Walking the Schuylkill: Photography Exhibit at Fairmount Water Works

Walking the Schuylkill

On display at Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center from Sept. 16, 2026 – Jan. 8, 2027

William Penn placed the city where it is because of the Schuylkill River, guaranteeing the city and the river a prominent place in American history. Over time, the Schuylkill has served the city and its industry, first with a canal system and later with railroads and highways in the river’s flood plain. Factories and mills were built along its full length. Industry radically changed the river. Along with bringing farm products and coal to the city. The Schuylkill River provided drinking water. These purposes often collided; eventually drinking water won out. The environmental movement changed the river as radically as the industrial age had. These changes, and contemporary uses, leave imprints. “Walking the Schuylkill” intends to capture and highlight those marks, illustrating the character of the modern Schuylkill River.

Bio

In 2021, John Brady retired from a long career in maritime museums and ship preservation. He has worked at South Street Seaport Museum, The Philadelphia Ship Preservation Guild, and the Independence Seaport Museum. For thirty-two of these years, he was a boat builder and shipwright. Under his leadership, the Independence Seaport Museum’s boat shop rose to national prominence while focusing on constructing and preserving New Jersey and Delaware River watercraft. Following this, he became President and CEO of the Independence Seaport Museum, a post he held for ten years. Since leaving the museum world, he has focused on photography and video work, primarily featuring the waterways around Philadelphia.