~~e, ~ t..toS2.t.?B (Y\D\L • [)qf- 331 I J3d-~(l.S National Park Service -- ~~· U.S. Department of the Interior Historic Furnishings Assessment Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, New Jersey Decemb r 2 ATTENTION: Portions of this scanned document are illegible due to the poor quality of the source document. HISTORIC FURNISHINGS ASSESSMENT Ford Mansion and Wic·k House Morristown National Historical Park Morristown, New Jersey by Laurel A. Racine Senior Curator ..J Northeast Museum Services Center National Park Service December 2003 Introduction Morristown National Historical Park has two furnished historic houses: The Ford Mansion, otherwise known as Washington's Headquarters, at the edge of Morristown proper, and the Wick House in Jockey Hollow about six miles south. The following report is a Historic Furnishings Assessment based on a one-week site visit (November 2001) to Morristown National Historical Park (MORR) and a review of the available resources including National Park Service (NPS) reports, manuscript collections, photographs, relevant secondary sources, and other paper-based materials. The goal of the assessment is to identify avenues for making the Ford Mansion and Wick House more accurate and compelling installations in order to increase the public's understanding of the historic events that took place there. The assessment begins with overall issues at the park including staffing, interpretation, and a potential new exhibition on historic preservation at the Museum. The assessment then addresses the houses individually. For each house the researcher briefly outlines the history of the site, discusses previous research and planning efforts, analyzes the history of room use and furnishings, describes current use and conditions, indicates extant research materials, outlines treatment options, lists the sources consulted, and recommends sourc.es for future consultation. The report also considers whether or not the historic furnished interior is the best medium for conveying the houses' themes, the appropriate use of period and reproduction objects, and needs for repair and replacement. 1 The assessment will consider the need for updated historic furnishings reports or other research reports for the Ford Mansion and Wick House. By necessity, the brief history sections rely heavily on information in previously written reports and accounts. The treatment options include historic furnished interiors, historic furnished vignettes, formal interpretive exhibitions, audiovisual presentations, and other viable alternatives.2 Overall Issues Staffing The park's current staff members dedicated to cultural resources are a GS 9/11 archivist and a GS-9 museum specialist. The park currently lacks a staff member making intellectual links among the historic houses, furnishings, occupants, park -owned primary sources, and primary and secondary sources outside the park's collections. The museum and library collections are being managed separately by the museum specialist and archivist. Each is working to capacity and unable to take the time to make valuable 1 This report includes a brief section on period versus reproduction objects at the Ford Mansion and no section regarding this issue at the Wick House because this topic is covered in the park's collection management plan. 2 This report does not include a list offundable projects because the park has a recent collection management plan and action plan which detail all of the park's project needs. The park's archivist has already entered requests for a historic furnishings report for the Ford Mansion and an addendum to the Wick House historic furnishings report into the NPS' Project Management Information System (PMIS). Funding requests for exhibit rehabilitation projects can be made to Fee Demonstration, Major Exhibit Rehabilitation Program administered by Harpers Ferry Center, Cyclic Maintenance, and Cultural Cyclic. Historic Furnishings Assessment: Morristown National Historical Park 3 connections with the other collection. As the park's draft collection management plan states, "Consequently, decisions regarding what objects to collect, how much to collect, how to exhibit collections, the use of reproductions, and how to utilize objects within 'the park programming are made inconsistently and without the benefit of professional recommendations/ standards. "3 This assessment agrees with the staffing recommendations supplied in the park's collection management plan. Most notably, The Supervisory Museum Curator (SMC) position should be reestablished at a GS 11/12 level. This position requires both subject matter expertise and a museum management background. The position description needs to be rewritten to this end. This position needs to provide supervision to the Museum Specialist and set the work priorities for the Collections Program. The minimum education requirement should be [an] MA in history (18th Century emphasis), Historic Preservation, Museum Studies, American Material culture studies or related field with experience in developing and overseeing a museum collection program. This is suggested because of the number of issues, brm.~ght up by staff, that require a higher level of scholarly and professional expertise than exists with either incumbent. Such issues include researching, writing, and implementation of historic furnishings plans; management of an active temporary exhibit program; oversight of consumptive use policies and demonstration programs which utilize artifacts; and development of an expansion to the museum building which will include exhibits and collections storage.4 Interpretation The park's preliminary interpretive themes as set forth in its July 2001 "Draft General Management Plan" are listed in part below. Following each is a brief discussion of the relationship between the park's exhibit offerings and the themes. 1. The American Revolution: Visitors understand the importance of the encampments at Morristown to the success of the American Revolution. Visitors understand the broad context of the Revolution, including the precipitating events, geography, chronology, and the varied motivations of participants. According to park staff and in this researcher's experience during the site visit, the park's current exhibit offerings emphasize the importance of Morristown's encampments but do not adequately interpret Morristown's place in the broader context of the Revolution. This deficiency could be corrected in the short-term by replacing one or both of the exhibitions, "Weapons" and "Objects of 18th Century Life," on the second level of 3 "Collection Management Plan: Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, New Jersey" (Charlestown, MA: Northeast Museum Services Center, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, SECOND DRAFT, July 2000), p. 138. 4 Collection Management Plan, SECOND DRAFT, p. 139. ,. 4 Historic Furnishings Assessment: Morristown National Historical Park the Museum. However, the park should put its funds and efforts into developing a new Revolutionary War exhibition for the soon-to-be expanded museum building. Ideally, this exhibition should precede a more Morristown-focused exhibit such as the current "War Comes to Morristown." The Revolutionary War exhibition should not attempt to cover every aspect of the war. It should cover key themes and sites related to the war while maintaining a continuous tie to Morristown's role. The Morristown-focused exhibition should then examine the more specific Morristown story. 2. The Encampments: Visitors understand why George Washington twice chose Morristown for a winter encampment, underscoring the strategic value of its geographical location, populace, and diverse landscapes. Visitors understand the critical linkages between the different encampment areas of Jockey Hollow, Fort Nonsense and Washington's headquarters at the Ford Mansion. The histories of Morristown's encampments, and the affect that they had on both soldiers and civilians, help to illustrate the great costs, personal hardships, and organizational obstacles associated with building and sustaining an army. The researcher did not spend time exploring Jockey Hollow or Fort Nonsense but instead focused on the park's historic houses and museum exhibits. The physical impact of the military on the Ford and Wick families could be better represented with more - crowding of their objects into the few rooms left to them by the army; with more crowding of makeshift sleeping arrangements in the Wick House and Ford Mansion as detailed below; and with more emphasis on the devastation the army visited on Henry Wick's property. It would also be helpful to place the Morristown encampments in the context of the army's other Revolutionary War encampments such as Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; New Windsor Cantonment, Vails Gate, New York; and Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh, New York, among others. A formal exhibition or audiovisual program would likely be the most effective media for conveying this topic. 3. General George Washington: Visitors understand the critical role Washington played in the survival of the Continental Army - his leadership inspired his officers and helped to retain the loyalty of his troops even when faced with shortages and deprivation. The General George Washington theme is not presented to best advantage in the park's current exhibit offerings. His presence at Morristown, influence, and importance - are implied but not fully explored. This is a theme that cannot be addressed adequately