery nor’easter to fill the Academy of Natural Science’s halls. The museum’s entry line snaked down the sidewalk along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, flanked by protesters from the Save the Academy Coalition who were rallying in support of the beloved institution.

Sarah McAnulty, one of the organizers, said the demonstration was intended to stress that the museum’s life isn’t over “until the doors are closed and the exhibits are dismantled.”

“It is of critical importance that we make sure the people who are making the decisions with the future of the Academy of Natural Sciences know that the city of Philadelphia needs this museum to stay open and the volume of support that we have for that effort,” said McAnulty, a science educator who runs the nonprofit Skype a Scientist.

To bolster that effort, the coalition hosted a letter-writing station for kids, hoping to send that message directly to Drexel officials. They also offered animal face painting and a free concert. Volunteers stood on the shoulder of the Parkway, their protest signs greeted by enthusiastic honks from passing drivers.

“It’s hard to know whether your kid is going to be inspired by science and become a scientist later,” McAnulty said. “And so whether they want to start their journey with science to become a scientist or just to see things that humans have been studying and collecting for thousands of years, this is a huge place for Philadelphia history and inspiration for kids.”

» READ MORE: William Penn Foundation offers funding to keep Academy of Natural Sciences museum open

Drexel and the academy announced the museum’s closure Sept. 1, after nearly 200 years of operation, with Sunday being the final day its collection will be open to the public. The decision, officials said, came amid declining attendance and economic pressures, with a hope of concentrating resources on continuing the academy’s research.

Late Friday, the William Penn Foundation announced it offered funding to keep the public museum open for a least a year to allow Drexel to address its economic issues. Drexel officials have yet to say whether they will accept that offer.

There are plenty of Philadelphians who hope the university will consider the deal. Among them is Dan Solomon, who spent a rain-soaked Saturday holding a protest sign in support of a museum that played an impactful role in his family’s life.

Solomon said his daughter is applying to colleges this year, and her pursuit of a career in neuroscience was inspired, in part, by their frequent visits to the Academy of Natural Sciences.

“It’s just unconscionable that this would be just ripped away from Philly kids forever,” Solomon, of Mt. Airy, said. “All it needs is a chance. We’ve had a month to organize [since the closing was announced] and we’ve already gathered plenty of support.”

Solomon urged Drexel to take the William Penn Foundation’s offer.

“Of course people understand that times are tough,” he said. “But all we’re asking for is a chance to save our museum. And if we have that chance, we should take it.”

Kevin Chapman, who was standing in line alongside Christine Anderson, his partner, and their newborn daughter, agreed.

“Museums provide a foundation for education, and I feel like there’s a lot of things that provide foundations for education that are under attack right now in our country, whether it’s historical venues or sciences and art,” he said. “We need to support those things while they’re here, because it’ll be too late once they’re gone.”