Currents
Written by PA Heritage Staff in the Current and Coming category and the Spring 1990 issue Topics in this article:The Census
A well known senior official of the Census Bureau, and a student of census history until his demise in 1988, Theodore G. Clemence saw the importance of the federal census as threefold. He considered its first purpose to be the establishment of equitable political representation as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The second function was quickly acquired as the nation discovered that the census answered its quest for knowledge, providing an insightful and useful statistical portrait of the people and the economy. In recent years, a third role emerged: by participating in the census, respondents see themselves as stakeholders, influencing the roles of new enterprises, becoming involved in the operation and even helping to validate the usefulness of census results.
According to Clemence, census participants discover what they need to know, and decide how to address problems, trends, opportunities, public issues, consumer markets, corporate plans, affirmative action, education, urban revitalization, rural conservation and similar pivotal issues.
Today, the U.S. Census Bureau is required to document the hundreds of uses the federal government makes of census data. These justifications offer a fascinating glimpse on how widespread the country’s reliance on the census statistics has become. Although individual census information is strictly held confidential for a minimum period of seventy-two years, tabulated statistics influence much planning undertaken by both the government and the private sector. Some of the uses of the census include: age data to plan community programs for the elderly, as required by the Older Americans Act of 1965; statistics about disability to improve public transit services for the handicapped, organized by the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA); information on income levels and poverty to enable the Job Training Partnership Act to fund training programs; and statistics to enforce laws forbidding racial discrimination.
The census statistics on the local level are especially intriguing-and meaningful. The 1840 census recorded that more than ninety percent of Chester County’s workforce was employed in agriculture. By 1980, a scanty three percent still engaged in farming. These statistics and other revealing facts set the stage for a fascinating exhibition, “Two Hundred Years and Counting: The Statistics of Change,” on view at the Chester County Historical Society in West Chester through September 2 [1990].
“Two Hundred Years and Counting: The Statistics of Change,” depicting the numbers and images that record two centuries of Chester County history, commemorates the bicentennial of the United States Census, which has been tracking population data since 1790. Chester County, whose geographic configuration has remained the same since the first census, is a microcosm of the flux and growth of the nation as a whole. Juxtaposed against the major issues of the American past, the county’s data relates hundreds of compelling stories.
The society’s extensive selection of both documents and objects, drawn from its archives, library and museum, illustrates key issues in the county’s development. The advent of railroads, the impact of immigration, the contributions of industry, the controversy of slavery and the issue of suffrage are addressed in this exhibition. Each is seen in the context of population change and is revealed through photographs, letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, as well as objects as diverse as political campaign buttons and a spike from West Chester’s trolley line. “Two Hundred Years and Counting” emphasizes the relationship of the numbers gathered to real life, and seeing the statistics as storytellers in their own right.
The nation’s first census of 1790 was one of the earliest acts of George Washington’s new government. It counted only the number of free white males age sixteen and over, under sixteen, the number of free white females, all other free persons, and the number of slaves. The first census, which took more than eighteen months to complete, counted 3, 900,000 inhabitants. The 1990 census, now fully computerized, is expected to count as many as 250,000,000 United States residents! The work of the United States Census Bureau has become increasingly complex; it currently produces monthly, quarterly and annual reports on housing, population, manufacturing, business, construction work and government.
“Two Hundred Years and Counting: The Statistics of Change” challenges the visitor to predict the findings of the 1990 census in Chester County.
In addition to “Two Hundred Years and Counting,” the Chester County Historical Society has recently opened a companion exhibition entitled “More Than Just a Head Count.” The exhibition offers an educational look at the United States Census, its history and its uses by a country whose appetite for self-knowledge appears insatiable. Designed as a hands-on, exploratory exhibit, “More Than Just a Head Count” invites visitors to consider the impact of census data that has summarized twentieth century trends in the nation. A series of school-related programs will teach students how to collect and analyze population data and encourage them to think about the crucial planning decisions that emerge from changing information. “More Than Just a Head Count” will be on view through Monday, May 21 [1990].
Dedicated to preserving and interpreting the county’s rich history, the Chester County Historical Society offers group tours and educational programs for the public. For additional information regarding admission, special events and visiting hours, write: Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High St., West Chester, PA 19380- 2691; or telephone (215) 692-4800.
