Independence Hall in American Memory [Hardcover]

Charlene Mires (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 2002

Independence Hall is a place Americans think they know well. Within its walls the Continental Congress declared independence in 1776, and in 1787 the Founding Fathers drafted the U.S. Constitution there. Painstakingly restored to evoke these momentous events, the building appears to have passed through time unscathed, from the heady days of the American Revolution to today. But Independence Hall is more than a symbol of the young nation. Beyond this, according to Charlene Mires, it has a long and varied history of changing uses in an urban environment, almost all of which have been forgotten.

In Independence Hall, Mires rediscovers and chronicles the lost history of Independence Hall, in the process exploring the shifting perceptions of this most important building in America's popular imagination. According to Mires, the significance of Independence Hall cannot be fully appreciated without assessing the full range of political, cultural, and social history that has swirled about it for nearly three centuries. During its existence, it has functioned as a civic and cultural center, a political arena and courtroom, and a magnet for public celebrations and demonstrations. Artists such as Thomas Sully frequented Independence Square when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital during the 1790s, and portraitist Charles Willson Peale merged the arts, sciences, and public interest when he transformed a portion of the hall into a center for natural science in 1802.

In the 1850s, hearings for accused fugitive slaves who faced the loss of freedom were held, ironically, in this famous birthplace of American independence. Over the years Philadelphians have used the old state house and its public square in a multitude of ways that have transformed it into an arena of conflict: labor grievances have echoed regularly in Independence Square since the 1830s, while civil rights protesters exercised their right to free speech in the turbulent 1960s. As much as the Founding Fathers, these people and events illuminate the building's significance as a cultural symbol.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A book that shows us why history matters."—The Historian

"Mires cuts a broad swath through the centuries. We see the forces of preservation and politics converge and collide, countered by the environmental dynamic of a changing urban neighborhood. We also observe how African Americans, always a vital presence in Philadelphia, took liberty's message to heart. . . . Mires's plea for understanding the public memory that historic structures shape should inspire others to follow her lead."—Journal of American History

"A fascinating portrait that illuminates the connection between collective memory and history, investigates how traditions and heritage emerge and change, and examines how a heterogeneous society constructs and preserves its history. The book reveals Independence Hall, the most revered symbol of the American republic, as a place of contradiction, where the nation's ideals have been both defined and contested, expanded and limited."—Pennsylvania Heritage

"Mires's book frees us from any one-dimensional view of the past, and of ourselves, by showing that Independence Hall, like America, always has been and must be a work in progress."—Philadelphia Inquirer

"An outstanding contribution to the study of memory places in the U.S."—Choice

"This is a book I have long awaited, one that tells the life of a single building so as to illuminate American history from almost every angle—cultural, social, and political."—Mary Ryan, author of Civic Wars: Democracy and Public Life in the American City During the Nineteenth Century

About the Author

A former editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Charlene Mires teaches history at Villanova University and is a corecipient of the Pulitzer Prize in journalism.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (June 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812236653
• ISBN-13: 978-0812236651
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #706,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Place of Independence Hall in American History, February 12, 2004

By 

LWKennedy (Scranton, PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Independence Hall in American Memory (Hardcover)

Independence Hall in American Memory is a stellar book. Charlene Mires presents an important, engaging and highly readable account of Independence Hall. She also tells much that is significant and intriguing about the story of Philadelphia and the development of the American nation. The book is fascinating and wonderfully written. The reader will learn about the shifting uses and appearance of this most important building and the variety of ways that people have thought of Independence Hall and its place in American history. There are sure to be many surprises here. This is an excellent book which makes the reader think about the nature of city life and also about history. If you have an interest in Philadelphia, urban life, or our national story, read this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Independence Hall In American Memory., November 5, 2009

By 

Eric Williams (South-Eastern Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Independence Hall in American Memory (Hardcover)

Independence Hall In American Memory. Author: Charlene Mires. 368 pages. 2002.

If you visit Independence Hall today you will see a typical Georgian public building surrounded by open spaces and other buildings from the colonial to the early federal period. Mostly what you will see though is the building itself, due to the scarcity of buildings on the north side which provides lovely vistas of the structure.

The structure itself stands frozen in time. A memorial to the transition from an unhappy colony to an independent country. The building witnessed the debates and proclamations of Independence, the struggles to form a country and for ten years served as a national capital. Its architecture provided a link to the recent separation. When the capital moved on to Washington DC, the Georgian architecture was cast aside in favor of more Roman structures, as the founders sought to build the new nation on the foundations of the Roman Republic.

This book follows the history of this building and the landscape around it from its inception through its current incarnation. Besides the evolution of the physical structure it also discusses the building as symbol and the meaning and use of the symbol and its meaning through time.

What I found most interesting about this book was what you do not see when you visit Independence National Historical Park. When a building is frozen in time what is lost is what happened to it before it was frozen and the context of that journey. During the British occupation of Philadelphia the building served as a stable and a prison for captured American officers. When the US capital was moved to its current location the building reverted to a city governmental structure with a museum of natural history, and art on the second floor. This was in many ways a fore runner to the Smithsonian complex in one structure. The building did not really begin to register in the national conscious beyond the city of Philadelphia (who still owns the structure) until the visit in 1824 of Lafayette. Even after this visit the city grew up around the structure. Buildings harboring immigrants, blacks, Jews, and factories littered the landscape in many cases dwarfing the structure on all sides.

The structure really did not gain prominence in the nation as a touring destination until the 20th century with the rise of the interstate. Even then, the Liberty Bell was a far stronger symbol and touchstone of national myth and feeling.
This book is greatly enhanced by its choice of photographs which show the building and its surroundings over a period of time from its time as a small building choked in an inner city environment until its current position is international icon. While the text explains, the pictures graphically demonstrate.

This book is in the end a very interesting book because it tells the story of what you do not see when you visit Independence Hall. It tells the story of people and social movements which passed through the Hall or made it a backdrop for their live sand activities.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your usual historical discourse, October 8, 2002

By 

A Reader "Gamer and a Reader" (Hartford, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Independence Hall in American Memory (Hardcover)

A fascinating history of Independence Hall in Philadelphia in a different style than the normal textbook discourse. Mires approach of using the building and property as the focus of the social and political history that happened in and around Independence Hall is very original in that one begins to think about the building in the first person. The book uniquely expresses the history of everyday life and its continuum as people and events come and go through the Old State House.
While the building remains standing, history pours through it, and the building has survived as a sort of crucible in which that history could transpire.

It's not the same as reading a book about the history of other structures such as the White House that has been used for a singular purpose in its entire existence. The Old State House was used for many different purposes by a variety of people...all of whom the building had different meaning and worth as a historical relic. To read about Independence Hall from this perspective has added meaning and depth to what I have been able to learn on my own. Excellent work.