PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — What a way to celebrate a birthday. On Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of the Museum of the American Revolution’s ribbon-cutting, the Old City institution announced a $50 million gift from the estate of its late founding chairman.
“I stop every morning and look at the portrait, look into his eyes, and that’s him. We do feel his presence here,” museum President and CEO Scott Stephenson said on Wednesday, referring to a painting of H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest hanging outside of the museum’s boardroom.
“He was here for the ribbon cutting, of course, on April 19, 2017. He passed away late in 2018, and I think the real blessing for us is that Gerry got to spend time in the museum during our first year of operation. He was here shadowing school groups as they went through, seeing generational families connecting with the story.”
Lenfest was chairman of the museum’s board in the years preceding the 2017 opening. The $50 million gift from his estate is the largest single gift in the museum’s history and will double the size of its endowment fund by the end of this year, Stephenson said.
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“And it really puts us on solid financial footing to really lean into the coming anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, and to extend our reach and impact around the country,” Stephenson said.
In addition to this gift, Lenfest and his wife Marguerite had already donated more $60 million to the museum.
Another $50 million bequest from the Lenfest estate announced Tuesday went to the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a nonprofit founded in 2016 to support local, public-service journalism. The gift will expand the Institute’s endowment.
As the non-controlling owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Institute provides targeted grant funding but does not direct its operations. The Institute has also made significant contributions to other media companies, including WURD Radio, The Philadelphia Tribune and Al Día, totalling $7.5 million.
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