Price, Eli Kirk, 1860-1933

Biography

Named after his grandfather, who was a highly regarded real estate attorney in Philadelphia, Eli Kirk Price (1860-1933) also shared the elder's sense of civic duty. Just as the grandfather established the city's 8,900-acre Fairmount Park, both men served on its Commission. At the time the younger Price was serving as its vice president, the Fairmount Park Commission was charged with overseeing the construction of a new building on a hill in Fairmount for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Commission was also responsible for the Museum's public funding. Price was a critical player in that project and remained a vital associate of the Museum, serving on its Board of Trustees and as the corporation president from 1926 until his death in 1933. In 1928, Price received the Philadelphia Award, an annual recognition of a citizen's service on behalf of the community. Eli Kirk Price was a descendant of Philip ap Rhys, who came to America from Wales at the end of the 17th century. On a deed for a tract of land in the Haverford, Pennsylvania area, the family name was recorded as "Price." His parents were John Sergeant Price (1831-1897) and Sarah Anne (nee Baker) (1837-1908). Price's wife was Evelyn Taylor, whom he married in 1896.

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