Thurston Classic
When the Thurston Classic takes to the skies again this spring, it will honor Crawford County’s irrepressible ballooning pioneers, Samuel and Alic Thurston. Although today’s balloons with their brightly colored nylon envelopes and roaring propane burners are dramatically different from the nineteenth century muslin spheres filled with hydrogen or “purified natural gas,” the enthusiastic spirit of ballooning in the county remains virtually the same.
Local historians are not quite sure why Samuel Thurston, at the age of thirty-seven, abandoned his Guys Mill farmstead and moved to Meadville, the county seat, to become an innkeeper and aeronaut. Perhaps he was intrigued by the observation balloons which returned Civil War veterans home, or fascinated by the the widespread accounts of Lancaster’s John Wise and his jet stream flights of 1859.
It was not long before Thurston’s balloon ascensions were a regular part of Meadville’s holiday celebrations, often launched from Diamond Park, as the community’s central green was called. As both his skills and popularity increased, Samuel Thurston traveled the country, his dark balloons easily spotted by the name of Meadville in six foot high stark white lettering. During the ensuing twenty-one years before his demise in 1888, Thurston had made 216 scheduled balloon ascensions, among them one carrying a couple and a minister to perform what he claimed was “the first marriage high above the mundane plain.”
Upon his death, Thurston’s son Alic added balloon ascensions to business ventures, which included managing the Crawford House with his mother, peddling Thurston Mineral Water from five wagons which plied the streets of Meadville, and manufacturing balloon sheaths and hydrogen at the family farm. Although he traveled less than had his father, Alic flew endlessly, setting time and distance records. In 1894, he offered balloon rides during the Pennsylvania State Fair when it was held at Meadville’s vast fairgrounds. Upon the opening in 1898 of Oakwood Park, an amusement park reached by trolley, Alic Thurston’s tethered rides and ascensions were one of the most popular attractions. “Lady parachutists,” borne to great heights aboard Thurston’s balloons, jumped to thrill waiting throngs below.
Alic Thurston and the Meadville flew until 1915, just four years after Calbraith Perry Rodgers landed his Vin Fiz in Meadville on the first transcontinental flight. Later he would take his first airplane flight, about which he commented: “You feel safer in a balloon somehow.” However, fixed wing flight was the new rage, one which eventually garnered universal attention and, later, acceptance. Airboats were tested on – and often in – Conneaut Lake. Airports were constructed and airmail delivered. Young Harold Kantner left Meadville to train Pancho Villa’s “air force,” and became the first test pilot for the revolutionary Ford Tri-Motor airplane.
Alic Thurston lived to see contrails hovering in the sky above his farm, but his heart stayed loyal to the balloons. “You have no idea,” he said, “what a beautiful place you live in until you get a mile up in the air – just suspended in space.” That same appreciation still lives today and will fuel the Thurston Classic during its annual run from Friday through Sunday, June 15-17, in Crawford County. More than thirty balloon pilots will pay homage to Samuel and Alic Thurston as they soar toward the heavens, earning points in national standings during this year’s ascension.
To obtain additional information regarding the annual event, write: The Thurston Classic, Balloon Ascension Committee, 363 Chestnut St., Meadville, PA 16335; or telephone (814) 337-0877 or 336-3144.
Hex Signs
Each year, thousands of visitors travel Pennsylvania’s “hex highways” looking for the distinctive, almost anachronistic, designs that continue to emblazon barns in the Commonwealth’s southeastern counties.
The designs used in this regional folk decoration were brought to the New World by German-speaking immigrants who were mistakenly called “Pennsylvania Dutch” (for Deutsch, meaning German). In the mid-nineteenth century, the stars, rosettes, swirling swastikas, tulips and other symbols, often used on other forms of Pennsylvania German folk art, such as fraktur and painted furniture, began to adorn the gable ends of barns as well. Although often said to be powerful talismans against evil – “hex” means “witch” in German – the reasons why the designs were used on barns remain a mystery.
A traveling exhibit, “The Pennsylvania German Hex Sign,” a poster panel show mounted by the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, addresses many of the curious myths and beliefs surrounding the Pennsylvania Germans’ uses of the hex signs at their farmsteads. One individual long fascinated by hex signs, journalist and television commentator Alistair Cooke, who authored the preface to the exhibit, recalls his first encounter with the unusual signs in 1937. He was a young writer reporting on America for the British press and had undertaken a search for “exotic” people and places. Although Cooke could never substantiate the legends that accompany the hex signs and witches, his interest in the subject has remained keen.
