[NEWS] Philadelphia Award shines a light on Middletons' philanthropy

If Philadelphia can claim a steady parade of philanthropic captains in the last two centuries - from Benjamin Franklin to Walter and Leonore Annenberg - it is also true that the continued supply of such leadership lately has been somewhat in doubt. In terms of really big givers, after Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest - who have donated more than $1 billion of their fortune in the last decade and a half and promise to disburse the rest - who will come next?

John S. and Leigh Middleton have the means to be next, and in fact have been quiet philanthropists for some time. Now - reluctantly - they may be ready to step up their visibility and fully embrace the mantle. Late Wednesday afternoon at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, they will accept the Philadelphia Award, the venerable medal whose previous honorees include Edmund N. Bacon, Richardson K. Dilworth, Leopold Stokowski - and the Annenbergs and Lenfests.