National Constitution Center/President's House

Representation, Space and Race: Some thoughts on the National Constitution Center and the President’s House in Historic Philadelphia.

The National Constitution Center is at once an attempt to aggrandize the story of the writing of the Constitution of the United States of America, and an edifice of not so subtle understatement.  The outer façade of the building is the history of the Constitution is confined to one floor, in an extremely small part of the building. The representation of the historic importance of the Document is in general, aggrandized. The specific story of the Constitution and subjects of interest to it are served by a surprisingly mediocre display. It is history homogenized, in an attempt to be inclusive of the greatest possible audience, it loses the vitality of the conflicting ideas that in reality surround it

The introductory theater piece that is presented to visitors upon arrival evokes the atmosphere of a theme-park attraction. The live presenter performs an unvarying, scripted explanation of the significance of the Constitution’s creation to an audience that is passive, and sometimes even non-existent. Perhaps unwittingly, the message being conveyed is the inevitability of how the U.S. Constitution shapes our national identity. Upon first approaching the area around Independence Hall, I was somewhat baffled by the amount of open space that leads to the entrance to the National Constitution Center. The space makes the Museum fairly easy to identify, as it stands on a slight rise in the distance, but the building’s nondescript façade is in curious contrast to the isolation of the site.

The consideration given to people of different racial or ethnic backgrounds within Constitutional history seems disingenuous in the extreme. The projected images that we are given belong more to the history of Ellis Island or to Disney’s “It’s a Small World” than they do the History of the U.S. Constitution. All of the Founding Fathers have already been introduced to us as representation (To mention Martin Luther King and Elvis as products of the same context are particularly troubling in the face of the sheer volume of problematic discourse that it ignores by contrast.)

The President’s House is one of the most baffling exhibit spaces that I have visited yet. An open-air pavilion, built to give the suggestion of the house that once stood upon it. It imparts no symbolic meaning to the history that it represents, unless the attempt was to at once recall the enslavement of the household in contrast to not having a roof over your head as a free person of color. It seems a remarkably clumsy gesture on the part of planners who never moved from abstractions of thought to the physical realities of design. (It rains inside this museum.) The audio-visual component of the exhibit being exposed to the elements, and/or the vagaries of vandalism had ceased to function as expected. The effort to bring a modern element of interpretation, and the use of electronic media in the presentation of the site’s history was badly applied. Many museums have erroneously added the elements of digital or interactive display to their exhibits, the detriment being that they in no way enhance the quality of the information provided by the experience.

Eastern State Penitentiary: How it serves the community

The Fairmount community in Philadelphia has undergone many transformations since the 19^th century. Most recently it has enjoyed a renaissance as a desirable residential area, complete with businesses and restaurants to support its neighborhood population. The added attraction to outside visitors of the neighborhood to the Eastern State Penitentiary Museum and its special programming has helped to secure a future of continuous growth potential. While tourism undoubtedly plays a large part in the attraction to the site, it is the added attraction of local Philadelphians to the entertainment provided by the Haunted House that gives Eastern State its added focus. The very important question of the true function of a Museum within its surrounding community becomes more complex with the addition of programming that might not be comfortably accepted by the academic or intellectual community that is the traditional arbiter most often accepted by the Museum community. 

Eastern State Penitentiary is, within itself a fascinating addition to the rich museum heritage that exists in Philadelphia. It stands in contrast to the more formalized, preserved House Museums. There is no attempt to restore the site to its former existance. The presentation of its structures, and grounds is as is. The very nature of its crumbling and aging structure only adds cache to its identity as a historical site. While it is clearly a 20th century establishment, it also recalls a sense of the importance of ruins within a city or country that help to heighten the sense of timelessness and cultural significance that define it as an institution.

