Visceral History: Interpreting Independence National Historical Park=

Visceral History: Interpreting Independence National Historical Park

Michael B. Chornesky

History

The eminent French historian Pierre Nora, in his formative work, Realms of Memory, posits the exist= ence of “lieux de mémoire,” or places of memory. According to Nora, these sites are significant because societies define them as areas where history is to be experienced and remembered. A prime example of this concept is Independence National Histor= ical Park (INHP), located in the “Center City” area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which started operations in 1948 under the auspices of the Un= ited States National Park Service (NPS).[1] The park consists of an area from Seventh to Second Streets (west-east) and from Race to Spruce Streets (north-south).[2] Independence Mall was originally established as a state park in 1945 through the efforts of the Independence Hall Association, but was immediately incorporated upon INHP’s founding.[3]

Nora’= ;s conception of history and memory would designate INHP as a single place of memory. However, this fails to address the park’s diversity, as it actually houses a variety of historically significant monuments. The two mo= st important and widely known symbols at the park are Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, but these only scratch the surface of the park’s overall significance. Determining this meaning, however, is complicated by INHPR= 17;s location and surroundings. While historical parks like Colonial Williamsbur= g or Valley Forge have problems all their own, the fact that the historical buildings operated by the park exist amid a contemporary urban environment = only introduces more complexity into an already complicated case of public histo= ry.

For mu= ch of its history, the responsibility of providing an interpretation to this significant place of memory has fallen to its Division of Interpretation and Visitor Services (DIVS). The interp= retations ascribed to the park by this organization are the primary subjects of this study. While different approaches to INHP (e.g. the physical structures, to= urs, bureaucracy, etc.) should be considered, it is my view that an analysis of interpretation at the park in recent history will be most fruitful. Histori= an Constance Grieff, who wrote the official institutional history of the park = in 1987, supports the primacy of this approach, saying, “The chief purpo= se of displaying them [the historic buildings of the INHP] to the public was t= o teach a lesson about the events th= at had taken place at the site, or interpr= et the broad themes in American history they exemplified.”[4]

Another fact justifying this approach is the number of visitors that attend the park yearly. For example, in the years immediately preceding the 1976 Bicentenni= al Celebration, annual visits to INHP were estimated to be around three millio= n. During the Bicentennial celebration of 1976, that number doubled to six million.[5] By 2004, visits nearly matched the inflated numbers from the Bicentennial, rising from 500,000 to 5.36 million.[6] Considering the goal of the park’s interpretive services is to both attract and educate these visitors, it would be helpful to establish a hist= ory of the various historical meanings offered at INHP in order to interpret and fully understand them.

This s= tudy of the DIVS will occur on a variety of levels. Fundamentally, this analysis will consider the interpretation at the park in both practice and theory= . That is to say, for each time period in which a distinct DIVS interpretation is determined to exist, its practical aspects (i.e., the park’s exhibits) and their connections to historical scholarship and specific events in Amer= ican history will be considered. This practice will then be connected to histori= cal theory to achieve a better understanding of what actually happened. This analysis will answer certain basic questions, such as what interpretations = have INHP offered to the public in the past? When did these interpretations occu= r? What theories lurk viscerally behind these interpretations? What did these theories translate to in DIVS practice? Were these interpretations of the historical events that occurred at the INHP either conscious and deliberate= , or more subconscious and visceral?

As can= be deduced by this study’s title, it will be asserted that though INHP advanced conscious interpretations from its inception to the present day, t= here simultaneously existed unconscious (i.e., visceral) reasons for those ideas. This work will illuminate an objective pattern in = both levels of the park’s conception, and will apply that pattern to the interpretation currently being planned. Given this line of argument, INHP interpretations can ultimately be divided into three distinct epochs. First, the period in between the park’s establishment and 1976 will be considered. In this period, INHP instantly acquired so many historic landma= rks that much of its time was spent researching, evaluating and restoring the spaces, along with catering to its first visitors. However, even with no ti= me to plan or develop it, the park practiced an unofficial interpretation that glorified the American story in a classic, idealized narrative. A visceral = idea also underlies this practice. This was the concept of “civil religion,” first advanced by historian Robert N. Bellah in a 1967 art= icle from the journal Daedalus.[7] This study will link civil religion and the original idealized interpretati= on at INHP, define that concept and explain its inadvertent promotion by the interpretive staff.

Next, I will consider the era between the 1976 Bicentennial and 2004, when the DIVS started planning a new interpretation. The year 1976 is significant for a number of reasons in this context because it marks the DIVS’ first fo= ray into interpretational planning, evidenced by the three major themes present= ed for the Bicentennial celebration. This era constitutes the establishment in= theory of the practice that occurred between 1948 and 1976—a process th= at upheld the influence of civil religion. Many questions will be asked regard= ing this era, including why the prior period’s interpretation (which in part was necessary because of practical needs at the park) was not abandoned, especially since, after the Bicentennial celebration, the practical work on INHP was completed and a mo= re intellectually rigorous story for the park could have been planned and appl= ied.