The mid-nineteenth century Pennsylvania German community found itself in a crisis precipitated by events in the German Reformed Church, public school laws, a second continental Germanic immigration and the accelerating Industrial Revolution in the United States. In collective proclamation of ethnic pride and identity, these ordinary, everyday personal images were magnified as barn signs and quilts to publicly announce a unified message of ethnicity.
“The Pennsylvania German Hex Sign” will be on view at the Schuylkill County Council for the Arts in Pottsville from Monday, April 2 [1990], through Monday, May 14 [1990]. For more information, write: Schuylkill County Council for the Arts, 1440 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, PA 17901; or telephone (717) 622-2788.
A book entitled Hex Signs: Pennsylvania Dutch Barn Symbols and Their Meaning, published by E.P. Dutton in association with the Museum of American Folk Art, accompanies the exhibit. It was written by guest curators Thomas E. Graves, co-editor of Keystone Folklore, and Don Yoder, professor of folklife studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Alistair Cooke authored the introduction.
Family Portrait
Philadelphia’s venerable Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) recently unveiled a rare colonial period American painting, The Gordon Family, circa 1762, by Henry Benbridge. In private hands for two centuries, the painting was acquired by PAFA in 1987 and, after examination by its conservation department and following fitting in a new period-style frame, The Gordon Family has been publicly displayed at the Academy for the first time in history.
The Gordon Family is a conversation piece, a popular type of eighteenth century group portrait, in which figures are posed informally. Conversation pieces of the size and importance of The Gordon Family are relatively rare in early American art. The work is a significant addition to PAFA’s collections. Because the institution was founded in the early nineteenth century, and for the most part began collecting works by living American artists, the representation of major eighteenth century works – particularly of the colonial period – is less inclusive than the following century.
Philadelphia artist Henry Benbridge probably painted this ambitious oil about 1762, when he was nineteen years old. X-radiographs made during the analysis of the painting revealed fascinating alterations made to the piece by the artist. Conservators discovered that Benbridge’s composition originally included only five figures: the artist’s mother, Mary Benbridge Gordon; her second husband, Thomas Gordon; Gordon’s daughter by his first marriage, Dolley; and Thomas and Mary’s two young children. After another child was born to the couple, it appears that the artist was asked to repaint the portrait in order to accommodate the new family member. To accomplish the task, Benbridge was forced to alter the entire composition!
Henry Benbridge was born in Philadelphia in 1743. His father died in 1751, and his mother married Thomas Gordon, a wealthy merchant who strongly supported his stepson’s artistic career. After receiving his inheritance in 1764, Benbridge traveled to Rome, where he studied with Anton Raphael Mengs and Pompeo Batoni. Five years later he studied in London with Benjamin West. He was one of the few American painters of the colonial period wealthy enough to take advantage of such training.
Henry Benbridge returned to Philadelphia as a much traveled, highly recommended painter. He married Letitia Sage, a miniature painter and one-time student of Charles Willson Peale. They lived for brief periods in Charleston, South Carolina, and in Norfolk, Virginia, where he gave painting lessons to young Thomas Sully. Throughout his career, Benbridge excelled at group portraits which, in addition to The Gordon Family, include Family Group, now in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Tannatt Family, owned by the National Gallery of Canada at Ottawa. Benbridge died in Philadelphia in 1812.
Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is the oldest art institution in the country. Its collection of American art includes works by the prolific Peale family, Thomas Eakins, Mary Cassatt, Henry O. Tanner, George Luks and Winslow Homer.
For additional information regarding both permanent installations and changing exhibitions, write: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Broad and Cherry Sts., Philadelphia, PA 19102; or telephone (215) 972-7600.
