Virginia Historical Society: The Dinwiddie Collection

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Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Front entrance of the Virginia Historical Society.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Virginia Historical Society

428 North Boulevard

Richmond, VA

Website:  Virginia Historical Society

The Treasure:  The Dinwiddie Collection:  The papers of Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770) who served as lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia and was a mentor to George Washington while he was serving as a young militia officer in the French and Indian War.

Accessibility: The Virginia Historical Society’s library and galleries are open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 5 and on Sunday from 1 to 5, except for major holidays. Admission is free for all visitors. There are always great exhibitions in the galleries to visit, most drawing heavily upon both the Historical Society’s permanent collections and the large archaeological collections of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

The Virginia Historical Society maintains a museum of changing, long-term, and traveling exhibitions; offers public lectures, seminars, conferences, and consulting services; arranges school and general group tours and activities; publishes teacher resource materials; conducts teacher training and re-certification workshops on- and off-site; operates a research library; and supports research through an endowed fellowship program and minority internships. Their long-term exhibition The Story of Virginia: An American Experience can be viewed online.

Specific library collections such as the Dinwiddie Collection are only placed on view for special exhibitions. At other times, the fragile documents are preserved in cool, dry, and dark storage as recommended by current best practices. This digital Document Gallery offers an accessible view of some representative items from the collection.

A letter from the Dinwiddie Collection.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Notes:  The roots of major historical events often become obscured by time. Robert Dinwiddie’s name may have largely faded from history but his letters are forceful reminders of the historical currents that were gathering force while he served as lieutenant governor of Virginia from 1751 to 1758.

Dinwiddie’s actions as lieutenant governor of Virginia triggered and shaped the course of the French and Indian War, a turbulent period that significantly influenced future events. First, the eventual English triumph over the French was a victory for the English model of permanent settlements. English settlers would continue their westward push, establishing permanent homesteads. Second, the Native American tribe alliances with the French increased animosity between settlers and Indians, deepening tensions that would continue to increase throughout the next century and a half. And third, George Washington rose to prominence.

The Dinwiddie letters provide essential research details for all three of these subject areas but may be most intriguing in regards to George Washington. Only 19 when Dinwiddie took office in 1751, Washington was a young man of good family but uncertain prospects. Impressed by Washington, Dinwiddie appointed Washington a Major in the Virginia militia in 1753. Despite Washington’s subsequent record of less-than-stellar engagements against the French, Dinwiddie maintained his faith in Washington, enthusiastically encouraging, protecting, and promoting him. Meanwhile, Washington quickly fine-tuned his own political and leadership instincts—a key phase in forming the personality that would inspire a young country.

Letters from the Dinwiddie Collection, before treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Notes from the Editor:  With the best of intentions, a 19th century English autograph collector named Henry Stevens decided to preserve the Washington letters in the Dinwiddie Collection by pasting them into a scrapbook. The original rag-based paper of the letters was extremely good—they might have held up well for centuries. But mid-19th century scrapbooks are an altogether different matter. The high acidity of the scrapbook paper transferred to the letters, causing them to become brittle. With similar good intentions, Stevens had the Dinwiddie letterbooks rebound but used poor quality material that eventually did far more harm than good.

These 19th century preservation choices created some of the many challenges involved in conserving the letters. The painstaking work of conserving each letter fell largely to Wendy Cowan, a contract paper conservator at Richmond Conservators of Works on Paper. Her work has ensured the continued accessibility of this major collection.

Letters on the drying rack, during treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Determining placement of fragments, during treatment.
Photo courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Other Recommended Sites:  In addition to all the activities mentioned above in the Accessibility section, the Virginia Historical Society maintains a fascinating separate museum called Virginia House. Romantically reconstructed from a dismantled 16th century English manor house, Virginia House was built specifically to serve the Virginia Historical Society. The wealthy couple who conceived this plan, Alexander and Virginia Weddell, moved into the very large building in 1928 and lived there for the next 20 years. Upon their deaths, Virginia House became the responsibility of the Virginia Historical Society.

The Virginia House museum and gardens are used for many special events. The house overlooks the James River, just a short drive from the Virginia Historical Society’s main building. Tours are available by appointment.

A letterbook from the Dinwiddie Collection in a custom storage enclosure,
after treatment.
Photo Courtesy Virginia Historical Society.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Wednesday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (Custis Family Papers)

© 2012 Lee Price

Monumental Church

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Visit our “Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia” page to see the entire tour of the area’s Save America’s Treasures sites.

Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic Richmond Foundation.

Monumental Church

1224 East Broad Street

Richmond, VA

Website:  Historic Richmond Foundation: Monumental Church

The Treasure:  You might consider Monumental Church an American treasure because it commemorates the site of the greatest urban tragedy to take place in the United States up to 1811. Or you might consider Monumental Church to be an American treasure because it’s an architectural masterpiece by Robert Mills, famed architect perhaps best known for the Washington Monument. Either reason would be sufficient. Both reasons combine to make it unforgettable.

Interior view of pulpit at
Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic Richmond
Foundation.

Accessibility:  Monumental Church is in the final stages of being restored by the Historic Richmond Foundation. Currently, it is open for tours by request only. You can contact the Historic Richmond Foundation to schedule a personal or group tour.

Or… plan your wedding at Monumental Church. Scroll down on the website page linked above for information on wedding planning. It would be a lovely—and very historic—location choice for your wedding. And afterward you get to say you were married in an official American Treasure!

Notes:  First the tragedy: This site wasn’t always a church. From 1806 to 1811, the Richmond Theatre was located here. On the day after Christmas in 1811, a capacity crowd gathered in the theatre for a benefit concert. A chandelier accidentally touched off flames that quickly spread, fueled by combustible paints and oils. Panic ensued and people found themselves trapped in the crush for the doors. In all, 72 people died that night. More would have died if not for the heroic efforts of Dr. James D. McCaw and Gilbert Hunt, a slave blacksmith. From inside the building on the second floor, McCaw lowered people from a window while Hunt waited to catch them as they fell. Working together, McCaw and Hunt were classic first responders, answering a crisis with heroic action.

A brick vault was built on the site to serve as a final resting place for the fire’s victims. Then United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall led the campaign to build a memorial and church over the vault. A young architect named Robert Mills won the competition to design the church and memorial.

Mills has the distinction of being Thomas Jefferson’s only architectural student, having worked with Jefferson on the design of Monticello. Mills’ design for Monumental Church is a domed octagonal building in the Greek Revival style. Inside, the church’s interior is stately and graced with unusually fine acoustics. The marble memorial to the victims is on the front portico.

For a century and a half, Monumental Church served the community as an Episcopal church. Over the years, the congregation dwindled and finally the building was deconsecrated in 1965. A 2002 Save America’s Treasures grant launched the current restoration campaign which is now in its final stages.

The marble funeral urn
at Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic
Richmond Foundation.

Notes from the Editor: A large marble funeral urn commemorating the Richmond Theatre victims stood outside on the Monumental Church portico for 185 years. Then in 1999, the urn broke off its base. Determining that the original was too fragile to repair, a team of architectural conservators recommended placing it in storage to protect it from further damage from the elements.

But visitors to Monumental Church still see an urn today, looking exactly like the original. To create this precise replica, Historic Richmond Foundation contracted with Direct Dimensions, Inc., a laser scanning, digital modeling, and reverse engineering company. Close study of historic photographs combined with analysis of detailed laser scans enabled the team to create a replacement urn that captures minute details that had been largely obliterated by urban erosion.

Special thanks to Amy Swartz, Director of Preservation Services at Historic Richmond Foundation, for sharing her article “The Restoration of Monumental Church in Richmond, Virginia” (CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship, Summer 2008) which has been invaluable in preparing this blog entry. Also, thanks to our Monumental Church tour guide who led a group of us on a delightful and informative tour of the church a couple of months ago!

Other Recommended Sites:  John Marshall (1755-1835) was one of the most influential of Supreme Court Chief Justices, putting his firm stamp on American constitutional law in its early years. As noted above, Marshall was also the head of the committee that raised the funds to build Monumental Church. Dedicated to his adopted home city of Richmond, Marshall lived several blocks away at 9th and Marshall. Today, the John Marshall House is open for tours on weekends from March through December (with tours only by appointment in January and February). Check the John Marshall House website for details.

The memorial on the portico of Monumental Church.
Photo courtesy Historic Richmond Foundation.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (The Dinwiddie Collection)
Tuesday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society (Custis Family Papers)

© 2012 Lee Price

Tour Destination: Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia

View Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia in a larger map

During the next three weeks, Tour America’s History will be exploring a cluster of Save America’s Treasures projects in Richmond, Virginia, with one side trip to nearby Petersburg.

