Glen Foerd-Holy Family University Speaker Series Features Jeff Groff, Estate Historian for Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library

Groff will discuss gentleman (and lady) farmers and their extensive estates with prize-winning farming operations, horses, and livestock. 

Holy Family University and Glen Foerd will co-host a Speaker Series event featuring Jeff Groff, Estate Historian for Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library. Groff will be presenting “Main Line Country Squires,” a discussion about the historic farmland estates of the Philadelphia Main Line.

This live Zoom event will be held on Thursday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. This event is free and open to the public. Join the webinar here.

Groff will discuss gentleman (and lady) farmers and their extensive estates with prize-winning farming operations, horses, and livestock.  He will highlight the history of the exclusive Farmer’s Club and the many country sports such as fox hunting that took place on the estates in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The discussion will focus on some notable families like the Cassatts, Roberts, and Montgomerys, and their activities.

The lecture is part of the Glen Foerd-Holy Family University Speaker Series that showcases topics of area cultural and historical interest. The series invites distinguished speakers for a lecture on a topic in American history from the War of 1812 through the 20th century, which is the period of time interpreted by Glen Foerd on the Delaware, the historic house museum located a few blocks from campus. All lectures are free and open to the public.

About Jeff Groff

Jeff Groff has worked at Winterthur since 2006, as Director of Interpretation and Estate Historian from 2006 to 2019, and as Estate Historian since 2019. He was previously director of the Wyck Historic House, Garden, and Farm in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. Groff has an M.A. in American Material Culture from the University of Delaware, and also completed Winterthur’s program in Early American Culture. His research interests include architecture and interiors of American country places, the Colonial Revival, Quaker life, garden history, and “gentlemen farming.”