Superintendent's Annual Narrative Report, Independence National
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A Replica of the Stretch Clock Recently Reinstated at the West End of Independence Hall
A replica of the Stretch clock recently reinstated at the west end of Independence Hall. (Photograph taken by the author in summer of 197J.) THE Pennsylvania Magazine OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY The Stretch Qlock and its "Bell at the State House URING the spring of 1973, workmen completed the construc- tion of a replica of a large clock dial and masonry clock D case at the west end of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the original of which had been installed there in 1753 by a local clockmaker, Thomas Stretch. That equipment, which resembled a giant grandfather's clock, had been removed in about 1830, with no other subsequent effort having been made to reconstruct it. It therefore seems an opportune time to assemble the scattered in- formation regarding the history of that clock and its bell and to present their stories. The acquisition of the original clock and bell by the Pennsylvania colonial Assembly is closely related to the acquisition of the Liberty Bell. Because of this, most historians have tended to focus their writings on that more famous bell, and to pay but little attention to the hard-working, more durable, and equally large clock bell. They have also had a tendency either to claim or imply that the Liberty Bell and the clock bell had been procured in connection with a plan to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary, or "Jubilee Year," of the granting of the Charter of Privileges to the colony by William Penn. But, with one exception, nothing has been found among the surviving records which would support such a contention. -
The Battles of Germantown: Public History and Preservation in America’S Most Historic Neighborhood During the Twentieth Century
The Battles of Germantown: Public History and Preservation in America’s Most Historic Neighborhood During the Twentieth Century Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By David W. Young Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee: Steven Conn, Advisor Saul Cornell David Steigerwald Copyright by David W. Young 2009 Abstract This dissertation examines how public history and historic preservation have changed during the twentieth century by examining the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1683, Germantown is one of America’s most historic neighborhoods, with resonant landmarks related to the nation’s political, military, industrial, and cultural history. Efforts to preserve the historic sites of the neighborhood have resulted in the presence of fourteen historic sites and house museums, including sites owned by the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the City of Philadelphia. Germantown is also a neighborhood where many of the ills that came to beset many American cities in the twentieth century are easy to spot. The 2000 census showed that one quarter of its citizens live at or below the poverty line. Germantown High School recently made national headlines when students there attacked a popular teacher, causing severe injuries. Many businesses and landmark buildings now stand shuttered in community that no longer can draw on the manufacturing or retail economy it once did. Germantown’s twentieth century has seen remarkably creative approaches to contemporary problems using historic preservation at their core. -
Joseph Saxton
MEMOIR OP JOSEPH SAXTON. 1799-1873. BY JOSEPH HENRY. HEAD BEFOEB THB NATIONAL ACADEMY, OCT. 4,1874. 28T BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF JOSEPH SAXTON. MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE ACADEMY :— AT the last session of the National Academy of Sciences I was appointed to prepare an account of the life and labors of our lamented associate, Joseph Saxton, whose death we have been called to mourn. From long acquaintance and friendly relations with the deceased, the discharge of the duty thus devolved upon me has been a labor of love, but had he been personally unknown to me, the preparation of the eulogy would have been none the less a sacred duty, which I was not at liberty on any account to neglect. It is an obligation we owe to the Academy and the world to cherish the memory of our departed associates; their reputation is a precious inheritance to the Academy which exalts its character and extends its usefulness. Man is a sympathetic and imitative being, and through these characteristics of his nature the memories of good men produce an important influence on posterity, and therefore should be cherished and perpetuated. Moreover, the certainty of having a just tribute paid to our memory after our departure is one of the most powerful inducements to purity of life and propriety of deportment. The object of the National Academy is the advancement of science, and no one is considered eligible for membership who has not made positive additions to the sum of human knowledge, or in other words, has not done something to entitle him to the appellation of scientific. -
