PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Paid Sponsor Partnership: Philadelphia Corporation for Aging
Lee Ryan and Will Grow met about 16 years ago as research volunteers at the Fireman’s Hall Museum in Old City.
They are united in their mission to preserve the past.
“We go all the way back to Ben Franklin and the Union Fire Company,” says Will Grow, volunteer researcher for the Fireman’s Hall Museum.
And by their brotherhood in the fire service.
“I was a volunteer firefighter in Oaklyn, New Jersey,” says Lee Ryan, volunteer researcher with the Fireman’s Hall Museum. “I’m the vice president of the fire department.”
He’s been a member of the Oaklyn Fire Department for 59 years, serving in various roles, including chief in the 1980s.
Grow was a Philadelphia firefighter for 30 years, retiring in 2016 as a lieutenant.
“I spent most of my career at Engine 16 over in West Philly. I got promoted and then every three years rotated to a different company,” says Grow.
Their work is important to the museum’s overall mission.
“We are not only giving positive fire prevention messages, but we’re telling the history of the fire service,” says Brian Anderson, firefighter and curator at the Fireman’s Hall Museum. “We tell the story of firefighting in Philadelphia.”
Ryan points out an apparatus that he says is “our pride and joy.”
“This is the oldest steam fire engine in existence in the United States,” he says.
And there’s a lot of history here.
“This was an old firehouse that was built in 1898 for Engine 8,” says Anderson.
Ryan’s research focuses on the volunteer era, which runs from 1736 to 1871.
“These are the files for the volunteer fire companies,” says Ryan.
They compile newspaper articles and photographs of firefighters that have been identified from that company and put them into a research file.
“There were no paid firemen in the city until March 15, 1871, when they implemented the career fire department,” says Ryan.
Grow looks at the paid departments.
“This is the personnel journal,” says Grow. “It’s amazing that their whole career is on one line.”
He says “it’s gratifying” to help people fill in the blanks of their family history when they reach out to the museum for information.
The Memorial Wall is a tribute to the city’s fallen firefighters.
“I keep track of the line of duty deaths,” says Grow. “And then put together the story of what happened to them.”
They also record artifacts, like parade hats from different fire companies, and apparatuses used to fight fire in the city.
“This hand engine was built by Joel Bates, who was a volunteer fireman in the city of Philadelphia,” says Ryan.
“I just love it,” he says. “There’s so much we’ve learned and so much we’ve been able to contribute.”
Admission to the museum is free and they can do research for you, for a fee.
The “Firstival” is a great opportunity to explore and hear some stories.
It’s being held on Saturday, January 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Fireman’s Hall Museum as part of the ’52 Weeks of Firsts’ to honor America turning 250.
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