Glencairn Museum

Glencairn Museum, located on 1001 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, is a New Church-affiliated museum of religious history on the National Register of Historic Places.

Collections

It houses a collection of about 8,000 mostly religious artwork from many cultures as diverse as ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek and Roman, medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian, and Native American. The museum displays a replica of the Biblical tabernacle.

Building

The castle-like building was the former house of billionaire businessman Raymond Pitcairn (1885–1966) and his wife, Mildred Glenn (died 1979). It consists of more than 90 rooms on 10 floors, adjacent to his first architectural success, the Gothic Revival Bryn Athyn Cathedral (1913–19) and his father's home Cairnwood. The Pitcairn fortune derived from control of Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, of which his father John Pitcairn, Jr. (1841-1916), was director, 1896-1906. The Pitcairns were funders of the American Liberty League. The name of the museum is a combined form of Raymond's last name and Mildred's maiden name. After Mildred's death in 1979 (Raymond had previously died in 1966) the house, with its collections and Pitcairn archives was given to the Academy of the New Church.