Henry Pettit

Born in Philadelphia on December 23, 1842, Henry Pettit studied at the University of Pennsylvania and worked in the engineering department of the Pennsylvania Railroad before building a wider career in architecture and public design. He became closely involved with the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, serving as Chief of the Bureau of Installation and working with Joseph M. Wilson on the exposition's main building.

After the Centennial, Pettit continued to work on major exhibition and architectural projects. He was architect for the U.S. Commission to the Paris Exposition of 1878, later served on Pennsylvania's advisory committee for the Chicago Exposition of 1893, and also spent years in Frank Furness's office. His professional life connected him with institutions including the American Institute of Architects and the American Philosophical Society.

Pettit also wrote fiction. He is remembered in literary circles for A Twentieth Century Idealist (1905), a novel described by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as the story of a dreamer that develops into a utopian vision. He died on August 11, 1921.