Garvan, Anthony N. B.

Anthony Nicholas Brady Garvan was born on October 4, 1917 in Kamp Kill Kare, his family home at Raquette Lake, New York, to Francis Patrick Garvan and Mabel Brady Garvan.

Garvan was a graduate of Hotchkiss School in 1935. He received his B.A. in 1939 and M.A. in 1942 from Yale University. A Ph.D. was awarded from Yale in 1948 after service with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

Garvan's academic career included an assistant professorship at Bard College, 1946-1949, a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, 1949-1950, and a fellowship in American Civilization at the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. He was appointed assistant professor in American Civilization in 1951, associate professor in 1956, and professor and department chair in 1960. Garvan's contributions to the University of Pennsylvania included the pioneering of a masters degree program in Museum Studies. He worked on many projects, including the Index of American Cultures, which offered academic training and jobs for his students.

His professional contributions extended beyond the University of Pennsylvania to an array of prestigious school organizations. Garvan held the position of lecturer at the H.F. du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1953-1957; head curator at the Department of Civil History and at the Growth of the United States Exhibit Hall at the Smithsonian Institution, 1957-1960; and advisor to the National Portrait Gallery, 1961-1962. He served in a variety of professional capacities for local, regional, and national institutions; he was active on the board of the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1961-1992.

Garvan married Jane Nicomedus in 1940. Their children are Mary Jane, Kathleen Anne, Virginia Brady, Frances Courtney, Anthony Nicholas Brady, Nichola, Christine, and Margaret Blacke. In 1969 Garvan married Beatrice Bronson Lippincott. He died at his home on January 10, 1992 at the age of 74.

Anthony Garvan was Professor of American Civilization at the University of Pennsylvania, 1960-1987, and first chairman of the American Civilization department. His interdisciplinary approach to American culture (including an active interest in American architecture) led to his leadership of the graduate program in Historic Preservation from 1980-1982. Garvan's personal and professional papers may be consulted at the University Archives.

Garvan's collection of materials related to American architecture focuses on Alexander Jackson Davis (1803-1892), one of the most influential proponents of the picturesque style for rural American houses. Davis began as a pictorial artist, student of John Trumbull. His skill as draftsman and renderer led to his partnership with Ithiel Town 1829-1935 (and James H. Dakin for a brief period ca. 1832). Davis was actively involved with major architects of his period, including Andrew Jackson Downing and Thomas U. Walter. Davis's book, Rural Residences, and his contributions to Downing's books and to Downing's monthly magazine, The Horticulturist, gave Davis's romantic country houses wide exposure and his style became very popular. In the 1840s and 1850s, at the height of his career, Davis was busy designing rural and urban residences and romantic suburbs such as Llewellyn Park in New Jersey. Before the Civil War he also designed residences and institutional buildings in the South, including the Capitol of North Carolina (with Town), an insane asylum at Raleigh, NC and buildings for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Davidson College and the Virginia Military Institute. Davis continued practicing architecture until his mid-seventies and then lived in retirement in New Jersey to his death in 1892.

Anthony Nicholas Brady Garvan was born on October 4, 1917 in Kamp Kill Kare, his family home at Raquette Lake, New York, to Francis Patrick Garvan and Mabel Brady Garvan.

Garvan was a graduate of Hotchkiss School in 1935. He received his B.A. in 1939 and M.A. in 1942 from Yale University. A Ph. D. was awarded from Yale in 1948 after service with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

Garvan's academic career included an Assistant Professorship at Bard College, 1946-1949 and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, 1949-1950 and a Fellowship in American Civilization at the University of Pennsylvania in 1950. He was appointed Assistant Professor in American Civilization in 1951, Associate Professor in 1956, and Professor and Department Chair in 1960. Garvan's contributions to the University of Pennsylvania included the pioneering of a masters degree program in Museum Studies. He worked on many projects, like the Index of American Cultures, which offered academic training and jobs for his students.

His professional contributions extended beyond the University of Pennsylvania to an array of prestigious school organizations. Garvan held the position of lecturer at the Henry F. DuPont Winterthur Museum, 1953-1957; head curator at the Department of Civil History and at the Growth of the United States Exhibit Hall at the Smithsonian Institution, 1957-1960; and advisor to the National Portrait Gallery, 1961-1962. He served in a variety of professional capacities for local, regional, and national institutions; he was active on the board of the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1961-1992.

Garvan married Jane Nicomedus in 1940. Their children are Mary Jane, Kathleen Anne, Virginia Brady, Frances Courtney, Anthony Nicholas Brady, Nichola, Christine, and Margaret Blacke. In 1969 Garvan married Beatrice Bronson Lippincott. He died at his home on January 10, 1992 at the age of 74.