Warren Archibald McCullough

A curator is a person who manages or oversees a museum, art gallery, or similar institution. The Latin word cura simply means “to take care” and that’s what Warren had the great privilege of doing for more than four decades at a place that birthed the nation and changed history. His work there began after 30 years of growing up, getting married, and starting his family in South Philadelphia. 

After Warren was born, his mother gave birth to five girls before having another boy. At South Philadelphia High School, he developed his talent playing piano and trumpet and performing in the school orchestra. As a young adult he formed a 10-piece band, “Warren McCullough and His Pennsylvanians.” In 1931 they had a short-lived series on radio station WELK, owned by the Elks Hotel on North Broad Street, where they performed live every Sunday afternoon.

The 1930 census lists his occupation as inspector for the highway department and living with his parents on South 24th Street. Later that year he exchanged vows with Edna Mae Johnston who lived a block away on South 23rd Street. Their church was Prince of Peace Chapel in the Point Breeze neighborhood, where the daughter and two sons they would have would be baptized.

Two of those children had been born in their Fitzgerald Street home by the time Warren became a security guard at Independence Hall in 1936. In a few years he was promoted to guard captain. One of their ceremonial jobs was to ring the bell in the tower for certain occasions like the new year or for July 4th. He’s shown here on the right checking the time as two others swung a 350-pound clapper against the 13,000-pound bell. (They didn’t have any ear protection and, remarkably, he never suffered from any loss of hearing.) 

This closeup of that tower shows the Centennial Bell (it was installed in 1876) and the clock beneath. The philanthropist who donated the bell purchased a new four-clock mechanism from William Harpur, the Philadelphia representative of Seth Thomas Clock Company. He’s also buried at Mount Moriah and his notable life story is here.

Warren was named curator in 1945, which allowed him the honor of personally meeting six U.S. presidents during his tenure. “But no one visitor is more important than another,” he once said. “They all come in reverently and look without saying much. They like touching the Liberty Bell.” That was when the bell was on display inside Independence Hall. One of his duties as curator was to make regular inspections of the clock operation inside the tower, and a newspaper photographer captured him in action.

Warren’s employer was the Bureau of City Properties until 1951 when the city gave custody of several historic properties to the National Park Service. The Independence National Historical Park was created, which included Independence Mall, the large “front yard” to the north of Independence Hall.

That’s where a new location for the Liberty Bell was being planned and those plans were accelerated in the runup to the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976. Eventually it was decided to give the bell its own glass-and-steel pavilion on the Mall. 

Warren was still the curator and supervised the move on New Year’s Eve into the first hours  of 1976. It was in the midst of a drenching downpour and he nearly contracted pneumonia. Attendance records were smashed when 3.2 million people visited, including Queen Elizabeth and other heads of state.

His time on the job would expire the following year, as explained in this tribute. (The bell moved once again in 2003 to a larger space known as the Liberty Bell Center.

 Over the years Warren had learned the answer to just about every question anyone could possibly ask about the Hall and the bell. For 20 years following World War II he also brought together the Warren McCullough Orchestra for various periods of time. A newspaper columnist pointed out the contrasting interests in both past and present in the man as curator and bandleader in the essay below:

His favorite time after 5:00 was being a family man, coaching his sons in their church league softball games and seeing all three children graduate from John Bartram High School. One of the boys played trumpet and would often provide special music in church, part of an ensemble that was organized and accompanied by his father.

As empty-nesters in the late 1950s, the McCulloughs moved to the little borough of Sharon Hill in Delaware County. Warren started a small orchestra called the Ambassadors that gave concerts at churches and other Christian events. He was passionate about his faith, and used his music to inspire people, not simply entertain them.

Warren and Edna were members of Tully Memorial Presbyterian Church in Sharon Hill where he was an elder. Their marriage was marked by something their children never forgot, the daily habit of reading the Bible. During their years together they read the Bible, aloud, a portion each day, until they had gone from cover to cover 45 times.

At the time of his death at age 88, Warren’s three children had given him the joy of knowing 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. Edna joined him here 14 years later at age 98.