No, the gentlemen at right aren’t unloading missiles from that truck. The photo actually shows workers posing with pipes from Penn’s massive Curtis Organ as it was being installed at Irvine Auditorium in 1928. Originally built in 1926 by the Austin Organ Company for the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia, it was later purchased by Saturday Evening Post publisher Cyrus H.K. Curtis, who in turn donated it to Penn, so that it could be installed in Irvine. The organ has remained there ever since, even surviving a 1984 renovation plan that would have had seen it dismantled. Good thing, too: Just four years later, the Organ Historic Society of America recognized the instrument as a historically significant pipe organ. Then, in 1997, Austin Organs Inc. returned to tune up the organ, as well as repair damage to some of those massive pipes.
For more on this and other notable moments in Penn history, go to the University Archives web site at www.archives.upenn.edu.
People living on small islands and territories face mounting climate impacts, but little is known about their stance on the issue. Research from a team including Parrish Bergquist, assistant professor of political science, aims to fill those gaps.
Penn researchers developed a system that allows light to be guided through a tiny crystal, undeterred by bumps, bends, and back-reflections. Their findings pave the way for robust, controllable light-based chips, smarter routing for data links, and more stable lasers.
A West Philadelphia High School student practices the drum as part of a July summer program in partnership with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and nonprofit Musicopia.
A summer of student enrichment, from big ideas to bold beats
The Netter Center for Community Partnerships finished its summer of programming for West Philadelphia students, impacting 640 students and six University-Assisted Community Schools.
