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. What was tried, together with what succeeded and failed, help to explain how urban planning, heritage tourism, architectural preservation and museum studies have evolved in the country overall. Each decade offered examples of attempted solutions and success stories, frequently setting ii standards for historic preservation nationally. In Germantown’s case, history was identified early and throughout the century as a useful tool to build into an economic engine for the neighborhood. And yet, history has not proved to be as beneficial to the neighborhood as had been hoped. Why did history not provide the development spark that people thought it would? The answer to this question is beset with many ironies to be explored in this study. Germantown’s greatest feature, its history, often got in the way. More specifically, the practice of history, locally and more generally, did not always help Germantown’s expressed goal to make its history more effective in the economic development of the neighborhood. Beset with many competing groups and unable to overcome entrenched traditions, Germantown’s primary selling point, its historic assets, often paradoxically served as a barrier to achieving those goals. Institutional, systemic, and cultural factors have all played in to how Germantown has not been able to take full advantage of its history for the benefit of the entire community. Germantown offers a way to study life in a twentieth century city through the ways that people think about history. Germantown history shows how thinking about preservation went from a notion of attempting to seal off the past in reverent isolation to one of the responsible management of change. The former required authority, the latter requires respect for multiple narratives. The process required the evolution, over many years and many contested issues, of the historical profession as whole. iii Dedication I wish to dedicate this dissertation to the many great history teachers who have blessed my life, beginning with my mother, my father, my wife, and my son. iv Acknowledgements Because I have taken so long to complete my dissertation, I have benefited from the support and encouragement of scores of people. At the Germantown Historical Society, volunteers Nick Thaete, Eugene Stackhouse, Judith Callard, and James Duffin have provided frequent assistance and support. Previous board or staff members such as Stephanie G. Wolf, Barbara Silberman, Jack Asher, Earle Barber, Jr., Henry Magaziner, and Mark F. Lloyd, have been gracious in providing excellent perspective in discussions. Staff members past and present at Germantown historic sites have also provided help filling in gaps in my understanding, among them Raymond G. Shepard, Jeff Groff, Jean Mitchell, Shirley Turpin Parham, Elizabeth Shellenberger, Sandra MacKenzie Lloyd, and Galen Horst-Martz. My colleagues in the Historic Germantown consortium have been a source of constant professional inspiration, including informed suggestions about early chapters of my work, especially Chris Hilke, Anne Burnett, and Stephen G. Hague. It is for the express purpose of encouraging more historically-minded people to carry their work forward that I committed to this dissertation. To contribute to an intellectual framework for the lively public history environment of Germantown has been a great opportunity. I only hope that this work will assist what is needed for history to help lead the way to Germantown’s revitalization. v Early versions of the dissertation have appeared as conference papers presented to the Gilder Lehrman Conference, the American Association of Museums, the National Preservation Conference, and the Teaching American History seminar for Philadelphia School District teachers. I am particularly grateful to the board of directors and staff of the Johnson House Historic Site and of Cliveden of the National Trust for their support of my research and writing, and for allowing me to complete the necessary steps toward the dissertation while serving as executive director. Najah Palm, G. Carol Johnson, Cornelia Swinson, Robert MacDonnell, Randall Miller, Anne M. Roller, Phillip Seitz, Tracy Muhammad, John Reese, and Rick Fink, as well as a corps of well-prepared guides, have provided wonderful models of professionalism, creativity, and initiative that have proved to be a font of inspiration on which I could draw. I really could not imagine any graduate student receiving more support than has been given me by the History Department of The Ohio State University. The graduate studies committee and chair Margaret Newell, as well as graduate secretary Joby Abernathy, have regularly provided answers to my scores of questions. The department’s patient support of my graduate work involved a journey to complete my dissertation through two attempts, from Germany to Germantown. I was lucky enough to have two great graduate advisors. I am extremely grateful for the examples set for me by Alan Beyerchen and Steven Conn, who have guided my work as models of scrupulous scholarship, excellent writing, and dynamic teaching. Dissertation readers Saul Cornell vi and David Steigerwald have contributed excellent suggestions that have improved the text of my dissertation greatly. Support from the Fulbright Commission, the Ruth Higgins Award, and the College of Humanities while at Ohio State have been instrumental in making me the public historian I am, even if that has meant ultimately practicing American, rather than German, history. Finally this study has benefited from the support and encouragement over two decades of my colleagues and friends at Ohio State, in Munich, and in Philadelphia. My mother and father, my brothers and sister have always been there to assist me when I needed it. I am indebted most of all to my wife, Sloan, and my son, Stanton, for their faith in me, along with their continual prodding to keep me on track. Only they really know how much this has meant to my life and my work, for they have joined me in both. vii Vita 1982………………………….Marist High School, Chicago, IL 1986………………………….B.A., German Studies, Northwestern University 1989………………………….M.A., History, The Ohio State University 1992-1993…………………...Fulbright Fellow, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany 1993-1994………………..…Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University 1995-1997…………………..Adjunct History Faculty, Widener University, Philadelphia PA 1997-2002…………………...Education Director, Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia History, Philadelphia PA 2002-2004…………………...Executive Director, Salem County Historical Society, Salem NJ 2004-2006…………………...Executive Director, Johnson House Historic Site, Philadelphia PA 2006-present…………………Executive Director, Cliveden of the National Trust, Philadelphia PA Publications “The Next Cliveden: A New Approach to the Historic Site in Philadelphia,” in America’s Historic Sites at a Crossroads, National Trust Forum Journal XX: Spring 2008. Field of Study Major Field: History viii Table of Contents Abstract ..............................................................................................................................ii Dedication .........................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments...............................................................................................................v Vita ..................................................................................................................................viii List of Maps .......................................................................................................................x Chapter 1: Introduction to Germantown: The Place, the Past, and the Problem................ 1 Chapter 2: “Souvenirs and Mementoes of

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