Assessing Hisoroty
Philadelphia as a Civil War Era History Destination Assessing Interest and Preferences Among Potential Visitors Report of Results of Phase 3 of Market Research Prepared for: The Civil War History Consortium June 2006 2002 Ludlow Street, First Floor / Philadelphia, PA 19103 / 215-545-0054 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. RESEARCH BACKGROUND AND APPROACH....................................................................1 A. Objectives..................................................................................................................................1 B. Research Approach..................................................................................................................3 II. KEY FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS ...................................................................................4 III. RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................................11 IV. DETAILED FINDINGS ..............................................................................................................13 A. Survey Population..................................................................................................................13 B. Experiences of the “History Visitor”....................................................................................19 C. Visits to Civil War-related Sites ...........................................................................................26 D. Interest in Philadelphia as Civil War History Destination ................................................32 -
Independence National Historical Park
National Park Service No. 117 - July 2018 U.S. Department of the Interior NPS NEWS Independence Welcome to National Historical Park Welcome to Independence National Historical Park Historic The Historic Philadelphia Gazette is always FREE July across the land means reworks, barbecues, concerts this year! Bring your blankets and a picnic Philadelphia! keeping cool in hot humid weather. For us in to the Mall. On July 1, there will be a Gospel Philadelphia, it's a time to celebrate the birth of performance, followed on July 2 by excerpts from our great nation - one of the most important some favorite Broadway shows. As usual on July 3, Can’t you just feel the history in the heart of IN THIS ISSUE events in the United States of America! is we will host a spectacular performance by the America’s Most Historic Square Mile during the Independence Day marks the 242nd birthday of Philly POPs. Of course, don’t miss the Indepen- month we celebrate Independence? ere’s no Page 2 the United States and there’s no more patriotic dence Day activities on Independence Mall: the better time to experience all there is to see and Independence Week Events place to do so than at Independence National annual Independence Day Parade, Celebration of do here. You’ll meet History Makers, hear from Historical Park. We are excited to share the story Freedom Ceremony, and the Let Freedom Ring National Constitution Center storytellers, join the Continental Army and more. of American Independence and the struggle for Ceremony at the Liberty Bell. -
A Fig for Your Philosophy and Great Knowledge in the Sciences
Nagle 1 jeff Nagle Professors Dorsey & Minkin History 91 December 17,2011 A Fig For Your Philosophy and Great Knowledge in the Sciences: Observation, Deception, Scientific Fraud and Social Authority in the Antebellum Museum Abstract: There is an increasingly sophisticated literature on the role played by museums in reaffirming social norms of examination in the antebellum United States. This literature has largely focused on the way museums presented this knowledge to the public, not how audiences reacted to claims of scientific authority. Popular reaction to pseudoscientific claims demonstrated to the public in the scientific context of museums, in this case Charles Redheffer's 1812 perpetual motion device and P. T. Barnum's Fejee Mermaid, shed light on the close relationship between early popular scientific observation and ways of judging authenticity and deception in the commercial and social realms of the antebellum period. Have you travelled thro' the pages afthe Natural Historian? come and satisfyyour mind) that he has not deceived you. Come and look nature in the face, andyou will be more highly delighted and satisfied than by historic description. Have you) at any time) read ofbeings whose existence you doubted? call at this repository. Your doubts will vanish) and before you depart your mind may receive impressions emanently conductive to morality and virtue. Those who have no leisure to read) may) at a trifling expence, furnish themselves with a considerable portion ofknowledge--a species ofknowledge that may be found necessary -
Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
