Proceedings at the Hall. 



On the afternoon of November 21, 1889, at 4 

 o'clock, Hon. Frederick Fraley, LL.D., the Presi- 

 dent of the Society, delivered the following address 

 at the Hall of the Society : 



Associates and Friends : 



It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this 

 ancient edifice, which has been the home of the Ameri- 

 can Philosophical Society for one hundred years. It 

 stands on a portion of the old State House Square, in 

 Philadelphia, about which and the buildings standing 

 upon it cluster so many precious historic and patriotic 

 memories. The site for it was granted by the Com- 

 monwealth of Pennsylvania in the year 1785, after a 

 persistent struggle on the part of the Society to obtain 

 a spot upon which to locate its dwelling-place, and it is 

 a source of high gratification to all those who have 

 succeeded in the membership of the Society that such 

 a place was selected for its home. It stands in close 

 proximity to the other monumental buildings upon the 

 square, is not distinguished by any architectural pre- 

 tensions, but is a simple, home-like building, frequently 

 mistaken as a part, of the municipal buildings which 

 surround it. As the passers in the streets go to and 

 fro they identify It with the city buildings and have no 

 consciousness that It is the ancient home of a great 

 scientific Institution, 



The members of that day had considerable trouble, 

 of course, in raising the necessary funds for the erec- 

 tion of such a building. It was one of quite large pro- 

 portions then, and it occupied some thought so to 



