 On Christmas Day 1969, a rare book and print collector, Lessing J. Rosenwald and his wife Edith, donated their estate, Alverthorpe Manor, to the Abington community for the purpose of allowing residents to gather for cultural and recreational purposes.Shortly afterwards, the organization appointed its first paid director and the guild formally ended.In 1981, the center expanded into the old gallery wing of Alverthorpe Manor when the Rosenwald Collection was moved to the Library of Congress  in Washington, D.C.