While Richmond may be most famous for serving as the capital city of the Confederacy, that distinction was ultimately just a five-year interlude within a nearly 300-year history stretching back to the city’s founding in 1737. Not surprisingly, our Save America’s Treasures tour of this area will skip freely across the centuries with projects that illuminate the colonial world as well as the mid-20th century.

Many of our locations happen to be located along or near Broad Street in Richmond. But while there truly is a great deal of history on this stretch, don’t be deceived into thinking this is all there is to historic Richmond. The city sprawls outward offering other worthy historical sites around nearly every corner.

With I-95 passing directly through it, Richmond can easily be reached by car and is a convenient destination for travelers by plane or train as well. You can enjoy the city’s famed hospitality at plenty of hotels, motels, inns, and B&Bs, and feast at a broad range of highly-rated restaurants. For essential tourist information, we recommend that you start at the VisitRichmondVa site, operated by the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau.

While we only have one Save America’s Treasures stop scheduled in the nearby City of Petersburg, this particular city is history-friendly enough to earn mention in our cluster title. While Petersburg may not be an urban destination of the magnitude of Richmond, it’s entered the 21st century with a different kind of historical charm, especially notable for its architectural preservation.

In some cases, specific Save America’s Treasures collection items will not currently be accessible to the public. This is particularly the case with collection items stored at archives and libraries. While the closest you may be able to come to these objects is viewing an image on a website, most of these sites do offer regular exhibits of choice material from their collections. Take your time and enjoy the history that is on display!

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s destination:  Monumental Church
Monday’s destination:  Virginia Historical Society

© 2012 Lee Price

American Philosophical Society

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Visit our “Tour Destination: Philadelphia” page to see the entire walking tour of the first Philadelphia cluster of Save America’s Treasures sites.

American Philosophical Society Library Hall.
Photo courtesy American Philosophical Society.

American Philosophical Society

APS Philosophical Hall

104 South 5th Street

Philadelphia, PA

APS Library Hall

105 South 5th Street

Philadelphia, PA

Website:  APS: American Philosophical Society

The Treasure:  The treasures are 14 early 20th century collections by important American scientists. However, while these collections will be our primary focus, don’t neglect the American Philosophical Society itself—founded over 250 years ago by Benjamin Franklin and friends, the American Philosophical Society is a treasure that should be visited on any America’s Treasures tour. Their Philosophical Hall building opened in November 1789 and has hosted men and women of genius ever since. It is one of the great historic buildings of Philadelphia.

Now, back to those 14 collections... They are:  the Leslie C. Dunn Papers, Florence R. Sabin Papers, Raymond Pearl Papers, John Alden Mason Papers, Paul Radin Papers, Frank Speck Papers, Franz Boas Collection, Peyton Rous Papers, Carl Neuberg Papers, Victor G. Heiser Papers, American Council of Learned Societies Committee on American Indian Languages, William F.G. Swann Papers, Herbert S. Jennings Papers, and the Warren S. McCulloch Papers. In total, they comprise approximately 445 linear feet of original material and 300 linear feet of reader copies.

Accessibility:  Check the APS website for current hours at the APS Museum in Philosophical Hall. Their fine exhibitions explore history, science, and art, usually drawing from fascinating material in their collections and often interpreting the items in surprising, cutting-edge ways.

As for the 14 collections that comprise this Save America’s Treasures project, they are easily accessible to qualified researchers. User copies on acid-free paper are available for most items. Thanks to state-of-the-art finding aids developed for each of the collections, scientists and historians can quickly sort through a vast quantity of archival material. You can visit these finding aids by clicking on the scientist’s names above. And if the system initially looks simple and orderly, take a moment to contemplate the work that must go into making a system this efficient.

Plant samples in a custom enclosure from the collections of the American
Council of Learned Societies Committee on American Indian Languages.
Photo courtesy American Philosophical Society.

Notes:  The scientists celebrated by these 14 collections admittedly aren’t common household names. The work of science doesn’t often lead to celebrity. But that’s why it’s so great that the Save America’s Treasures program recognized the authentic Treasures value of these collections! The way we understand our world changed because of the work of the scientists represented here. Through steady research and publication, they laid foundations that scientists continue to build upon today.

Raymond Pearl.
Photo courtesy American Philosophical
Society.

