Lee Culture Center

The Lee Culture Center was founded in the early 1960's. In 1954, the Philadelphia Hospital for the Insane wished to sell their land west of 46th street. (It should be noted that the Mill Creek Sewer runs south underneath 46th street). As the Philadelphia Housing Authority bought 23 acres of land for a low income housing project, community residents demanded for a preservation of the last plot of open space to be found in West Philadelphia. Miss Audrey Maetzoldt, an energetic field worker of the west area Health and Welfare's Council, led a crusade of community activists in demanding that a substantial amount of land should be set aside for education and recreation. There request was fulfilled and the building was called the Lee Culture Center after Joseph Lee, a local postmaster and activist in the 1960's. Besides being a meeting house for anti-racial discrimination activism in the 1960's, many famous jazz bands and musicians have their roots there. It should be mentioned that the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane owned the property for about one hundred years. The original owner of the estate was the Italian Paul Busti, the founder of Buffalo. He called it the Blockley Retreat Farm while living there in the early nineteenth (1800) century. It is amazing that the building remains the same with the exception of a removed front porch.

19th Century