The Importance of the House Museum; Reflections on Powel House

Having spent my childhood school-years in the historic Germantown neighborhood in Philadelphia, my familiarity with House Museums is something that I take for granted. Most of my grade school History lessons involved a visit to a Colonial household, or some famous Revolutionary War site. The Architecture that remains throughout Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill is in itself a sort of exhibit of Historic Philadelphia in much the same way that Society Hill and Old City have been re-created to represent Historic Philadelphia. Having learned that Philadelphia boasts the greatest number of House Museums in the United States the question presents itself as valid; do we really need another House Museum

I believe that the answer is Yes, we do. One of the most important things we learned from our visit to Powel House is that the interior of the house itself is a carefully arranged re-creation of what it may have looked like. The reason it is important for us to preserve a physical manifestation of the past in this way is so that we can experience firsthand what it could have been like to be a contemporary, visiting one of the places of power and influence that defined our society in that time. The House Museum allows us to erase the barrier of time passed, or distance traversed. When we walk around inside, we become the actors in a type of "living-history" experience. Seeing the everyday lifestyle, or objects of a past era placed in historical context enables us to more closely relate to the individuals that inhabited the space. This, in turn informs us about human society in an almost anthropological way.

Another observation which was revealed about Powel House was the lack of representation of the African-American peoples who dwelt there during Colonial times. So many American Historical endeavors have a long, and critical history of exclusion or under-representation when it comes to African-American's presence in the founding days of our country. The issue of Slavery has made it difficult for many a Museum to present it in a matter-of-fact, quotidian way. Sensitivity and insight must be brought into an approach that visitors will not find offensive. I think that Powel House should renovate it's top two floors, and represent the spaces that were once inhabited by Philadelphia's enslaved blacks. I think there is more room for the House Museum in our society to represent the previously un-represented populations in an effort to document the development of a wider range of humanity. Most Historical sites focus only on the famous and the wealthy, illustrious figures of our past. I see the role of the House Museum as broadening to exhibit a more humanistic story. A story in which we could all be represented.

Museum Visit III Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology

The Penn Museum of Archeology and Anthropology - October 5th, 2011

The Penn Museum was the first of it's kind in the country to attempt to bridge the gap between the study of Natural History, and the study of the cultural development of the Human Race. The collections consist of artifacts which are neither purely artistic, nor scientific but which are often displayed for their aesthetic value or classified by scientific criteria. The most important distinction that the collections have is their relatedness within the realm(s) of social development. Through this presentation of Old World civilizations which were litterally dug from the earth, museumologists sought to re-create the evolution of human development. Like many Western institutions, the classification of civilization was modeled on the assumption that Western civilization took precidence over all others. As you enter the building, you are given the choice to proceed to the lower floors where the more 'primitive' cultures are represented; Native American, Asian, African and South American artifacts are represented as coming from more barbarous, or pre-historical sources. While on the upper floors you are invited to discover the progression of Western Civilization through a more historical and documented perspective.
The choice of objects on display also reflects their importance. The objects that define the lesser cultures are often everyday objects that involve the process behind basic survival. We are shown arrow-heads, and water jars and other utilitarian goods that represent a hunter-gatherer existance without evidence of higher thinking. Western Culture is defined by writing samples, architecture and artistic items that speak to the development of modern man up to the present. The institutional distinction betwween Anthropology and Biology seems clear. The more primitive cultures are identified with things that are more 'Natural'. The advanced cultures are identified by objects that represent modern intellect and human invention.