Finall= y, the most recent interpretive plan of 2004 to 2006 will be considered. First, that plan’s process will be considered because it constitutes INHP’s first real change in interpretation. The practical aspects of = the plan will be considered next, including the attempt to unite the park into = one homogenous entity and the desire to establish practices that would convince visitors to see the whole park. This runs contrary to common visitor practi= ce, as they tend to only visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Finally,= the historical paradigm behind this interpretive plan will be examined—th= at of contemporary social history. We will then conclude by connecting conscio= us social history with the controversial subject of postmodernism (which will operate as the visceral theory in this case). This will suggest that the DI= VS may be making the same mistake of their early INHP predecessors by unknowin= gly sliding into postmodern park interpretation, ignoring the possibility of a well-reasoned meta-narrative and simply presenting disparate stories and perspectives, which lack synthesis. Reasons why this is a probl= em will be presented, offering potential considerations for those in charge of this present interpretive plan. A postscript will then package this case st= udy by placing it in the context of a recent historiographical trend that exami= nes the concept of “memory,” its connections to historical understanding, and the creation of public history.

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1948-1976: The Primacy of Practice: Glorification and “Civil Religion”

“= ;Interpretation,” in its most basic form, is a version of historical events advanced by a sou= rce. Public historians’ definitions of “interpretation” vary. = For example, Freeman Tilden’s work, Interpreting Our Heritage, advanced what amounts to the “classic definition= 221; of the term: “…an educational activity which aims to reveal meanings and relationships through the use of original objects, by firsthand experience, and by illustrative media, rather than simply to communicate factual information.”[8] Public historian Patricia Mooney-Melvin, former editor of that discipline’s official journal, ascribes much more significance to interpretation, claiming that it is “the key to unlocking the histori= cal significance of a site or landscape” and “the medium for educat= ing the public about the history associated with historical sites, cultural landscapes, the built environment, and artifactual remains.”[9] While there is evidence that the National Park Service came to support this definition, INHP’s ideas during this period differ significantly from those offered above.[10] While their interpretive plan of 1954 hints at this academic definition, th= ey thought that providing “maximum benefit and enjoyment to the visitor and… [reflecting] credit on the National Park Service” was more= fundamental to their mission.[11] They classified the role of their interpretive program as “designed to fill a latent but often inarticulate need of the visitor; to assist him whe= re he needs and wants further understanding and appreciation of the thing he c= ame to see.”[12] This demonstrates how INHP defined its educational role as secondary. They = did not want to practice a concerted pedagogy, but instead desired to communica= te information and stories as the publ= ic requested. This “all for public’s sake” character is critical to understanding the park’s function during this period.

As was asserted in the introduction of this work, INHP lacked an official interpretation and focused on practical functions during this era. The best evidence for this is the interpretive plan of 1952 to 1954. It was the last plan of its kind until the 1970s, when Bicentennial plans were well underwa= y, so it can be reasonably inferred that interpretation at the park was essentially dictated by the approach of this document. The interpretive pla= n of 1952 through 1954 essentially reads as an INHP laundry list, laying out in vivid detail what existed, what happened at those places, and what could be done with them. This approach constitutes eighty-five pages of the one hundred-page report, which indicates the practical approach that the newly established INHP intended to implement.

Along = with this practical approach, a plethora of evidence suggests the park’s desire to inspire a positive attitude towards INHP and to draw more visitor= s. For example, the interpretive report given to park rangers asks them to “have that ‘freshly-scrubbed’ look; clean shaven, his hair cut and neatly combed, and fingernails trimmed and clean.”[13] Provisions of how the park staff should look and talk abounded in the ̶= 0;interpretation,” suggesting that the DIVS was sensitive and tried to cultivate the public’s perception of them. This sentiment even reared its head in t= he historical discourse, as rangers were asked to “avoid jarring the sensibilities of visitors in manners relating= to history. An air of ‘debunking’ popularly accepted notions and traditions which may be questionable in historical fact should be avoided.”[14] This is especially surprising considering that historical discourse often involves the very approach being rejected in this source. In sum, interpretation at the park during this era privileged visitor experience over the questions of truth in the interest of completing and establishing the park as a viable public historical entity. However, it must be noted that this sacrifice of intellectual rigor did not necessarily distinguish INHP and the National Park Service from the academic community. The 1950s through the early 1960s are historiographically known = as an epoch of “consensus history,” which was roughly equivalent (though more justified by use of evidence and argument) to the idealized narrative practiced at the park.[15]