Nearly two decades after the death of Gregor Mendel in 1884, Mendel’s innovative genetics studies finally received their due and Mendelian genetics emerged as an important field of study. Three early 20th century geneticists—Leslie C. Dunn, Raymond Pearl, and Herbert Spencer Jennings—are represented in these collections. Dunn was a pioneer in developmental genetics, Pearl was an influential proponent of population biology and ecology, and Jennings was a leader in mathematical genetics (which he used to decipher the role of mutations in evolution).

Medical researchers are represented by Peyton Rous, Florence R. Sabin, Carl Neuberg, and Victor G. Heiser. Peyton Rous received a Nobel Prize in Medicine for his studies on the links
between viruses and cancer. The one
woman in this group of 14, 

Florence R. Sabin shattered glass

Florence R. Sabin.
Photo courtesy American Philosophical
Society.

ceilings of her day, eventually becoming the first female full professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Physicist William F.G. Swann studied high energy physics and cosmic rays during his tenure as the first Director of the Bartol Research Center at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute.  Unlike the other scientists, Swann did court a bit of celebrity as the host of a popular Philadelphia science TV show in the 1950s. Scientist Warren S. McCulloch looked inward instead of outward, using his research on neurology and human brain function as a springboard for early cybernetic speculations. He is now considered one of the great early thinkers in the development of the computer.

Anthropologists are represented by Franz Boas, John Alden Mason, Paul Radin, and Frank Speck, all of whom were leaders in the collection of information on the cultures of Native American tribes. By the early 20th century, many Native American languages and traditions were fading from use. These scientists dedicated their lives to preserving these at-risk cultures. For example, Frank Speck believed that the only way to truly understand the cultures of Eastern tribes was to live among tribe members, conducting his field work while respecting and temporarily sharing their way of life. Valuing their great craft traditions, Speck assembled magnificent collections of artifacts that are now dispersed among the collections of major museums such as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, the American Museum of Natural History, the Peabody Museum, and the Denver Art Museum.

Scrapbook cover from the Leslie C. Dunn collection.
Photo courtesy American Philosophical Society.

Notes from the Editor:  I’m always on the lookout for intersections between my passions and the places that I’m celebrating.  Here are two from these collections:

I was involved with a project for conserving the magnificent scientific illustrations of Mary Louise Baker (1872-1962), a superb artist who specialized in archaeological drawings of artifacts for the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum). Some of her greatest works were watercolors of Mayan pottery. The connection? John Alden Mason served as curator at the Penn Museum from 1926 and his great interest was Mayan archaeology. Baker and Mason collaborated on several projects so I looked her up in the John Alden Mason finding aid—and there she is: correspondence filed in Box 8 under “Baker, M. Louise.”

And here’s a real treat from one of my favorite American authors. Zora Neale Hurston, author of the classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, conducted ethnographic research under Franz Boas while she was studying at Columbia University. Her report on southern African-American culture, “The Florida Expedition,” is preserved in the Collection of the American Council of Learned Societies Committee of Native America Languages. And Boas’ correspondence with Hurston (35 letters from 1927 to 1935) is preserved in the Franz Boas Papers.

Other Recommended Sites:  I haven’t recommended a visit to Independence Hall yet? Well, you can’t visit Philly without seeing the place where the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution! It’s right around the corner from the American Philosophical Society—on Chestnut between 5th and 6th.

To explore Native American collections, as well as other archaeology collections from all around the world, visit the Penn Museum.

And if you’re inspired by Warren S. McCulloch’s early ventures into cybernetics, maybe you should travel over to the University of Pennsylvania to pay respects to ENIAC, the world’s first general purpose electronic computer (built in 1946).

Items and custom enclosures from the APS Save America's Treasures collections
including the Vit-o-scope from the Heiser collection, some diaries from the
Mason papers in custom boxes, and glass lantern  slides from the Swann papers.
Photo courtesy American Philosophical Society.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Wednesday’s destination:  Richmond, Virginia

© 2012 Lee Price

Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church

View Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Philadelphia” page to see the entire walking tour of the first Philadelphia cluster of Save America’s Treasures sites.

The sanctuary interior of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Photo Courtesy of Mother Bethel AME Church.

Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church

419 South 6th Street

Philadelphia, PA

Website:  Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Treasure:  The church building of Mother Bethel was dedicated in 1890 and it’s a jewel of a church. But handsome as the church is, it’s the stories of over two centuries of vision and service that make this historic structure resonate as a true American treasure.