Franklin’s Bicentennial
Patriot, inventor and statesman Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadelphia with not much more than two loaves of bread. During his long and prosperous lifetime, his innovative contributions in the fields of publishing, printing, science and technology, diplomacy, politics, communications and the arts have left indelible marks in the fabric of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the nation – and the world. Throughout 1990, Philadelphia institutions and organizations will celebrate one of America’s most beloved, ingenious, outspoken, inventive, controversial and influential figures with a year-long extravaganza of exhibitions and events entitled “Benjamin Franklin 1990: Celebrating 200 Years of His Genius.” The multi-faceted celebration will offer walking tours of eighteenth century historic sites, exhibitions and related activities.
As part of “Benjamin Franklin 1990,” the Rosenbach Museum and Library has mounted an exhibition entitled “The All-Embracing Dr. Franklin,” which not only commemorates the bicentennial of his death, but pays homage to his contributions as statesman, wit, author and scientist. While displaying some of the most famous of Franklin rarities – such as the only surviving copy of the first issue of Poor Richard’s Almanac – the exhibition also embraces the more intimate side of Benjamin Franklin. The centerpiece of “The All-Embracing Dr. Franklin” is his manuscript of “Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress” (“in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones”). His charming letter to Madame Brillon, telling “The Story of a Whistle,” in which he relates how he learned restraint and thrift, celebrates one of his most cherished friendships. Letters of the sisters Christine, Betsey and Marianne Alexander, recounting their encounters with Franklin at the noted salon of Madame Helvetius, provide a contemporary view of his popularity with women. “The All-Embracing Dr. Franklin” will be on view through Sunday, May 27 [1990]. For more information, write: Rosenbach Museum and Library, 2010 DeLancey Pl., Philadelphia, PA 19103; or telephone (215) 732-1600.
Opening Tuesday, April 17 [1990], and continuing through Sunday, May 27 [1990], at The Franklin Mint is an exhibition offering a representative sampling of two and three dimensional images from its private collection. Aptly entitled “Ben Franklin: Images,” the exhibit also includes other Franklin-related art forms. Additional information may be obtained by writing: The Franklin Mint, Franklin Center, PA 19091; or by telephoning (215) 459-6000.
A conference entitled “Reappraising Benjamin Franklin: A Bicentennial Perspective” will be held at several locations throughout Philadelphia and at the University of Delaware at Newark from Tuesday through Thursday, April 17-19 [1990]. Several institutions, which have also mounted accompanying exhibits, will explore the contributions of Franklin to the literature and culture of the eighteenth century, as well as examine his role as thinker, writer, scientist and politician. Symposium speakers include distinguished international scholars and historians. For complete details, write: The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107; or telephone (215) 597-7919 or 546-5588.
During the year, Bartram’s Garden will host many special activities for visitors in conjunction with “Benjamin Franklin 1990.” These events will range from colonial period teas – featuring rhubarb pies, a John Bartram concoction using rhubarb plants that Franklin send him from London – to “electric picnics” and kite-flying demonstrations. To obtain addition information, write: John Bartram Association, 54th St. and Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143; or telephone (215) 729-5281.
On Saturday and Sunday, April 7-8 [1990], the Franklin Institute will host the fourth annual Invention Convention, dedicated to the spirit of ingenuity. The event features a number of displays and demonstrations, as well as a theatrical presentation, Inventive Moments, which explores the creativity of Benjamin Franklin. Further information is available by writing: Franklin Institute, 20th and the Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103; or by telephoning (215) 448-1200.
“Benjamin Franklin 1990: Celebrating 200 Years of His Genius” features hundreds of special activities and events sponsored by dozens of institutions and organizations throughout the greater Philadelphia area. To obtain additional information on all events, write: “Benjamin Franklin 1990,” Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, 1515 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19102; or telephone (toll free) 1-(800)-321-WKND or (215) 636-3330.
Contemporary Artists
The Philadelphia Museum of Art will present a major exhibition of the work of nearly one hundred and thirty artists from the tri-state area, selected from more than twenty-five hundred applicants through a rigorous two-phase jurying process.
“Contemporary Philadelphia Artists: A Juried Exhibition” will be on view from Sunday, April 22 [1990], through Sunday, July 8 [1990]. The exhibition is the largest of three regional shows funded by The William Penn Foundation as part of Philadelphia Art Now, a three-year project designed to enhance the visibility of area artists. “Contemporary Philadelphia Artists: A Juried Exhibition” will reveal the lively and diverse art scene today through the works of forty-three painters, twenty-two crafts artists, twenty-one photographers, twenty sculptors, fourteen graphic artists, four installation artists, three who make books, and two video artists.
