Home of George W. Childs
George W. Childs held a dinner for Oscar Wilde at his home on Walnut Street the evening of Wilde’s first Philadelphia lecture, January 17, 1882. The dinner ended an eventful day, which had included breakfast at the home of Dr. Samuel Gross (of The Gross Clinic fame) and visits to the Women’s School of Design (see stop #9) and with Walt Whitman in Camden before a reception prior to dinner at the home of L. Clarke and Rebecca Harding Davis (see stop #2). Wilde’s first Philadelphia lecture (see stop #8), delivered the night before disappointed most who attended. But despite the disappointment of the previous evening’s performance, Wilde was still a welcome guest among Philadelphia’s elite.
Home of L. Clarke and Rebecca Harding Davis
Rebecca Harding Davis, a novelist, and her husband, L. Clarke Davis, an editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, held a reception at their home on this site the day after Wilde’s first lecture in Philadelphia (see stop #8). The reception preceded dinner at the home of George W. Childs, co-owner of the Public Ledger. For both men of the press, access to Wilde and his image served them well. His long hair and elaborate clothing, along with the Aesthetic lilies and sunflowers he was often pictured with, were used in both mockery and marketing everywhere and on everything. Wilde was happy to have his name in print.
The Aldine Hotel
This is the site of the Aldine Hotel, where Oscar Wilde stayed beginning January 16, 1882. On an American tour from his native Ireland, Wilde arrived in Philadelphia via train from New York. He was accompanied by his tour organizer, Col. W. F. Morse, and a correspondent from the Philadelphia Press, who reported his “eager interest” on his arrival. The days ahead were filled with receptions hosted by local literati and a lecture filled with 1500 people. Writing home to a friend, Elizabeth Lewis, in a letter in The Rosenbach’s collection Wilde said, “Everything is going on brilliantly.” Click here to see the letter:https://rosenbach.org/wilde-in-philadelphia-walking-tour/wilde-letter-to-elizabeth-lewis-combined/
St. Clement’s Church
Wilde had family ties in Philadelphia. His mother’s second cousin was Basil W. Maturin (1847-1915), an Anglican priest who served as rector of St. Clements Church from 1881-89. Both born in Ireland, Wilde and Maturin were concerned with the welfare of the poor. Maturin converted to Roman Catholicism in 1897, as did Wilde on his deathbed in 1900. On May 11, 1882, the day after his second Philadelphia lecture, Wilde visited Maturin at St. Clements.
Original Broad Street Station, Pennsylvania Railroad
Although most people did not enjoy Oscar Wilde’s January 17 lecture at Horticultural Hall (see stop #8), Joseph Pennell was “edified” and “amused” by it, according to his wife, Elizabeth Robbins, in her biography of her husband. Pennell, an artist, journalist, and follower of Aesthetic painter J. M. Whistler, put off a business trip to remain in town to hear Wilde speak during that first visit. Two days later, as he boarded his train at Broad Street Station, he found Oscar Wilde in the seat next to his! He sketched Wilde and noted to his wife, “... for more than half an hour I never heard a man talk as he did—There is no doubt of the fascination of his conversation.”
Young Men’s Christian Association (Association Hall)
Between his first visit to Philadelphia in January 1882 and his return in May, Wilde gained experience giving lectures to American audiences. This lecture on the decorative arts was a practical application of Aesthetic principles, such as interior decoration and dress. Despite these positive changes, Wilde’s tour organizer, Col. F. W. Morse, booked the lecture for Association Hall at 2:00 p.m., hoping for an audience of women interested in a domestic topic. The Hall did not fill. To see the announcement for Oscar Wilde’s lecture at Association Hall, click here:https://rosenbach.org/wilde-in-philadelphia-walking-tour/announcement-combined/
Public School of Industrial Art (Hollingsworth School)
Oscar Wilde made a second trip to Philadelphia to lecture in May 1882. He visited this site, the Public School of Industrial Art, which was headed by founding director Charles Godfrey Leland. Leland had visited London and was influenced by William Morris—mentioned by Wilde in his first Philadelphia lecture (see stop #8)—one of the leading lights of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which succeeded Wilde’s Aestheticism in adding the edge of social criticism to creative production. Leland’s niece, Elizabeth Robbins, a critic and journalist, was married to Joseph Pennell (see stop #5), who studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, but later became a disciple of J. M. Whistler and friend of Wilde’s.
Horticultural Hall
The primary reason Wilde came to Philadelphia was to deliver lectures on topics of style, decoration, and cultural trends, speaking broadly about the Aesthetic Movement, which valued beauty over meaning or politics. Wilde’s first lecture on the English Renaissance, attended by approximately 1500 people, was described in a diary entry by one attendee, the architect of the building, Addison Hutton.The lecture disappointed most who attended and Hutton noted a lack of “modulation” by Wilde: “Some people thought they were listening to a lullaby, and made the mistake of falling half asleep.” Wilde’s references to Pre-Raphaelites, including William Morris (see stop #7), and French poetry (in French) were probably unfamiliar to his local audience, who expected practical advice offered by a witty celebrity.
Women’s School of Design (Edwin Forrest Mansion)
January 18, 1882, the day after Wilde’s ill-received lecture (see stop #8), was filled with events. Dr. Samuel Gross (now famous from Thomas Eakin’s 1875 painting The Gross Clinic), who knew Wilde’s family from a trip to Dublin, hosted a breakfast for him. Novelist Rebecca Harding Davis and her husband held a reception later in the day, followed by dinner at the home of George W. Childs, a newspaper publisher. Between these events, was a visit to the Women’s School of Design—now the Moore College of Art and Design—and a trip to see Walt Whitman in Camden (see stop #10).
Home of George Whitman
Note: you may wish to drive rather than walk to the last stop on this tourOne reason Wilde was excited to visit Philadelphia was that Camden, the home of the poet Walt Whitman, was nearby. George W. Childs (see stop #1) had invited Whitman to dinner on the evening of January 18, but Whitman declined, stating that he was an “invalid” unable to be out at night. Whitman did let it be known that he would be at home for visitors during the day. Wilde had longed for this visit since first reading Whitman’s work in 1868. Although the two men were poetically incompatible—Whitman was no fan of Wilde’s Aestheticism—they had a long and cordial visit. After his first visit, Wilde returned again in May, but for just one hour. Whitman’s description of Wilde as “a fine large handsome youngster” may have been a play to make Harry Stafford, the object of his affection, jealous.
