John Vincent Alviti

John Vincent Alviti, 76, one of the last directors of the Atwater Kent Philadelphia history museum before its closure in 2018 and senior curator of the Franklin Institute from 1994 until his retirement in 2015, died June 20 from complications of heart and kidney disease.

In a long career as educator, curator, and consultant, Mr. Alviti also served as director of the Historical Society of Washington, from 1992-1994, and instructor of American history and museum training at six institutions of higher education, including Temple University, Rutgers University-Camden, and and Stockton University, where he assumed a range of responsibilities, including teacher preparation.

Mr. Alviti served as project director of the 2003-2004 Franklin Institute Save America’s Treasurers project, “Preserving the Wright Brothers Legacy,” which involved the conservation and rehousing of the Institute’s 300-plus collection of Wright Brothers artifacts. Beginning in the Summer of 2002, he served on the curatorial committee of the 2005-2008 Franklin Tercentenary traveling exhibit, Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World. In 1998, he served on the collaborative effort between the Institute and the Science Museum, London, for “First Flight,” a web-based educational resource for the Wright Brothers and Allcott and Brown Collections, respectively.

Mr. Alviti contributed to many humanities-based programs, such as the American Association of Museum’s “Museums in the Life of a City: The Philadelphia Initiative for Cultural Pluralism” (1989-92), “Philadelphia Alliance for Teaching Humanities in the Schools” (1987-1992), and “Passport to the World,” a “We the People 200” initiation, celebrating the Bi-Centennial of the U.S. Constitution. As past president of the Museum Council of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, he oversaw the publication of the award winning guide, Cultural Connections: Museum and Libraries of Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley (Temple University Press,1991) and served as evaluator of “Reappraising Franklin: A Bi-Centennial Perspective” for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council in 1990.

In the 1980s, he actively served on the advisory board for the Philadelphia Alliance for Teaching Humanities in the Schools (PATHS) and was subsequently active with the National History Day competition in the city of Philadelphia. As a leader in the Philadelphia area’s museum community, he participated in the creation of numerous prized museum education programs, such as the Phil-A-Kid Project, a hands-on history workshop for 4th and 5th Graders; the Peopling of Philadelphia Project, a curriculum which examined nineteenth century immigration in the city of Philadelphia; and Curatorial Capers, a summer day camp program using The Franklin Institute’s collection.

Born in Chicago Illinois September 22, 1949, he was the son of Giovanni George Alviti, a bakery company route manager, and Sarah Ann Meehan Alviti, a housewife and part-time office worker at the De La Salle Institute. He completed his BA degree in history at Lewis College in Lockport, IL in 1971 and his MA in history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1975.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Maryellen Coonahan Alviti of Flourtown, sisters Rita Jo Alviti Coyne and Rosemarie Alviti Babic, and brother James Gerard Alviti, all of the greater Chicago area, and many nephews and nieces on both sides of the family.

A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday July 1, 2026 at 12PM at Sandy Run Country Club, 200 E. Valley Green Rd Flourtown, PA 19031. Relatives and friends are invited to his visitations on Tuesday June 30, 2026 from 6-8PM at the John F. Murray Funeral Home, 1220 Bethlehem Pike Flourtown, PA 19031 and again on Wednesday, July 1, 2026 from 11AM-12PM at Sandy Run Country Club.