The Calder Fireplace Alexander Stirling Calder B.1870 D.1945

Alexander Stirling Calder was an American sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder (who is known for the William Penn statue on top of City Hall) and the father of the contemporary kinetic sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Calder.

His best-known works are George Washington as President on the Washington Square Arch in New York City, the Swann Memorial Fountain located in Logan Square in Philadelphia, and the Leif Eriksson Memorial in Reykjavík, Iceland.

The marble fireplace in the Henry Memorial Library was dedicated to the Class of 1906. The mantle is inscribed with the phrase known by generations of students, “Kyndle Yr Awne Ffyre.” The words, when spoken phonetically, translate into “kindle your own fire” but we are unsure of the language. I suspect it is Welsh because of the time frame. This area, specifically West Philadelphia and West of Philadelphia, known as the Welsh Tract, was settled by Welsh speaking Quakers in the late 17th century.

As suburbanization spread westward from Philadelphia in the late 19th century (thanks to the railroads), living in a community with a Welsh name acquired a cachet. Some communities in the area formerly comprising the Welsh Tract were subsequently given Welsh or Welsh-sounding names to improve their perceived desirability. Among these were Gladwyne, formerly ""Merion Square"" (which was given its new name in 1891, although the name is meaningless in Welsh), and Bryn Mawr, formerly ""Humphreysville"" (which was renamed in 1869).

Research done by Deidre Lyngard from the Communications Department at Springside Chestnut HIll Academy in 2019 uncovered the title of an exhibition at a gallery in New York City by artist Diana Kingsley.

Ms. Kingsley’s grandfather, Robert Kingsley, was headmaster at CHA from 1942- 1965, and her father, mother, and brothers all graduated form CHA and Springside. She began her schooling at Springside, so was very familiar with the mantle and always loved it. Kingsley wrote “The fact that there were two ffs in ‘ffyre’ always intrigued me as a youngster.” In their correspondence, Ms. Kingsley revealed that in her research she found an article written in 2007 about a visiting professor in the Henry Library which references the phrase and correlates it to a Bible verse from Isaiah.

Isaiah 50:11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

Currently, the phrase is being researched by Welsh language experts connected with the Welsh Ambassador to the US, located in Washington, DC. This information will be updated when we receive more information. The current thinking is that it is a clever play on words, especially because there is no letter “K” in the Welsh language.