Compromising Truths

With all the unexpected controversy surrounding the development of a Presidential House Memorial on Independence Mall, it will be interesting to see how its history has been enhanced, or compromised. The thing about history is it's rarely black and white. There are many truths surrounding George Washington and the Founding Fathers. Some historical truths uphold these men as nation building inventors of freedoms, while other truths reveal them as slave owning aristocrats. The truth is they are both.

Good or bad, icons of history never live up to the legends that their reputations create. In the case of George Washington, some want to preserve an ideology while others want to demonize an extinct culture based on modern day morality. Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it, and that goes for the good and the bad. History is already subjective enough on its own, and whatever the angle, history becomes distorted when the modern prejudices of political correctness are applied to a different place and time.

Part of understanding history is understanding another world. Slavery is an ugly part of American history, but it is part of our history nonetheless. Bending historical fact to service modern day activism does nothing for anyone.

History has passed. Understand it, learn it, and teach it for what it is. Let's not neglect the fact that George Washington owned slaves simply because he helped found our country, but at the same time don't ignore the great man that led the Colonies from tyranny and helped build the nation that allows us the freedom to demonize him for his mistakes.

Above all, George Washington was human. There is not one American today who honestly knows what they would do in the face of history if they were raised as a part of it. No one can truly subjectify the cultures of our past. You can't take something that happened 234 years ago personally. The only way to truly understand history is to let it be what it is: History.

Reopening a House That's Still Divided

Society Hill - Revolution, Commercialism, Blight, and Rebirth

Many planners and architects consider Society Hill one of the most successful urban renewal projects in the country. Decades after its transformation, Philadelphians often don't realize that Society Hill was once the most blighted neighborhood in Center City, and many more are not aware of the severe architectural transformation that took place between the 1940s and 1970s. It's easy to stroll through the green-ways of Independence National Historic Park and assume that these are the meticulously preserved trails traveled by William Penn and Benjamin Franklin, and not the mid-century recreations of Ed Bacon and Mayor Richardson Dilworth.

Carpenter's Hall in 1958 during the reconstruction of adjacent buildings.

While many of the private residences of Society Hill are preserved examples of colonial architecture, only a handful of the iconic landmarks are actually original. Carpenter's Hall, the First and Second Banks of the United States, and of course Independence Hall are all original - although significant alterations were performed to return the structures to their 18th century appearance. It's difficult to imagine that the stone, Victorian era Drexel Building once occupied the SE corner of 5th and Chestnut or the equally imposing Irvin Building at the NW corner of 4th and Walnut. Here are just a few of the architectural losses that make up the ghost of Society Hill's once empowering skyline.

The Irvin Building on the NW corner of 4th and Walnut was designed in 1911 by Seeler, Edgar Viguers, and enlarged in 1928 by Ernest James Matthewson, and again in 1955 by Clarence Woolmington. It was demolished in 1974.

The Irvin Building

Diagonally across the street, The American Life Insurance Company Building at the SE Corner of 4th and Walnut was designed by Thomas Preston Lonsdale in 1888 with alterations designed by William Decker, an architect with a distinct style rarely preserved at the time it was demolished in 1961.

The American Life Insurance Company Building

The Brown Brothers Company Building at 330 Chestnut Street is now part of the site of Independence National Historic Park.

The Brown Brothers Company Building

The Drexel Building on the SE corner of 5th and Chestnut sat directly across the street from Independence Hall until it was demolished in 1955. It was designed by Wilson Brothers & Company in 1885 who made various alterations through the late 1800's and early 1900's. Later Harris & Richards would also make alterations in 1914. It is now part of the site of Independence National Historic Park.

The Drexel Building