Celebrate the Kentucky Derby in style at the historic Woodford Mansion

DATE: Saturday, May 6th

TIME: 4pm to 8pm

LOCATION: Woodford Mansion – 33rd St. & Dauphin Dr., East Fairmount Park

Philadelphia, PA- Get out your fancy hats and trot over to our Kentucky Derby party supporting the programs and preservation of Woodford Mansion. Enjoy craft cocktails made by the folks at Manatawny Stillworks, Sly Fox beer and Hale & True cider and lovely non-alcoholic iced teas. Live music and the beautiful mansion will set the mood for race day.

Eventbrite Page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-derby-at-woodford-mansion-tickets-602643321397

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/632539701715887 

For the second year in a row, our Derby Day at Woodford is raising money to meet our matching funding obligations under a grant we’ve received from the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission (PHMC).  The PHMC Grant is going to enable us to restore to their original 18^th century appearance two rooms in the Mansion that we believe were used by the enslaved African servants of Woodford’s Third owner, Philadelphia merchant David Franks.

We know that David Franks had enslaved servants, both from tax records and also from advertisements placed by him or by others seeking the return of servants who had escaped their enslavement.  We also know that he was involved in the importation of at least one cargo of enslaved Africans from the coast of Guinea.  We have been telling the stories of Franks’ enslaved, as well as those enslaved by some of Woodford’s other owners, and this project will enable us to bring these stories to life by showing the actual spaces where the enslaved slept and worked.

We now have the completed architectural plans for the project and the City has approved a building  permit for the renovation.  We want to move forward this year on the project.  We have raised some of the funding needed to complete it, but construction materials and costs have increased since the grant was issued, so we are hoping to raise more funds to keep everything on track.

The Derby Day Party helps us raise this funding.  It is a great event, featuring live music, mint juleps and other adult beverages, fancy hats, good food, relaxation, games on the lawn, and guided tours of our 1756 National Historic Landmark, which displays the extraordinary Naomi Wood collection of 18^th-century furniture, paintings, and decorative arts.  We will have the big race shown on TV for attendees to watch.