The interpretation of the park during this era is widely known and accepted in America. This is the glorification narrative, which privileges all things positive involving the American Revolution and its founding documents (the Declaration of Independence and Constitution) and avoids mentioning slavery, the lack of women’s rights, or many of the other implicit paradoxes involved in the new republic. These ideas were especially valid in this Cold War era, during which the idealization of American democracy was seen as an ideological tool with which to fight communism. For example, in her work, Independence Hall in American Memory, historian Charlene Mires claims, “By mid-century, the work of the Independence Hall Association had defined Independence Hall and the surroun= ding area [INHP] as places for patriotic commemoration of the American Revolution.”[16] She also refers to INHP’s “efforts to create a controlled environment dedicated to past events.”[17] Constance Grieff’s handling of this era in Independence: The Creation of a National Park reflects this sen= se of control and the lack of a serious challenge to the consensus of the park. While she devotes three chapters of narrative to this period, those chapters’ coverage of the years between 1948 and 1972 emphasize the physical establishment of the park (e.g. building restoration) and its fashioning into an operational bureaucracy.[18] As Grieff sums up this period of interpretation at INHP, “[their] historians never promoted and publicized their methods and findings… = the work at Independence remained relatively unknown to the broader scholarly community.”[19] The first serious case of challenge to the institutionalization and self-establishment of the park seems to have occurred in 1973, when the creation of a film for the upcoming Bicentennial event included an entrant = that wanted to stress a “strong sense of reality and sensitivity to [Ameri= can history’s] human aspects.” Grieff points out the INHP leadership’s adverse reaction to this approach, asserting:=

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This revisionist view of history was not acceptable to the staff of the National Park Service. Although they were prepared to accept a vision of the founding fathers as less than godlike, they intended to glorify and celebrate= the events at Independence, not follow the radical historiography of the Vietnam Era.[20]

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This sentiment by the INHP administration reflected the desire to interpret American history only in the sense of presenting a = story that its audience could both relate to and enjoy. The park wanted to inspire return visits, receive positive press, and avoid controversy. The approach = had its intended effect, as attendance steadily rose.

Howeve= r, even this controlled glorification of the American Revolutionary narrative may h= ave been overextended. For example, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the surrounding area are referred to as a “national shrine.”[21] Along with this, religious metaphors abound at the site. The Liberty Bell itself contains the phrase: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”[22] In this case, the visceral history in practice has obvious connections to t= he conception positing the existence of an ever-present civil religion in Amer= ica. All of these ideas point toward some deeper sense of American history at IN= HP and the interpretation of the site in both the first and second eras within this study (1948 to 2004).

Robert N. Bellah’s Concept of Civil Religion

and its Influence on Public History

In an article following up on his original 1967 work, historian Robert Bellah ass= erts the existence of “an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil relig= ion in America…alongside of and rather clearly differentiated from the churches.”[23] He defines civil religion as the intersection of national identity and reli= gion by analyzing excerpts from speeches by former presidents John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln, while paying close attention to the intersection of nation= al and religious language within them. These two presidents also have tangible connections with INHP, as both spoke at Independence Hall during their tenu= res. For example, Bellah cites the end of Kennedy’s inaugural address as an example of this phenomenon:

With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His he= lp, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.[24]

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Bellah sums up his analysis of Kennedy’s speech by stating:

The whole address can be understood as only the most recent statement of a theme that lies very deep in the American tradition, namely = the obligation, both collective and individual, to carry out God’s will on earth. This was the motivating spir= it of those who founded America, and it has been present in every generation sinc= e.[25]

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Bellah moves on by citing French political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau as the originator of the concep= t of civil religion, though Bellah’s own conception differs significantly = from Rousseau’s.[26] The “life to come,” as Rousseau termed it in The Social Contract, is not so privileged in Bellah’s conception, for he rejects Rousseau’s argument that civil religion necessarily implies the “exclusion of religious tolerance”̵= 2;a major point Rousseau cited in arguing against the civil religious trend in = his native France.[27]

The general understanding of civil religion that can be derived from BellahR= 17;s article is simply the religious character of American politics. This excuses the separation of church and state and cites the continued and repetitive u= se of the concept of God, the idea of providence, and the goal of doing God’s work on earth by American political figures. Bellah concludes p= ositively that the civil religious character of American society “is a heritage= of moral and religious experience from which we still have much to learn as we formulate the decisions that lie ahead.”[28] It is apparent that this means civil religion should not be immediately shirked, as Rousseau argued, but should continue to operate and be analyzed= in order to cultivate a deeper understanding of American politics.<= /span>

Bellah= ’s Daedalus article inspired a boo= m in scholarship during the late 1960s and 1970s. Following this major period of civil religious scholarship, interest in the concept lapsed as a major fiel= d of intellectual study. However, as an influence upon contemporary scholarship, civil religion has continued relevance. For example, Craig R. Smith recently published a work, Daniel Webster an= d the Oratory of Civil Religion (2005) that connected Bellah’s concept = to former American politico Daniel Webster. Even more historiographically significant was Benjamin Hufbauer’s use of the concept in Presidential Temples: How Memorials and Libraries Shape Public Memory.[29] Hufbauer’s idea of civil religion specifically relates to presidential memorials and libraries. Hufbauer’s claim is best summed up by his introduction, which states:

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Presidential libraries are an attempt to construct sites that have all four of the elements of civil religion.[30] They are meant to be sacred national places where pilgrimages can be made to see relics and reconstructions of presidential [or national] history, all in order to elevate in the national consciousness presidents [or the nation] w= ho, even if figures lesser than Washington or Lincoln, are represented as worth of patriotic veneration.[31]

The applications of these concep= ts to Independence National Historical Park are obvious. Some historical work = has already referred to this connection. Charlene Mires’ work on Independ= ence Hall makes the civil religious connection to Independence Hall even during = the 1860s, as she explains, “Representing the foundation of a nation that might have been lost [like the Hall itself in 1816], the building acquired a magnified significance, reflecting a civil religion that united religious belief with faith in the nation’s progress.”[32] With this analysis in mind, INHP interpretations from 1948 to the recent interpretive plan served to establish the park as one of these “sacred national places” where both Americans and foreigners are intended (subconsciously) to pilgrimage and consume the idealized conception of Amer= ica offered by such sources as the Division of Interpretation and Visitor Servi= ces at INHP.

