American Decorative Arts Forum of Northern California

07/16/2026

The American Decorative Arts Forum is so honored to have H. Richard Dietrich III as our speaker to celebrate our country’s Semiquincentennial. He will deliver two talks with beautiful images from the prestigious Dietrich American Foundation. Mr. Dietrich is a director of the foundation, located in Philadelphia and which holds a collection of early American art and artifacts. The foundation is involved with numerous museums and historic sites, acting as somewhat of a lending library of objects. The foundation published, In Pursuit of History: A Lifetime Collecting Colonial American Art and Artifacts, and has also recently had exhibitions at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Chinese American Museum in DC, and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut. At any given time objects in the foundation are located in over thirty museums and historic sites. Richard has spent his career working in non-profit management and public service.

Dietrich is also a member of the board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Yale School of Management Alumni Advisory Board, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, and board emeritus at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, as well as the Shaw Institute in Blue Hill, Maine. He is a member of the American Antiquarian Society. Richard earned his BA at Wesleyan University and an MBA from Yale. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Chevy Chase, MD.

REGISTER now for both Saturday, July 18th lectures at the links in our bio.

The first lecture: 11:00am Pacific / 2:00pm Eastern AMERICA 250 and the Art of a NEW NATION: PHILADELPHIA, INDEPENDENCE, AND THE WORLD. https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1617830341596/WN_MP7Xgag7QHSg8u3MFBfU-g #/registration

The second lecture: 1:30pm Pacific / 4:30pm Eastern, SILVER at the 250th: CRAFT, COMMERCE, and the MAKING of a NATION. https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4317830349751/WN_5tRL4iIOSySFIZxZ2NScYg #/registration

07/15/2026

AMERICA 250 AND THE ART OF A NEW NATION : PHILADELPHIA, INDEPENDENCE, AND THE WORLD, . Please. JOIN US Saturday, July 18, at 11:00am Pacific / 2:00pm Eastern for the 1st of our 2 Semiquincentennial lectures by the distinguished Richard Dietrich, centering on the extraordinary Dietrich American Foundation works, who looks back at America in 1776, and explores how the fine and decorative arts of the revolutionary era, as well as architecture and the history of Philadelphia, where independence was debated and signed, illuminate the nation’s founding ideals and contradictions. REGISTER for the free Zoom lecture: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1617830341596/WN_MP7Xgag7QHSg8u3MFBfU-g #/registration.

07/15/2026

SILVER AT THE 250TH: CRAFT, COMMERCE, AND THE MAKING OF A NATION. Please DON’T MISS our 2nd Semiquincentennial lecture Saturday, July 18 at 1:30pm Pacific / 4:30pm Eastern with Richard Dietrich of the Dietrich American Foundation. This talk will trace the story of silver in early America—from its colonial origins in family workshops to its symbolic role in the new Republic—revealing how silver reflected both personal aspiration and national identity. Long before independence, silver was a medium through which colonial Americans expressed lineage, faith, and economic standing. Philadelphia’s silversmiths, such as Philip Syng Sr. and Jr., Joseph Richardson, and Richard Humphreys, shaped objects that connected local craftsmanship to global trade and imperial networks, their work linking the colonies to the Atlantic world of enslaved labor, mined silver, and mercantile ambition. REGISTER for the free Zoom lecture: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4317830349751/WN_5tRL4iIOSySFIZxZ2NScYg #/registration.

Richard Dietrich III

12/03/2025

We are ending the year with our annual, special event: the Michael Weller Lecture. On Saturday, Dec 6 at 11am Pacific / 2pm Eastern, we are so honored to have Ann Wagner, Winterthur Museum’s curator of decorative arts, deliver what will be a fascinating and beautifully illustrated lecture with a touch of mystery! Come join us either via Zoom or in person for POPPY PATENTS, SILVER PRIZES and an HEIRESS: GORHAM’S CALIFORNIA CHOCOLATE SET. Winterthur’s acquisition of a Gorham gilded, silver, hot chocolate set opens a door to the past century revealing a mystery with surprising adventures. This talk will travel from Arcadia to San Francisco to Tahoe to New York and Europe. Characters include Anita May Baldwin, the Kennel Club of Pasadena, King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians, and attendees of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Spoiler alert: A member of the ADAF plays a crucial role! The lecture will be held at the Forest Hill Club, 381 Magellan Drive, San Francisco, 94116. Admission is free to members and $20 for non-members. REGISTER for ZOOM at the link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1417624521196/WN_yFoEUVXiR_CysaYTANdkAg #/registration