08/19/2026
Mrs. Janet Klein, a Rebecca Lukens Award Honoree in 2018, passed away at her home on Tuesday, August 4. She was 96.
Mrs. Klein was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, mother of two, and wife of noted television management professional, the late Lew Klein. As a native of Philadelphia, Mrs. Klein was known in many historic arenas, but initially for her work inspiring and promoting Fairmount Park house tours for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She is also credited with the creation of such projects as The Liberty Trail, for which she designed and promoted a 165-mile automobile route of historical attractions, installed road signs, and produced and distributed a corresponding color map and brochure.
Her work with historic house tours grew as she became affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation which provided technical assistance to 18 historic house museum agencies “to solve their problems of administration, interpretation, restoration, volunteers, marketing, fund raising, grants, financial management, and collections,” according to Mrs. Klein. She credits the catalyst for her involvement with historic preservation as, “Multiple reasons, including appointments to positions by Philadelphia Mayors, Fairmount Park Commissioners, Pennsylvania Governors, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and as Consultant to Terracina funded by a William Penn Foundation Grant.”
The Klein College at Temple was named after her and her husband, Lewis, a 1945 Cheltenham High School graduate and Alumni Association Hall of Famer. Together they created the Janet and Lew Klein Making A Difference Award for the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and donated his professional papers to Temple.
Janet was the 2018 Rebecca Lukens Award Recipient.
https://steelmuseum.org/video/2018/rla_klein_5_31_18.cfm