<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black;font-style:= normal'>INHP Interpretation from 1976 until 2006:

<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black;font-style:= normal'>Recognizing and Accepting Prior Practice

INHP&#= 8217;s interpretation hit a pivotal point during the American Bicentennial of 1976. This event commemorated the two hundred-year anniversary of the Declaration= of Independence, and was celebrated as a memorial during which citizens were m= eant to reflect upon America’s founding and ideals. Philadelphia was one of the headlining cities in these celebrations. Consequently, INHP was pressed into service. Also, as the home of Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, = the park was doubly significant. Constance Grieff provides a useful timeline of INHP’s awareness of the Bicentennial, claiming:

Although Judge Edwin O. Lewis be= gan reminding the National Park Service of the approach of the Bicentennial in = the late 1950s, it was not until 1969 that upper management began to devote ser= ious attention to the park service’s role in its celebration. By late 1970= the park had begun to plan for the Bicentennial on a national basis, which would spread its resources to satisfy its countrywide constituency.[33]

<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black'>With this = basic timeline in mind, the history of INHP in this era can essentially be simpli= fied into three elements harmonious with the practice-theory dichotomy considere= d in the introduction: the completion of research, repair and restoration activi= ties performed since the park’s opening; the additional enhancements made = to the park prior to the Bicentennial celebration; and the production of an in= terpretation befitting the park’s status as a centerpiece for the celebration. The reference to 1976 as “pivotal” above alludes to this interpreti= ve function, since the era that followed also produced INHP’s first codi= fied and implemented interpretation.

The research, repair and setting activities w= ere explained in section two, but they may require a bit more expounding. Resea= rch was an ongoing function of INHP, as DIVS staff attempted to update the park’s interpretation with new information and ideas as much as was possible within the context of their glorifying or civil religious interpretation. Repair was a similarly continuous function, both the repair= s to the buildings as they were when INHP acquired them and subsequent maintenan= ce of those buildings. These were the two main functions of the DIVS after the Bicentennial era.

This e= ra was quite instrumental in the physical development of the park. It took on = new staff and opened the Todd House, the Bishop’s White House, Pemberton House and the New Hall to visitors.[34] The opening of the Bishop’s White House is immediately relevant to th= is study, as it exemplified the intersection of religious and national narrati= ves through the figure of Bishop William White.[35] Along with these additions, candlelight tours through Society Hill and the = park proper were instituted in 1974, sponsored by the Philadelphia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.[36] Carpenter’s Hall also saw an increase in attendance due to the commemoration of two hundred year anniversary of the first meeting of the F= irst Continental Congress in 1974.[37] Most importantly, the park built and opened Franklin Court and the moved the Liberty Bell out of Independence Hall to a pavilion across the street, emphasizing the Bell’s significance and allure to visitors.

The Fr= anklin Court project was constructed in between 1972 and 1976 under the supervisio= n of the architectural firms Venturi & Rauch and National Heritage.[38] The court consists of three key buildings leftover from the era on Market Street (one of which Franklin had owned), along with the foundations of Franklin’s original house, which park administrators chose to represe= nt with a steel outline of the structure’s original dimensions with peep holes to view the foundations (due to a lack of sources describing the exte= rior of the house and the existence of good sources from the Franklins themselves about the interior).[39] This was important relative to the official interpretive themes produced by= the DIVS for the Bicentennial (which will be explained below), one of which dir= ectly addressed Benjamin Franklin as a “man of ideas.”

The biggest move during this era was an attempt to unify the park by augmenting= its geography to get Independence Hall visitors to visit other buildings (a maj= or problem for INHP since its inception). The new Visitor’s Center, a mo= dern building constructed from 1972 to 1976, was meant to perform this function.= It was constructed as an intended starting point to park visits, the idea bein= g to take visitors east, first to City Tavern, and then westward to the main par= t of the park. The building was also meant to directly impact interpretation, as visitors to the center were exposed to an interpretation of INHP through a = film shown there. It also featured a Bicentennial Bell cast in the Whitehall fou= ndry from which the Liberty Bell originated and featuring the inscription “= ;Let Freedom Ring” (consider the glorifying interpretation).[40] If successful, the center would have significantly impacted the practice of interpreting the park, likely for the better. However, it failed to inspire visitors or change Independence Hall’s dominance vis-à-vis the rest of the park, and the building was eventually appropriated for use as an archeological center (among other purposes) in 2001. Around that time, a new Visitor’s Center was constructed at the corner of Sixth and Market Streets. The lasting innovation of the Bicentennial celebration was the creation of the first Liberty Bell Pavilion, a structure displaying and interpreting the Bell’s significance. It was placed at Sixth and Ches= tnut Streets in 2003, adding a permanent interpretive edifice to Independence Ma= ll.