Accessibility:  Mother Bethel operates its own Richard Allen Museum, open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 3. Reserve a tour on their web page to learn more about the sanctuary and the museum. Or… attend a service, Sunday mornings at 8 and 11.

Notes:  This is the fourth church building to serve as home to the Mother Bethel congregation. When it was dedicated in 1890, Mother Bethel was already nearly a century old, having been founded by Richard Allen in 1794.

Richard Allen, founder of
Mother Bethel AME Church.

Born into slavery in 1760, Richard Allen succeeded in raising sufficient money to buy himself his freedom while still a young man. An enthusiastic Methodist, Allen started preaching the gospel on the road in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In his hometown of Philadelphia, Allen and other Black Christian believers found a home church at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church.

Relations between the races started well at St. George’s, but as Allen’s preaching became popular, tensions increased. After a particularly ugly incident, Allen, his friend Absalom Jones, and their fellow Black congregants walked out of St. George’s in the middle of a service, resolved to start a church of their own. Allen supported the founding of this new church, the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, but it wasn’t the Methodist church that Allen yearned to establish. Absalom Jones led St. Thomas and Allen embarked on the founding of Mother Bethel.

The first Mother Bethel church building was dedicated by Methodist Bishop Francis Asbury in 1794. With Allen preaching, the congregation rapidly increased from 121 in 1795 to 457 in 1805. Responding to ongoing tension with St. George’s, Allen helped to organize a General Conference in 1816 that resulted in the establishment and organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Allen was consecrated as the first bishop of the new denomination. He died peacefully in his Philadelphia home in 1831.

Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Photo courtesy Mother Bethel AME Church.

Over the years, Mother Bethel has always retained Richard Allen’s commitment to serving people in need. The congregation supported the Underground Railroad in the years leading up to the Civil War. They welcomed notable figures such as Lucretia Mott, Fredrick Douglass, and William Still. They helped former slaves establish free lives for themselves in Philadelphia. And their commitment to community service continues to flourish today.

Notes from the Editor:  I learned about Richard Allen and Absalom Jones when doing some work for the church that Jones founded, the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. Allen and Jones have been heroes of mine ever since and this is why. When the Yellow Fever epidemic struck in the summer of 1793 and most Philadelphians were fleeing the city, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones called upon their church community to stay and nurse the sick and the dying.  Together with their friends, they put their lives on the line to serve and comfort their fellow Philadelphians, regardless of race.

Richard Allen lived the gospel he preached—committed to the cause of freedom, always ready to serve, and tireless at building community. The horrors of slavery got worse—not better—during his lifetime.  Opposed though he was to the culture that accepted slavery, he never relinquished his vision that Blacks had a full and equal role to play in the United States. As Richard Allen memorably stated, “This land which we have watered with our tears and our blood is now our mother country and we are well satisfied to stay. Here wisdom abounds and the gospel lives free.” His achievements—founding Mother Bethel, founding the African Methodist Episcopal Church, selflessly serving the sick and the destitute—attest to his unshakeable and heroic convictions.

Other Recommended Sites:  Remember there were two churches? Absalom Jones was ordained a Deacon for his leadership of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas and nine years later he became the first African American to be ordained as an Episcopal Priest. In those early days, St. Thomas was located near Mother Bethel but a series of moves to new church buildings took the church westward. Located at 6361 Lancaster Avenue in the Overbrook Farms neighborhood of Philadelphia, St. Thomas has been a conscientious steward of their own extremely impressive archive of historic material.

The choir at Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Photograph courtesy Mother Bethel AME Church.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Monday’s destination:  American Philosophical Society

© 2012 Lee Price

Submarine Becuna, Independence Seaport Museum

View USS Becuna, Independence Seaport Museum in a larger map

Visit our  “Tour Destination: Philadelphia” page to see the entire walking tour of the first Philadelphia cluster of Save America’s Treasures sites.

Submarine USS Becuna (SS-319).
Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

USS Becuna, Independence Seaport Museum

Penn’s Landing

Philadelphia, PA

Website:  Explore the Historic Ship Zone

The Treasure:  The submarine Becuna (SS-319) is both a good example of the standard fleet-type Balao class submarine of World War II and (following a 1951 conversion) the streamlined fast underwater submarine known as a GUPPY (Greater Underwater Propulsion Project) type 1A. The Becuna was commissioned in May 1944 and was used for service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War before being decommissioned in 1969.