On Thursday, April 19 [1990], a special evening preview will allow subscribers to meet the artists and be among the first to view and purchase their works.
In an effort to include more regional artists in related events, and to involve galleries and nonprofit spaces which have greatly contributed to the city’s development as a significant center for contemporary art, weekend gallery walks and tours will be held concurrently with this show. More than fifty galleries will join the celebration by showing the works of area artists during the weekend of May 19-20 [1990].
“Contemporary Philadelphia Artists: A Juried Exhibition” will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring full-color illustrations of works by each of the artists represented in the show. A brochure listing all galleries participating in the weekend tours will also be available.
For additional information regarding the exhibition and accompanying programs, write: Philadelphia Art Now, Philadelphia Museum of Art, P.O. Box 7646, Philadelphia, PA 19101-7646; or telephone (215) 7876-5442 or 787-5431.
Iron
“Iron,” the new major exhibit recently opened by The State Museum of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg, provides a comprehensive view of the Keystone State’s role in the country’s industrial revolution. On view through Sunday, April 29 [1990], the exhibit offers visitors an in-depth tour of iron – from the natural resources needed to produce it, through the era of early blast furnaces, charcoal pits, bloomeries and casting shops and into the heyday of its great production.
“Iron” focuses on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when more than six hundred charcoal blast furnaces and forges dotted Pennsylvania’s countryside. For early colonists, Pennsylvania was rich in the natural resources needed for the development of an iron industry. There were seemingly endless forests for fuel, rivers and streams for water power and, of course, vast iron ore and limestone deposits. European settlers brought with them an understanding of iron ore and limestone outcroppings, and supplied the knowledge and labor necessary to exploit this natural resource. As the demand for iron grew both here and abroad, bloomeries, furnaces and forges were erected, new workers welcomed, villages and towns expanded, production increased and transportation improved. Thus began Pennsylvania’s great role in the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century.
Wrought iron, the earliest type of iron made in Pennsylvania, was easily welded and forged, and could be made into useful products. Wrought iron was made in the bloomery, although most was produced at a more sophisticated forge supplied with pig iron by the blast furnace. Pig iron was heated until soft and then beaten, reheated, folded, welded and stretched to form merchant bars for sale to blacksmiths.
Cast iron was made in the blast furnace. Most often, the bulk of cast iron products were made in foundries, where pig iron was reheated, melted and poured into molds that would eventually create tools, toys, lamps and railroad car wheels, as well as the famous Franklin stove and thousands of other objects. Patternmakers, the most respected of craftsmen, played a crucial role in the cast iron process. Their wooden patterns created the intricate forms from which sand molds were made. Molten iron was then ladled into these sand molds. Both rare wooden patterns and sand molds are highlighted in this exhibition.
The complex and complicated production of iron required that management and labor live together near the demanding, labor-intensive blast furnace. The distinctive lifestyles of the laborers and the wealthy iron masters is well documented in “Iron” by artifacts from southwestern Pennsylvania’s Cambria Iron Works when John Fritz served as superintendent. Cornwall Iron Furnace in Lebanon County is an excellent example of a commercial success in Pennsylvania’s iron industry. Located near rich quarries and timberlands, and supported by an entire village of laborers, the furnace remained in operation until it closed in 1973 – after 232 years of continuous production!
“Iron,” designed to simplify the technology of iron production, offers visitors a glimpse into the past, demonstrating what life was actually like for those intimately involved in an industry that brought Pennsylvania unrivaled prosperity. In three major galleries, video presentations provide the historical background of charcoal-making and blast furnaces. Also included are several hands-on displays, a blacksmith shop, a circa 1800 kitchen showing appropriate iron artifacts, and a section devoted to life in the iron communities. Of the five hundred objects featured in “Iron,” many are on loan from historic sites and museums administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, including Cornwall Iron Furnace, Daniel Boone Homestead, Landis Valley Museum and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
The State Museum of Pennsylvania is located at Third and North streets in center-city Harrisburg. Visiting hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., and Sunday, Noon to 5 P.M. Admission is free. For additional information, write: The State Museum of Pennsylvania, P.O. Box 1026, Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026; or telephone (717) 787-4978 or 783-9882.