Elisabeth Booth, history buff
Elisabeth C. Booth, 87, of Gladwyne, an aficionado of history who founded the docent program at the Mutter Museum, was a guide at Eastern State Penitentiary, and lectured at the Art Museum, died of congestive heart failure last Friday at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne, where she had lived for four years. She had been a longtime resident of Haddonfield.
Elisabeth C. Booth, 87, of Gladwyne, an aficionado of history who founded the docent program at the Mutter Museum, was a guide at Eastern State Penitentiary, and lectured at the Art Museum, died of congestive heart failure last Friday at Waverly Heights in Gladwyne, where she had lived for four years. She had been a longtime resident of Haddonfield.
The former Elisabeth Collinson was raised by a mother interested in history, who entertained her with colorful stories about the textile mills that once thrived along the Schuylkill. Her father owned a dairy and delivered milk twice a day in horse-drawn carts on the narrow streets and steep hills of Roxborough.
After graduating from Roxborough High School in 1939, she earned a bachelor's degree in teaching from the University of Pennsylvania. She taught school until marrying Robert E. Booth, a physician, in 1944. The couple raised four children and lived in Haddonfield for more than 50 years.
After surviving cancer in 1976, Mrs. Booth became active in the women's committee of the College of Physicians. Under the auspices of Mutter Museum curator Gretchen Worden, Mrs. Booth founded the docent program at the museum of medical oddities. Thousands of visitors who came to Philadelphia for the Bicentennial were introduced to the Mutter.
"Elisabeth was as knowledgeable about antiques as she was history," daughter-in-law Katharine Booth said. "She was a leader for the Philadelphia Antiques Show and a Fairmount Park house guide for the Art Museum."
At Eastern State Penitentiary, Mrs. Booth was fascinated by the history of the incarceration of prisoners and the rediscovery of what had gone on behind those ominous walls.
In addition to her husband and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Booth is survived by son Robert Jr.; daughters Leslie Faust and Alison Halloran; and 10 grandchildren.
A memorial reception will be held at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Manor House at Waverly Heights, 1400 Waverly Rd., Gladwyne.
Memorial donations may be made to the Mutter Museum at the College of Physicians, 19 S. 22d St., Philadelphia 19103-3097.