Resource Study & Environmental Assessment WASHINGTON–ROCHAMBEAU REVOLUTIONARY ROUTE Northeast and National Capital Regions National Park Service—U.S. Department of the Interior October 2006 ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT This document is the Resource Study and Environmental Assessment (study/EA) for the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. It describes the National Park Service’s preferred approach to preserving and interpreting route resources and one other alternative. The evaluation of potential environmental impacts that may result from imple- mentation of these alternatives is integrated in this document. This study/EA is available for public review for a period of 30 days. During the review period, the National Park Service is accepting comments from interested parties via the Planning, Environment and Public Comment website http://parkplanning.nps.gov/, at public meetings which may be held, and at the address below. At the end of the re- view period, the National Park Service will carefully review all comments and determine whether any changes should be made to the report. No sooner than thirty (30) days from the end of the review period, the National Park Service will prepare and publish a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) to explain which alternative has been selected, and why it will not have any significant environmental impacts. A summary of responses to public comments will be prepared. Factual corrections or additional material submitted by commentators that do not affect the alternative may be incorporated in errata sheets and attached to the study/EA. The study/EA and FONSI will be transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior who will make a recommendation to Congress. -
Read an Excerpt from the Introduction
Excerpt • Temple University Press • Introduction his book is about Germantown, a Philadelphia neighborhood estab- lished in 1683. It is also about public history, history that takes place Toutside a classroom and actively involves people from varied back- grounds and with varied points of view.1 Germantown is a perfect place to explore public history in America—its strengths and possibilities, its limits and the ways in which it can be truly effective. Germantown is rife with contradictions. Old enough for many to find themselves in its compelling history, whose physical evidence is appar- ent in well-preserved artifacts and buildings, Germantown is also riddled with abandoned structures, racial politics, and crime, despite more than a century of efforts to use its connections to important events in American history for the benefit of the community. From 1683 to 1854 Germantown stood on its own, legally separate from the city of Philadelphia. As the name implies, it was founded by people from what is now Germany. Anabaptists, mainly Mennonites and Quakers, came from the German and Dutch areas of the Rhine seek- ing religious toleration and freedom from persecution in William Penn’s Pennsylvania. Five years after the first settlers arrived, four members of the town’s Quaker meeting drafted the “Germantown Protest against Slav- ery.” At the beginning of the twentieth century, “Germantown” referred to the entire pre-1854 German Township, which comprised Germantown, Excerpt • Temple University Press 12 / Introduction Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill. Economic efforts to promote the township centered on the Germantown and Chestnut Hill Improvement Associa- tion, which spanned all three neighborhoods but focused on the commer- cial district that is the main artery of the community, Germantown Ave- nue. -
Germantown PA: Researching the Great Road Welcome Mat
Germantown PA: Researching the Great Road Welcome Mat Barbara McDowell Dowdall A. Philip Randolph Career Academy High School Overview Rationale Background Objectives Strategies Activities Resources Appendix Overview “…Germantown had a reputation as the place to go…” Stephanie Grauman Wolf, Urban Village The greater accessibility of information through computers and the Internet serves to foster the illusion that the ability to retrieve words and numbers with the click of a mouse also confers the capacity to judge whether those words and numbers represent truth, lies, or something in between. Susan Jacoby, The Age of American Unreason. Germantown, Pennsylvania, a village established in the earliest days of Penn’s Woods, because of its combined proximity to and distance from Philadelphia, has attracted and welcomed newcomers throughout its near 325 years of history. Beginning in 1683 with the arrival of Daniel Pastorious, an agent for a Dutch trading company, immigrants brought their hopes and dreams, their worldly goods, and – in keeping with William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” – an agreed-upon commitment to tolerance and Quakerly Christian caring. Although not representing the prime waterfront sites Pastorious had sought, the northwest region of the Delaware Valley offered a vigorous stream, the Wissahickon Creek, and other tributaries, inviting woods and arable land that had proved satisfactory for generations of the Leni Lenape people. This unit is intended for use as an introductory research supplement for 9th grade students in English 1 classes and/or a refresher for seniors with more advanced requirements. Students will conduct research on the web, in their school and neighborhood libraries, at the Germantown Historical Society and in community historic sites like the Johnson House, a stop on the Underground Railroad. -