Interior view of the Workshop on the Water at the
Independence Seaport Museum.
Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

Accessibility: Check the Independence Seaport Museum website for up-to-date information on available tours of the Becuna. This winter, tours are limited to Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with regular daily tours scheduled to resume in April.

The Independence Seaport Museum is open daily from 10 to 5.

Notes:  Built in New London, Connecticut, the USS Becuna is 307 feet long and carried 10 officers and 80 enlisted men. During the final two years of World War II, the Becuna was used in five wartime patrols with the U.S. Special Fleet. Modernized in 1951, the Becuna continued to serve, mainly on Cold War missions tailing Soviet submarines in the Atlantic.

Notes from the Editor:  Named after a Mediterranean pike-like fish called the becuna, the submarine inspired several affectionate nicknames from its crew including Becky (sometimes expanded to “old Becky B, queen of the sea”) and Becuna Maru.

Poking around the internet, I found an old Becuna Guest Book which provides a wonderful glimpse of submarine nostalgia, recording the visits of many men who served aboard the Becuna. Also, the Independence Seaport Museum has led an oral history project to record the memories of the men who served on the ship.

Other Recommended Sites:  If you’re still in a maritime mood, check out the view through the Becuna’s periscope. That’s the neighboring Mosholu, a floating restaurant inside a turn-of-the-century tall ship. Consider splurging on dinner there after your visit to the Independence Seaport Museum.

On the other hand, if you want a historical change of mood for dinner (retreating 200 years prior to the Becuna), the City Tavern at 2nd and Walnut offers Philadelphia’s recreation of an 18th century colonial tavern.

The forward torpedo room on the submarine USS Becuna.
Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Friday’s destination:  Mother Bethel, AME
Monday’s destination:  American Philosophical Society

© 2012 Lee Price

USS Olympia, Independence Seaport Museum

View USS Olympia, Independence Seaport Museum in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Philadelphia” page to see the entire walking tour of the first Philadelphia cluster of Save America’s Treasures sites.

The Independence Seaport Museum as seen from the Delaware River.
Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

The USS Olympia at Independence Seaport Museum.
Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

USS Olympia, Independence Seaport Museum

Penn’s Landing

Philadelphia, PA

Website:  Explore the Historic Ship Zone

The Treasure:  Launched in San Francisco in 1892, the Olympia is the oldest surviving steel warship still afloat. It famously served as Commodore George Dewey’s flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 during the Spanish-American War.

Accessibility:  Check their website for up-to-date information on available tours of the Olympia. This winter, tours are limited to Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with regular daily tours scheduled to resume in April.

The Independence Seaport Museum is open daily from 10 to 5.

The fantail of the USS Olympia.
Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

Notes:  The Olympia is a large ship, 344 feet in length, built to carry a crew of 400-450 men. The ship features two-ton piston heads and exquisitely crafted gears, rods, tubes and levers. The three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines relied upon three coal-fired cylindrical boilers that consumed up to 20 tons of coal per hour when the ship was moving at full speed of 22 knots (about 25 miles per hour).

On May 1, 1898, Commodore George Dewey stood on the Olympia’s bridge and issued his famous order, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.” Dewey’s Asiatic Squadron of four cruisers and two gunboats engaged with Spanish forces in the Philippines, decisively winning the battle. It was the first major engagement of the Spanish-American War, which would end just three and a half months later. The U.S. emerged from the war as a force to be reckoned with in international affairs.

The Olympia subsequently served in World War I. Her last official naval mission was to carry the body of the Unknown Soldier from France to the United States in 1921. Shortly afterward, the Olympia was decommissioned for the last time.

Notes from the Editor:  The future of the USS Olympia remains uncertain. The Independence Seaport Museum is engaged in a carefully-planned strategy to determine an appropriate home and caretakers for the grand old ship. In the meantime, the Olympia is still open for tours—so see it now!

Other Recommended Sites:  Visitors to the Seaport Museum’s historic ships may also enjoy visiting the Battleship New Jersey Museum, located right across the Delaware River on the Camden Waterfront. Touring the Olympia, a state-of-the-art warship when she was built in 1895, and then touring the New Jersey, which was launched in 1942, can offer visitors an amazing opportunity to experience the progression of ship design. The New Jersey is open for tours March through December (closed January and February).

