Philadelphia Antiques Show 2019

4 Tributes Ali Brown: The Spark That Ignited the Philadelphia Antiques Show Influential philanthropist Alice (Ali) Barbour Brown (1903–1981) was the founder of the Philadelphia Antiques Show and the driving force behind the event from its inception in 1962 until her death in 1981. The dynamic woman who shaped the annual event into a great success is said to have been “colorful” and “the soul of generosity,” but was also an individual who had “a presence about her; she commanded respect.” As early as 1937, Brown began serving as a volunteer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, initially focusing on the Maternity Department, where she applied the bulk of her boundless energy. Over time she became increasingly involved throughout the hospital, and in 1958 she assumed the chairmanship of the Board of Women Visitors, the hospital’s prestigious volunteer committee, established in 1875 to improve care and comfort for patients and their families. Inspired by friends in Boston who mounted the Ellis Memorial Antiques Show fundraiser in 1959, Brown proposed the concept of an antiques show to the hospital’s Board of Managers, who had asked the Board of Women Visitors to launch a major fundraiser that would also offer something of substance to the community. The idea was immediately approved. “Philadelphia, of course, as everybody knows, has the finest antiques and furniture in the world,” she said as plans got underway. “We can really have an enormous show. There are many smaller shows around, and many good little shows. But not a national, outstanding type of show. So, taking a deep breath, we started to go ahead on it.” Organizing and staging the first show was a task— “a learning experience,” as Brown understated it —but she and a dedicated corps of volunteers persevered. They convinced leading antiques dealers to participate in an unknown event, built awareness and support from antiques lovers in the Philadelphia region and beyond, and nailed down myriad details. From that first year, the show exceeded everyone’s expectations, and the press heralded it as one of the most important events of its kind in the country. Brown was an innovator whose passion for volunteerism fostered this iconic event and ensured its place as an indelible part of the city’s cultural heritage. Now known as the Philadelphia Antiques and Art Show, and with an inspiring transition to the Philadelphia Museum of Art as its beneficiary, it retains the essential spark of the remarkable woman who created it. Tributes