These physical innovations improved the surface image of INHP exponentially and f= it with the 1954 interpretive ideal by improving visitors’ aesthetic experience of the park. However, more significant to the present study are = the interpretive changes that occurred during this time. The year 1976 marked t= he first time that a tangible, listed interpretation emerged from the DIVS off= ice. Essentially, that interpretation represents both the understanding of pract= ice in the prior period and the acceptance of that framework for the Bicentenni= al. This interpretation revolved around three major themes. The first two theme= s of “Independence and the New Nation” and “Historic Philadelp= hia, Capital City,” according to Constance Grieff, “[were] always central to the concept of the park.” Grieff also claims that the third theme, “‘Franklin, Man of Ideas,’ represented a reassessm= ent of values at Independence over a period of some twenty years. This was in l= arge part due to the accumulation of knowledge through the park’s research.”[41] So, for the first two themes, Grieff explicitly supports the claim that the 1976 interpretation was an official affirmation of prior practice. As for t= he Franklin theme, while it did not reflect prior practice, it was researched = in the 1948 to 1976 period. Along with this, Ben Franklin is an intimately connected character to the American Revolution and the city of Philadelphia= , so the use and glorification of him is no stretch of the imagination. No examp= le elucidates this connection better than INHP’s construction of Franklin Court, which essentially represented the final bubbling of these ideas to t= he surface. As for the first two themes, they are depicted by a number of tang= ible structures in the park, including Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Carpenter’s Hall, and “The Signer” statue erected during = the Bicentennial improvements, which sits on the corner of Fifth and Chestnut S= treets. These ideas constitute the core of the glorification and civil religious narrative, and though they were perceived and understood during the Bicentennial research, they were still confirmed for the celebration. There does seem to be a reason for this confirmation, as 1976 constituted a posit= ive event for the country. It was also positive for Independence Mall, which was officially transferred to the National Park Service in a ceremony involving President Gerald Ford. The INHP staff did not want to cause controversy dur= ing such an event, befitting the park’s original interpretive stance.

Current Independence National Historical Par= k:

Glorification and Civil Religion[42]

To a certain extent, the glorification narrative expanded following its affirmat= ion for the Bicentennial celebration. Two more recent additions best exemplify = this expansion—Welcome Park (constructed in 1982 by the Friends of Independence National Historical Park, a contributory group) and the new Liberty Bell Pavilion (constructed in 2003). These monuments demonstrate the previously established connection between the glorifying interpretation (wh= ich was affirmed in this era) and civil religion.

Welcome Park sits on Second Street just south of the intersection with Market, on t= he site of William Penn’s former Philadelphia home, known as the “Slate Roof House.” The “park” is a monument to Pen= n, Pennsylvania founder and Quaker, whom the Friends of Independence National Historical Park group deifies, placing him among the pantheon of those comm= only known as “Founding Fathers.”[43] The site stresses his political and religious roles, as they say of his Qua= ker transformation, “The Lord visited me with a certain sound and testimo= ny of his eternal word through one of those in the world called a Quaker.̶= 1;[44] His role in the political life of nation is also expressed with a religious element, as another panel features the quote, “…serve His truth= and people, that an example may be = set up to the nations, there may be ro= om there [in America], but not here [in Europe], for such an holy experiment.”[45] The glorifying and civil religious properties of the site pertaining to park interpretation between 1976 and 2006 are self-evident.

The Liberty Bell Center lies at the corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets. While= the Bell’s display changed little there, a series of exhibits leading to = the Bell itself were added. These exhibits did not exist before 2003, and give a nice window into the interpretation that existed during the period. For example, one panel refers to the Bell as “…one of the nation’s sacred relics, preserved as a tangible link to the struggle for freedom that created the nation. Such hallowed objects a= re often located at sites of pilgrimag= e like Independence Hall.”[46] Another panel proclaims, “Ring loud that hallowed BELL… ring it till the slave be free…”[47] These obvious examples of the glorified, civil religious interpretation are also mixed with a hint of a new interpretation, evidenced by panels influen= ced by the emancipation and suffragist movements. In reference to the suffraget= te movement, one panel asserts, “The original Liberty Bell announced the creation of democracy; the Women’s Liberty Bell will announce the completion of democracy.”[48] Coincidentally, circumstances involving the creation of the Center also advanced the need for a new interpretation, as a major controversy arose ov= er the proximity of the Liberty Bell to the foundations of what interpreters previously called the “First White House,” along with its slave quarters. This issue is currently being resolved with the construction of a monument to the site, the President’s House, though that building is still in its planning stages as of January 2008.[49]

<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black;font-style:= normal'>Discontents with the Present Interpretation:

<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black;font-style:= normal'>Prelude to a New Interpretive Plan

The Liberty Bell Center exhibits were not the= first signs of change in INHP’s interpretation. In fact, discontent with the presentation offered by the park can be traced to back to 1999, as scholars took notice of INHP’s lack of interpretive adjustment to changes in t= he historical field. While the park’s interpretation of the Liberty Bell Center represented some recent trends in scholarship, the remainder of the park was woefully antiquated with the continued influence of the civil religious narrative. It took five years for criticism to flow from the level of professional intellectuals to that of the park’s interpretive staff, which finally decided to develop a new master interpretive plan in 2004. The National Park Service, not academic historians, was the impetus of this cha= nge, demonstrating the bureaucratic nature of that institution in its control ov= er INHP.