September 28th Museum Tour II – Independence Hall 2nd Floor and Second Bank of the United States Portrait Gallery

September 28^th

Museum Tour II – Independence Hall 2^nd Floor and Second Bank of the United States Portrait Gallery

In our visit to the Independence Hall 2^nd Floor space – former site of the Peale Museum (1802-1826), and the Second Bank of the United States Portrait Gallery we were able to view the places, and portraiture relevant to Peale’s efforts at establishing his collection of Natural History. He claimed that his design was to “collect and preserve all the variety of animals and fossils that could be acquired, and exhibit these publicly”. (My Design In Forming This Museum –Charles Wilson Peale. 1792 Philadelphia Pa Broadside Collection, APS Library.) In doing so, he attempted to follow a system of Linnaean classification, citing the genus and species of each animal displayed up to and including Homo sapiens. The significance of Independence Hall as a desired location to house his collection seems to have been an obvious choice when viewed through the eye of Peale’s ambitions for his Museum to become known worldwide. The collection of portraits, representing wealthy and influential white men, serves to reveal another potential clue of his intention to secure financial backing for his endeavor. It seems suspiciously unlikely that a scientific man of Peale’s standing would abandon his adherence to a strict taxonomic method of classification when considering his inclusion of mankind into the order of the natural world. The question arises when faced with his choice of representation – ‘why not try to represent as wide of a variety of Homo sapiens as possible?’ Why didn’t Peale choose to make his portraits a display of the ethnographic differences and variation of the species? What all of the subjects seem to have had in common was a social standing equal to his own. He stated that his purpose was “in forming a collection of portraits of many of the persons who have been highly distinguished in their exertions, in the late glorious revolutions, and which I am desirous further to enlarge with such characters as you, gentlemen, may deem most proper to be placed in this Museum.” (italics are mine) It appears that in his desire to acquire government approval, and funding to achieve his desired goals, he was willing to pander to the people who were capable of offering him patronage. His statements, which were publicly given to a group of such worthies in attendance, include “But I am sorry that my circumstances or opportunities have not permitted me to add to this collection a number of portraits of other gentlemen of known merit.” I see this as a fairly obvious translation of his suggested intent. In other words, he was implying that if he had more time (i.e. Money) he would be happy to include portraits of the “gentlemen of known merit” that were assembled to hear his proposal. This unfortunate revelation of Peale to have been so openly manipulative may well have ultimately thwarted any of his efforts to gain the approval, and backing that he desired. It seems ironic that his collections were eventually liquidated, and fell into the hands of a more obvious purveyor of “curiousities” as P.T. Barnum, who was able to make a profit of them until they were destroyed by an act of God.

The Wagner Free Institute of Science
September 14, 2011

The Wagner Free Institute of Science in Philadelphia is a perfect example of an Victorian collection. It is a large and diverse collection of animals, fossil remains and minerals which follows the common theme of the Natural Sciences. Started in 1855 by William Wagner, a Philadelphia amateur scientist, the Institute is dedicated to providing the greater public with a free education in the Natural Sciences. The specimens have been submitted over the years by other Scientists and enthusiasts in the field. The display is arranged meticulously by Taxonomy, and attempts to encompass the whole range of classifications of the species and materials represented there. The museum floor is itself a larger, more comprehensive version of the Victorian 'Curiosity Cabinet'. It's intent is to present to the public with an organized resemblance of the natural world.
Every creature from the smallest of gnats to the whale are represented here in some form. Sometimes just the bones or fossilized remains of more ancient creatures are in evidence, though in a large part animals are exhibited entire in taxidermy. Minerals from the earth are on display from around the globe, and there is also a wide selection of seashells to be seen. If it flies, creeps on land, tunnels beneath the ground or swims in the ocean it has been collected, preserved, classified and presented to the public for free viewing.
The context of the collection shows its influence quite clearly, reminding us of the tremendous impact Charles Darwin's work had on the the 19th century Scientific studies of the natural world. That influence is still evident in the way that we educate ourselves about the natural world today. The social relevance of the Wagner collection is that it has been provided free of any charge to scholars and the merely curious alike. The central idea being a kind of 'catalogue of contents' of what God or the Universe has created. Mankind is represented both within the collection, and by the spectator attending it. The implication being that he is in his most proper role of dominion - on the outside of the glass display, looking in. The value of the Wagner museum resides in the idea that we are the highest of the natural order, and therefore capable of most fully comprehending and controlling it.

In the beginning...

There was void