Germantown White House Deshler-Morris House Junior
Germantown White House National Park Service Deshler-Morris House U.S. Department of Interior Junior Ranger Activity Book Junior Ranger’s Name: Date: Huzzah! You are on your way to becoming a National Park Service Junior Ranger! You picked a great place to visit. The Germantown White House is a place full of history and adventure. Behind each activity is a key unlocking the door to George Washington’s life. Claim your Junior Ranger title by completing the activities appropriate to your age level. Steps to becoming a National Park Service Junior Ranger: Step 1: Pickup a Germantown White House Junior Ranger Book. Step 2: For ages 4-7 years old, complete any two activities. For ages 8-11 years old, complete any three activities. For ages 12 and older, complete any four or more activities. Step 3: Ask a Volunteer or Park Ranger to check your work. Step 4: Receive your own Junior Ranger badge and certificate! Junior Ranger Activity Book Who Is In My Cabinet? George Washington needs your help to find his cabinet members. Draw a line to connect the picture with the correct name to help President Washington find out who is in his cabinet. Junior Ranger Activity Book Thomas Jefferson John Adams George Washington Henry Knox Alexander Hamilton Edmund Randolph Do You Know Our ABC’s? The Germantown ABC’s are hidden in the box below. Can you find them all? W A S H I N G T O N R E A B C D W J O C T P S L R U S U T L I H M N L M O R R I S A N W E Q E O G S N H I J K O L T M R O P E R S T E Z I U X D T E G I J V F M T Y N O L O C V X D Y Z U W A G R L -
May 2011, Vol. 37 No. 2
· Oseph & Merry Weather's adventure --- Gass descendant's grave discovered Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation I www.lewisandclark.org May 2011 Volume 37, No. 2 THE L&C EXPEDITION'S ''MACKENZIE CONNECTION'' - RA01sSON AND GROSSEILLJERs · (1905), av FREDERICK REMINGTON T HE C ORPS OF DISCOVERY AND THE A RTICLES OF WAR FuRTWANGLER ON J ouRNAL C OPYING AT T RAVELER'S R EST Contents Letters: Gass grandson's grave found 2 President's Message: Busy winter, promising spring 4 Trail Notes: Simple questions, complicated answers 5 Voyages from Montreal 6 How Alexander Mackenzie's 1793 trans-Canada crossing influenced the Lewis and Clark Expedition By H. Cad Camp Journal Copying at Travelers· Rest 14 Comparing the journals of Gass, Ordway, and Whitehouse with those of Lewis and Clark reveals many similarities-and some important differences By Alburt Furtwangler Mackenzie, p. 7 Lewis & Clark and the Articles of War 21 Out of necessity, the captains developed their own harsh but effective system of military justice By William M. Gadin Kids' Corner 28 Oseph of the Corps of Discovery By Betty Bauer ' L&CRoundup 31 N.D. interpretive center; Undaunted Angl~i;s _ :. "\ < Profile . 32 Isaiah Lukens: Mechanical Genius By Michael Carrick Ordway, p. 15 On the cover This majestic painting by Frederick Remington depicts the French explorers Pierre-Esprit Radisson (1636-1710) and his brother-in-law Medard des Grosseilliers {1618-1696) plying wilderness waters1n a canot du maitre ("master's canoe"), the workhorse of the Canadian fur trade. In J. 793, more than a century after Radisson and Grosseilliers and 10 years before Lewis and Clark, the Scottish explorer and fur trader Alexander Mackenzie made use of a canot du maitre in his crossing of the continent. -
November 2002, Vol. 28 No. 4
Contents Letters: Bad River encounter; Crimson Bluffs 2 From the Directors: Spreading the word in Two Med country 3 From the Bicentennial Council: L&C from different perspectives 4 Trail Notes: Eyes and ears along the Lewis & Clark Trail 6 Tales of the Variegated Bear 8 The captains scoffed at the Mandans’ reports of its ferocity — until they tangled with the “turrible” beast on the high Missouri By Kenneth C. Walcheck Grizzlies, p. 8 Meriwether Lewis’s Air Gun 15 His pneumatic wonder amazed the Indians — but was it a single shot weapon or, as new evidence suggests, a repeater? By Michael F. Carrick Neatness Mattered 22 Hair, beards, and the Corps of Discovery By Robert J. Moore, Jr. The Utmost Reaches of the Missouri 29 Two latter-day explorers describe their quest for the river’s “distant fountain,” 100 miles southeast of Lemhi Pass By Donald F. Nell and Anthony Demetriades Reviews 34 Gunmaker Isaiah Lukens, p. 15 Lewis and Clark among the Grizzlies; Or Perish in the Attempt In Brief: Wheeler, McMurtry, Gass, Best Little Stories L&C Roundup 38 New leadership; kudos; President Bush on Corps of Discovery Gary Moulton’s White House remarks 44 Annual meeting photo spread: Louisville, July 2002 48 On the cover John F. Clymer’s painting Hasty Retreat dramatically depicts one of the many encounters between members of the Corps of Discovery and grizzly bears on the upper Missouri. For more on the explorers’ travails with the variegated bear, see Kenneth Walcheck’s article beginning on page 8 and the review of Paul Schullery’s new book on page 34.