The bi= rth pangs of this process can be traced to the publication of a number of harsh= ly critical popular texts regarding the public’s conception of history in the 1990s. Prominent examples of this genre included Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of American History and Not So!: Popular Myths About America f= rom Columbus to Clinton.[50] While these texts did not mention INHP directly, the park did not escape scrutiny for long, as James Loewen’s 1999 publication of Lies Across America: What Our Historic= Sites Get Wrong cited their narrative errors. Loewen complained, “NPS relies on its staff to tell visitors the history that makes this building [Independence Hall] important. Based on my four visits, the strategy doesn’t work—the history does not get told… Instead of revealing what happened here ho= wever, they tell mildly amusing anecdotes about how it happened.”[51] Loewen went into detail about the events that occurred at the park and how = the staff told the story of those events poorly. In one of Loewen’s more incisive comments on the subject, he claimed:

Guides might also point out the contradiction between the famous phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that = they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among th= ese are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” and the founders= 217; practices of slavery and sexism. Guides say nothing so substantive now.[52]

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As will be= established in the next section, this is a critique that definitely seems to have been considered and followed by the INHP. Loewen continues, stating:<= /span>

= ;

Instea= d of telling about the Constitution [he does explain their better consideration = of the Declaration of Independence], guides describe how long it took delegate= s to get to Philadelphia from South Carolina or New Hampshire. They point out how the delegates sat facing George Washington, whom they expected would be the first president. And they tell how Ben Franklin observed to delegates sitti= ng near him that the back of the president’s chair had a sun painted on = it. “I have often… looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”[53]

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All of these anecdotes were included in my three tours of Independence Hall, so th= ere is no reason to doubt the veracity of Loewen’s claims. His general criticism of INHP is that it tended to practice antiquated consensus history over recent scholarship, which points more towards conflict over consensus = in the early republic. It is also apparent that the DIVS staff heard these complaints in some form, as one staff member described INHP’s present= ation as “dated, white, middle-class history… not suited to the increasingly diverse group of visitors to the park.”[54] In sum, DIVS, under pressure from the National Park Service, the Organizati= on of American Historians and INHP administration, resolved to create and implement a new interpretive plan. This plan and its ideas will be consider= ed in the final two sections of this analysis.

<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black;font-style:= normal'>The 2006 INHP Interpretive Master Plan: Conception and Major Themes<= /span>

The mo= st recent INHP interpretation was conceived between 2004 and 2006 by the park staff in consort with a number of peripheral groups. It was, in its most ba= sic form, an attempt to contrive an interpretation befitting present historical scholarship, but also to conceive a presentation that would make for a plea= surable visitor experience and avert any potential controversy (especially in the w= ake of the Liberty Bell debacle). Though the interpretation is not fully implemented yet, it has coincided with the original mission of INHP interpretation by avoiding serious controversy.[55]

The interpretive process began more than two years ago, in October, 2004, when a few historians from the Organization of American Historians (OAH), including prominent local historian Gary Nash, were selected to visit the park and su= bmit lengthy reports to the DIVS. This study pointed out three key problems with services there. The first was a physical problem mentioned in the conclusio= n of the report. As the report argues, “The ‘park without borders= 217; challenges tourists and residents alike to be alert to their location in a national park.”[56] The second problem mentioned is also physical, claiming that, “Interpretation at the park core is inflexible. Visitors get a better, nuanced tour when they leave the icons and move to the edges.”[57] These two ideas refer to the park’s existence within a modern city, w= hich can confuse visitors who do not know where the park “ends” and = the city “begins.” DIVS traditionally reacted to this problem by confining its interpretation to Independence Mall. The report suggests that INHP stop compensating for these problems and solve them.

This s= ame reasoning is then applied to the park’s conceptual interpretation. The report points to the third problem: “The park is bound by the ‘inertia of tradition.’ Find a way to give ‘punch’ = to canonical stories without diminishing the traditional themes.” Finall= y, the study settles in on the most incisive criticism of the park’s ide= as, claiming, “Conditions in the park have changed and the park must reth= ink its approach. These changes break down into internal factors, external fact= ors and visitor factors [the variet= y of visitors viewing the park].”[58] This seems to have been the main problem with interpretive operations, the telling of a 1950s story to a twenty-first century audience.