During the summer, RiverLink Ferry System offers scenic transportation across the Delaware River to the Camden Waterfront

The USS Olympia, next to the Submarine Becuna, at Independence
Seaport Museum.  Photo courtesy of Independence Seaport Museum.

Tour America's History Itinerary

Thursday’s destination:  Submarine Becuna (Independence Seaport Museum)
Friday’s destination:  American Philosophical Society

© 2012 Lee Price

African American Museum in Philadelphia

View African American Museum in Philadelphia in a larger map

Visit our “Tour Destination: Philadelphia” page to see the entire walking tour of the first Philadelphia cluster of Save America’s Treasures sites.

The African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March (1965).  Behind the children,
a singing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

African American Museum in Philadelphia

701 Arch Street

Philadelphia, PA

Website:  African American Museum in Philadelphia

The Treasure:  Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection at the African American Museum in Philadelphia: This collection of over 500,000 negatives and photographs chronicles critical 20th century political and social movements, including major events of the Civil Rights Movement.

Accessibility: The African American Museum in Philadelphia is open Wednesdays through Saturday from 10 to 5 and Sundays from noon to 5. It’s a big museum with lots of great exhibitions. While images from the Jack T. Franklin Collection are on exhibit from time to time, the best way to see them currently is by visiting the digital images at the Museum Loan Network. The African American Museum is working on creating a digital database of these images that will reside at their site.

March on Washington, DC for
Civil Rights, 1963: James Baldwin
with Julie and Harry Belafonte on
the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
From the Jack T. Franklin
Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in
Philadelphia.

Notes: Jack T. Franklin (1922 – 2009) was one of the most pre-eminent and prolific African American photographers of his generation. For more than four decades, Franklin used his camera to chronicle political and social movements in both Philadelphia and the South. In addition to its national importance, the collection documents significant and extraordinary local history comprising virtually every social, cultural and political event in Philadelphia’s African American community during Franklin’s lifetime. Franklin generously donated his collection of over 500,000 negatives and photographs to the African American Museum in Philadelphia in 1986.

Notes from the Editor: I love the photographs in this collection—they beautifully capture the spirit of the events as well as the humanity of their subjects. I even used one of their great photographs to lead off Tour America’s History’s first blog entry! Now I plan to indulge myself by running a bunch more. Enjoy!

Black People's Unity Concert, circa 1966.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March, 1965: Philadelphia couple at
desegregated lunch counter at airport in Selma, Alabama.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Selma to Motgomery Civil Rights March, 1965: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
poses with ministers from the Philadelphia delegation.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

City Hall Protest, Philadelphia, PA, 1963: Young demonstrator with
sign aimed at Governor George Wallace of Alabama.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Malcolm X in Chester, PA, 1964: During campaign to desegregate the
Chester Public School System.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Starletta DePaur and her cats, Philadelphia, PA (June 26, 1970): Known as
Princess Starletta DePaur during her dance career.  After a dance accident
left her a paraplegic, she began breeding cats to help the handicapped.
From the Jack T. Franklin Photography Collection of the
African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Other Recommended Sites: You can visit one of Philadelphia’s newest historical sites at 6th and Market, just a couple of blocks south of the African American Museum. The President’s House is designed as an open-air exhibition, showcasing the archaeological work that has been done on the foundations of the house that served George Washington and John Adams during their presidencies. The site primarily focuses on the stories of nine slaves who lived and worked here, serving George Washington and his family.

Other nearby museums and historic sites include the National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell (can’t visit Philly without seeing the Liberty Bell!), and the new National Museum of American Jewish History. This little patch of Philadelphia is packed with history!

Directly complementing the Jack T. Franklin Collection, there’s another great African-American photography collection on the other side of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. Their Teeny Harris Archive contains nearly 80,000 images documenting Pittsburgh’s African American community from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights March, 1965: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
with his wife Coretta Scott King.  Seated next to Dr. King is Ralph Abernathy.
Next to Mrs. King is John Lewis;  to his right, A. Philip Randolph, leader of
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.Noted civil rights leader
Bayard Rustin is on the far left. From the Jack T. Franklin Photography
Collection of the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

Tour America's History Itinerary
Tuesday’s destination:  Cruiser Olympia, Independence Seaport Museum
Wednesday’s destination:  USS Becuna, Independence Seaport Museum

© 2011 Lee Price