Pearl S. Buck House National Historic Landmark

The Pearl S. Buck House, formerly known as Green Hills Farm, is the 67-acre homestead in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Nobel-prize-winning American author Pearl Buck lived for 40 years, raising her family, writing, pursuing humanitarian interests, and gardening. She purchased the house in 1933 and lived there until the late 1960s, when she moved to Danby, Vermont.[3] She completed many works while on the farm, including This Proud Heart (1938), The Patriot (1939), Today and Forever (1941), and The Child Who Never Grew (1950). The farm, a National Historic Landmark, is located on Dublin Road southwest of Dublin, Pennsylvania. It is now a museum open to the public.

Green Hills Farm
Nearest cityDublin, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°21′36″N 75°13′11″W
Built1933
NRHP reference No.74001755
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 27, 1974[1]
Designated NHLJanuary 16, 1980[2]

Overview

The Pearl S. Buck House at Green Hills Farm, an example of 19th century (built 1825[4]) Pennsylvanian architecture, is constructed of coursed fieldstone. It is four bays wide and two deep with the main entrance located in the second bay. Two gable dormers are located on the front and rear slope of the roof. Chimneys are located on each gable end. When Buck purchased the farmstead, she made extensive alterations and additions to the 19th century farmhouse, including a two-story fieldstone wing added to the east gable and two libraries. Today, visitors can tour twelve rooms of the home and visit the pre-Revolutionary War cottage on the property and the barn built in 1827.

The interior melds the two worlds that so greatly shaped the life of this renowned author. In the large library, two Pennsylvania jugs serve as lamp bases upon a beautifully hand carved Chinese hardwood desk, at which Buck wrote her breakthrough novel The Good Earth. Buck filled her home with interesting works of original art by Chen Chi and Freeman Elliot , iron works of art produced by exiled artisans in China, Peking Fetti carpets that survived revolutions in China, and some of her own sculptures.

  • House
  • Barn

Museum and Tours

The Pearl Buck house is open to the public for daily tours seven days a week. Pearl S. Buck International currently offers two house tours to visitors: Pearl S. Buck: Taking Action,[5][6] which focuses on Ms. Buck’s activism and human rights advocacy, and the more traditional biographical and historic Pearl S. Buck: Life and Legacy Tour.

National Historic Landmark Designation[7]

The Pearl S. Buck House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1980[8] and opened as a museum the same year. Of 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places, approximately 2,500 are recognized as National Historic Landmarks. As of 2018, there were only 300 National Historic Landmarks dedicated to upholding the legacy of a woman. Of that number, the Pearl S. Buck House is one of only 10 with an intact collection.

Approximately 17,000 people visit each year. It sits on over 67 acres of manicured lawns, gardens and ponds. The house also contains two green houses.

Pearl S. Buck International

Pearl S. Buck International is the organization that owns and operates the Pearl S. Buck House National Historic Landmark. Pearl S. Buck International is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization founded by writer, activist and humanitarian Pearl Buck. Pearl S. Buck International carries on Ms. Buck’s legacy through intercultural education, the Pearl Buck House museum and tours, and humanitarian aid.

Domestically, the organization provides guided tours of the Pearl S. Buck House to thousands of global visitors annually; offers diversity and inclusion education and training programs for organizations, businesses and schools through the Welcome Workplace program; continues Ms. Buck’s literary legacy through its writing workshops; offers events and exhibits to the community, and manages overseas humanitarian programs that provide aid to marginalized children and their families in South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China.

Organizational Structure

Pearl S. Buck International operates under the leadership of a President/CEO and a Board of Directors. The day-to-day operations of the organization are carried out by paid staff and a robust volunteer organization.

Pearl Buck left no endowment to fund the future work of her foundation, now Pearl S. Buck International. Therefore, Pearl S. Buck International relies on the financial support of generous donors, planned giving bequests, and fundraising events to continue to operate and carry out the programs and events that share Ms. Buck’s vision and mission.

What Pearl S. Buck International Does

Pearl S. Buck International carries on the legacy of Pearl Buck today. The programs at Pearl S. Buck International fall into three categories – intercultural, international, and the Pearl Buck House museum. In addition to the museum and tours, Pearl S. Buck International provides:

Intercultural Education and Programs

In the area of intercultural education, Pearl S. Buck International offers diversity and inclusion training, professional development and consulting, cultural immersion programs and tours, public programs, exhibits, and panel discussions that promote intercultural awareness, understanding, and appreciation.

Welcome Workplace[9][10][11][12]

In 2017, Pearl S. Buck International established Welcome Workplace, a professional development program designed to help organizations, businesses, and schools establish an environment that embraces diversity and inclusion. Certified professionals administer baseline assessments, review assessment outcomes, and facilitate workshops to introduce employers and employees to the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to ensure cultural awareness and better business practices.

Global Leadership Program[13]

The Global Leadership Program is offered for students from grades 9 through 11 to teach vital skills such as team communication, cultural awareness, creativity, community service, leadership, goal setting, and decision making in a group setting with other teens from differing backgrounds. Participants then work collaboratively on a service project of their choice to benefit Pearl S. Buck International’s mission and work.

International Support and Humanitarian Aid

Pearl S. Buck International’s international programs, with the support of sponsors, focus on providing health, education, livelihood, and psychosocial support to children in need in six Asian countries: South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China. More than 100,000 children and their families are served each year. Pearl S. Buck International also organizes and raises funds to provide support to disaster recovery and relief in these regions.

History

Pearl S. Buck International was founded by Pearl Buck as the Pearl S. Buck Foundation in 1964. Ms. Buck used the spotlight on her to illuminate the plight of marginalized people everywhere. She was a lifelong advocate of cross-cultural understanding, women’s rights, and racial harmony. Her advocacy included fighting for the differently-abled, mixed race and impoverished children, social justice issues, and East-West relations.

Pearl Buck founded Welcome House (the world’s first international biracial adoption agency) and established the Pearl S. Buck Foundation (now Pearl S. Buck International) to provide international humanitarian aid, which today includes support to children in need across Asia. Ms. Buck’s groundbreaking words and work paved the way for greater international and intercultural understanding and provided life-changing aid for countless impoverished children. Pearl S. Buck International continues to carry out Pearl Buck’s legacy and work to this day.

See also

Notes
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Buck, Pearl S., House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
  3. Green Hill Farm (Pearl S. Buck House) National Park Service
  4. Preservation/Restoration of the Pearl S. Buck House National Historic Landmark Archived 2007-03-03 at the Wayback Machine National Trust for Historic Preservation
  5. Twitter, Bob Keeler bkeeler@21st-centurymedia com @bybobkeeler on. "Pearl S. Buck House adds new Taking Action tour focusing on author's activism". Montgomery News. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  6. "A Woman of Action: Pearl S. Buck and the House that Honors Her". Sites of Conscience. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  7. "Restoring the Home of a Hero". keystonefund.org. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  8. "List of NHLs by State - National Historic Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  9. "Pearl S. Buck International". All About Character. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  10. Malinchak, Charles. "Quakertown district hires Pearl S. Buck Foundation to help with racism issue". themorningcall.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  11. "Laura Lomax receives Pioneer Award from Bucks NAACP". Times Publishing Newspapers, Inc. 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  12. "Town and Country Newspaper - article". www.upvnews.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  13. "Pearl S. Buck International celebrates leadership program graduates". buckscountyherald.com. Retrieved 2019-03-08.

References
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.