The INHP’s newest interpretive plan seeks to solve these problems. Along = with the OAH review, the National Park Service imposed new bureaucratic standards calling for a new interpretation every ten years. This was the practical re= ason for the new plan. Finally, the DIVS sought to ameliorate past interpretive processes by holding a series of meetings with park staff and business interests around and outside of the park’s borders.[59]

The results of this process were mixed. While the INHP is working to solve its physical problems by increasing the instances of signs and maps throughout = the park, attempts to divert visitors away from Independence Mall remain fruitl= ess. Attendance statistics for sites in the park proper continue to overshadow t= hose for exhibits on the park’s periphery. As occurred with the original Visitor’s Center concept in the late 1970s, people ignore the rest of= the park. Instead of following the suggestion of the OAH and developing the park’s periphery to fight this trend, INHP chose instead to develop t= he park’s interior. The development of Independence Mall, the increased security measures (there but nowhere else), the recent openings of the Independence Visitor’s Center and the Liberty Bell Center within a few hundred yards of Independence Hall, and the planning of the President’= ;s House building in the same area point to INHP’s ad hoc solution to this problem. The problem with this idea is = that it continues to divert attention away from park resources on the periphery, such as Franklin Court, Welcome Park, City Tavern and the Second Bank of the United States, to name a few. If this process continues, visits to those resources will continue to decline. This practice, if continued, will limit= the resources from which INHP tells the story of America’s founding, fail= ing to reveal the complex circumstances that were required to attain that outco= me.

Finall= y, there is the change in the park’s interpretation, which revolves arou= nd its four new major themes: “Liberty: The Promises and the Paradoxes,&= #8221; “E Pluribus Unum: Out of Many, One,” “What was Revolution= ary about the American Revolution?” and “Benjamin Franklin: The Relevant Revolutionary.” While this seems to be a continuation of the= mes established in 1976, particularly in the latter two, the material has actua= lly been expanded. “What was revolutionary…” is the developme= nt of the American Revolution theme of 1976, and significantly improves it with the proposal of the theme in the form of a question. This reflects historic= al scholarship on the radicalism of the Revolution, specifically the more recent work of Gordon Wood and others.[60] “Benjamin Franklin” is an obvious continuation of the 1976 them= e of the same name, only he is now a “relevant revolutionary.” This makes him look more human by removing the veneer of deification and civil religion. “E Pluribus Unum” and “Liberty, the Promises and Paradoxes” are entirely new, and certainly fit with current trends in historical scholarship (i.e., the predominance of social history). In essen= ce, they aspire to analyze the American “melting pot” and the social paradoxes inherent in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.= [61] According to the interpretive plan, the themes were innovated “during= a series of workshops involving a cross-section of park staff, constituents a= nd partners.” More importantly, the plan outlines a clear approach to its subject, claiming that “The p= urpose of Independence National Historical Park is to preserve its stories, buildi= ngs and artifacts as a source of inspiration for visitors to learn more about t= he ideas and ideals that led to the American Revolution and the founding and growth of the United States.”[62] This subjective character of the recent plan deserves further investigation= .

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<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;color:black;font-style:= normal'>Visceral Postmodernism: Meaning, Potential Problems and Their Solutions

Of cou= rse, this interpretation is not without its problems. A critical thinker might n= ote the contradiction inherent in the physical and conceptual proposals. The physical actions taken by INHP suggest a pulling inward of the park’s resources to Independence Mall, while the new conceptual proposal emphasizes broader expansion and variety. Also, it is apparent that the visceral compo= nent of civil religion might just sneak up on INHP again. This could occur throu= gh the interpretation’s reliance on the now popular conception of “soc= ial history” for its ideas. The visceral mechanism being posited here is = the connection between current “social history” and the controversi= al conceptual paradigm of postmodernism, which this study contends are closely linked.

The relationship between the two approaches is one of the overarching theory (postmodernism) and its subsidiary within the historical field (social history). Most literature on the subject rejects a tidy, dogmatic definitio= n of the term “postmodernism.” However, postmodernist doctrine consistently features a few basic themes. First, there is the meaning of the term postmodernism: a rejection= of modernity and the intellectual structures that supported the period (those = of the Enlightenment).[63] Jean-François Lyotard defines the second theme within his work, claiming, “Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives [the grand narratives alluded to above].”[64] The third theme is expressed in the work of historians Michel Foucault and Michel-Rolph Trouillot, both of whom tend to express their perceptions of history in terms of social power relations. They show the diffusion of postmodern ideas into both academic a= nd public history respectively.[65] Finally, there is an undercurrent to these themes that is especially pertin= ent to INHP—the presentation of material in terms of stories and perspective= s. This last theme can be summed up as the subjective character of postmodernism, the primacy of individual approaches over the generalized and all-encompassing narrative. All of these basic aspects of t= he postmodern approach are explicitly and repeatedly employed in the recent DI= VS Long-Range Interpretive Plan.=

Postmo= dernism’s connection to the new interpretive plan is evident. For example, the plan asserts that “Park interpreters will provide visitors with opportunit= ies to make intellectual and emotional connections to park sites and s= tories, fostering the public’s interest in the stewardship and preservation o= f the park’s resources.[66] Foucault might interpret this statement as the park’s manipulation of visitors, but the true idea behind this statement is more about personal interpretation. This mesh= es with postmodernism’s emphasis on individual understanding over the structural approach utilized by the Annales School. Also, the preface to the explanation of the interpretive themes contains the loaded statement: “They [focused themes] open minds to n= ew ideas and perhaps to multiple point= s of view. When linked to commonly held emotions or universal human experiences, themes encourage audiences to see themselves in a park’s story and discover personal relevance.”[67] While INHP mediated thematic choices, their content and the approach applie= d to them are symptomatic of postmodernism’s ubiquitous influence.

