Editing Arlen Specter (section)

===Arlen Specter Center for Public Service at Philadelphia University===
On December 21, 2011, Specter donated to [[Philadelphia University]] nearly 2,700 boxes of historical papers and memorabilia dating from his career as a Philadelphia district attorney to his service as a United States senator, including materials associated with his role as assistant counsel on the Warren Commission. The collection will be jointly managed by the [[University of Pittsburgh]], which will house, organize, and manage the collection. The universities will collaborate on related education programing that will consequently provide access to the archives on both ends of the state.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/campus_inq/Arlen-Specter-collection-heading-west.html|title=Arlen Specter collection heading west|first=Susan|last=Snyder|newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=March 4, 2013|access-date=March 4, 2013}}</ref> The Specter Collection will also support The Arlen Specter Center for Public Policy at Philadelphia University.

The center will be a nonpartisan initiative dedicated to promoting greater understanding of public policy issues both foreign and domestic. The center will strive to accomplish these goals through support for research, educational programming, and exhibitions inspired, in part, by the senator's career and the permanent collection of his historic papers. The center will be managed by the [[Paul J. Gutman Library]] at Philadelphia University will be located in Roxboro House, which is located nearby on campus.

Parts of Roxboro House date back to 1799. The Georgian period house constructed of frame and clapboard was expanded in 1810. At one point in its history, Roxboro House was owned by Dr. Caspar Wistar who published the first American textbook of anatomy in 1811. Wistar was president of the American Philosophical Society and his friend, Thomas Nuttall, a famous botanist, named the Wisteria vine after him. In 1965, the Philadelphia Historical Commission added this house to its list of registered buildings (No. 141). Prior to the university's purchase of the property in 1998, the house was being used as a [[bed and breakfast]] establishment.