So what can we conclude based on the above processes and patterns? Is postmodernism= a positive development that stresses the stories of the formerly repressed ov= er consensus narratives (e.g. the newly emerging field of subaltern history)? = Or is it, as Larry Laudan, Alan Sokal, and Jean Bricmont claim it to be, “…the most prominent and pernicious manifestation of anti-intellectualism in our time.”[68] These questions presently remain unanswered. However, INHP’s movement= in this direction must, unlike in the case of civil religion, be accompanied b= y a sense of self-reflection and understanding of previous tendencies in park interpretation: a movement beyond visceral history.

= Postscript: Connecting Visceral History to Conceptions of

= “Collective Memory”

The introduction of this work depicted Independence National Historical Park as= an exemplification of French historian Pierre Nora’s concept of realms or places of memory. If this connection is valid, then the park is one of many settings in the United States where American and foreign visitors go to experience the nation’s hist= ory. While that observation remains correct, it neglects a burgeoning historical discipline partly inspired by this idea and others from Nora’s work, = Realms of Memory: the examination = of memory, specifically what is called “collective memory.”

In its beginnings, the study of collective memory, of “a set of potentially absolute meanings and stories, possessed as the heritage or identity of a community,” was interdisciplinary, a dialogue between intellectuals of other disciplines and historians.[69] Thus, the figures cited as figuring in the predawn of the discipline are sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, psychologist Sigmund Freud and philosopher G.W.F. Hegel.[70] After Nora’s seven-volume French language version of Realms of Memory was published between 1984 and 1992, American historians applied his conclusions regarding French national history to American examples, beginning with Michael Kammen’s 1991 work, Mystic Chords of Memory. Our prima= ry concern is the state of the field after this original period of study, as t= hese ideas in context add meaning to the case study above.

While = the study of memory as a historical concept has developed much since Nora’= ;s original work, the definition of the term has changed little. Nora defines = the term in a variety of ways, at times contrasting it with history, and also connecting it to history. Overall, he deems the concept irrevocably tied to= the period in which it is invoked, calling it “life, always embodied in living societies… subject to the dialectic of remembering and forgetting” and “always a phenomenon of the present.”[71] Subsequent historians have defined it more literally, corresponding to the increased sophistication of the field. Kerwin Lee Klein claims that, “= ;If memory is objective in the coldest, hardest sense of the word, memory is subjective in the warmest, most inviting senses of that word.” He fur= ther defines it as “not a property of individual minds, but a diverse and shifting collection of material artifacts and social practices.”[72] David Blight further accentuates the practical distinctions between history= and memory, asserting, “Memory is often owned; history interpreted. Memor= y is passed down through generations; history is revised. Memory often coalesces= in objects, sacred sites, and monuments; history seeks to understand contexts = and the complexities of cause and effect. History asserts the authority of acad= emic training and recognized canons of evidence; memory carries the often more powerful authority of community membership and experience.”[73]

Perhaps this draws the distinction too sharply. While these historians seek contras= ts between history and memory, the two sources of knowledge are also complimentary. As we have already seen with INHP interpretations before 200= 4, to advance a historical interpretation without the application of intellect= ual rigor—to historicize memory—poses certain dangers. However, the last twenty years in the historical field and the last three in the history= of the park have also demonstrated that, at least in the minds of many histori= ans, history is not quite as “objective” as Kerwin Lee Klein connotes it. The study of memory was widely ignored prior to 1991, but by 1997, it w= as featured prevalently in issues of both The Public Historian and the Americ= an Historical Review, with historian David Glassberg calling memory “= ;a new way to think about public history, a common intellectual foundation for= the diverse enterprises taught and practiced under its name.”[74] This fast-paced succession of historical trends and the questionable conten= t of those trends have brought the very notion of truth in history into question. Memory was historicized and history was made increasingly like memory.=

Nevert= heless, there is a reality behind the vagaries of this “text.” While re= cent developments have revealed a certain inherent subjectivity to historical st= udy, they have also overshadowed its evidential and argumentative rigors. This is proven by the application of context to a term as loaded and complex as mem= ory in the sources above. In addition, the attempt to apply memory (in the form= of the idealistic, civil religious narrative) to a historical site in the preceding narrative lends extra credence to the use of memory as a subject = of historical study. Conversely, it demonstrates the weakness of memory as a source of historical knowledge. This is evident in light of a recent histor= ical debate over the weaknesses of oral and interview sources. This is odd given= the visiting public’s reliance on that very memory (either in terms of th= eir education or direct experience in more recent history) for knowledge.[75] The above story of interpretation at INHP reveals to us two potential respo= nses to the complex problems of public history. The first showed visitors the America they wanted to see and satisfied the historiographical tendencies of the time. Nevertheless, it was insufficient. The latter conception appears = to satisfy the exact same conditions as the first. However, as we have observed through the concept of memory, reliance on subjectivity also has limits. Be= tter answers likely lay in between these two extremes and in the unity of histor= y and memory.