The President's House on Independence Mall

[supersupper]

Well, the experts over at Wikipedia suggest the White House architect Hoban "was influenced by the elliptical chamber at Castle Coole in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. That room has identical dimensions, and includes the two recessed niches found in Hoban's original design for the Blue Room." and was designed/constructed around the same time period as Hoban's house.



This all was occurring around the same time, and considering back then there weren't too many houses of such wealth (even in Philly) that could undergo such a fashion statement- after all a bow window is a fashion statement- theres not much practicality there to make it a functional decision.

It was in vogue at the time.

And though President Washington might have taken advantage of the grand window area to greet visiting guests, could one attribute the design to him, like the design decisions he made at Mt Vernon ?

It would be interesting if one were able to prove Washington himself designed an oval tent, then instructed his landlord to add an oval bay window to his house for consistency, further instructing Hoban to add an oval office to the White House to cement his vision forever.

The whole point of this (for me at least) is that American history is steeped in fictional half-truths, and today we are a little bit smarter about things like that. About things like slavery. Its all complicated and theres little black/white but mostly grey.


_____




and then, again, from wikipedia because I ain't no historian:

Dissatisfied with the size and layout of the West Wing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt engaged a staff architect, Eric Gugler, to redesign it in 1933. The modern Oval Office was built at the West Wing's southeast corner, offering FDR, who was physically disabled and used a wheelchair, more privacy and easier access to the residence.

[Titus]

It was in vogue at the time.

The whole point of this (for me at least) is that American history is steeped in fictional half-truths...




_____

As I was saying... Thanks!

[BenStone]

It's amazing what one can infer when you leave out the dates.

Some facts:

* James Hoban came to America in 1785.

* Castle Coole was begun in 1789 and completed in 1798.

* The design competition for the White House was announced in March 1792.

Are you suggesting that Hoban was clairvoyant? or was secretly smuggled the plans from Ireland? There's no evidence that Castle Coole had any influence on Hoban's design for the White House.

More facts:

* Washington visited Charleston, SC in 1791, and saw Hoban's Charleston County Courthouse, then under construction. (Image below left.)

* Washington summoned Hoban to Philadelphia, met with him at the President's House on June 8, 1792, and gave him a letter of introduction to the District of Columbia commissioners: The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript sources
Hoban was the only entrant in the competition to meet with Washington.

* Washington attended the July 1792 meeting of the District of Columbia commissioners, at which Hoban was picked as the designer for the White House. The choice was publicly announced on July 17.

* Hoban's surviving drawings are NOT from the design competition. It is believed that his initial submission had a 3-story, 9-bay facade (like his Charleston County Courthouse).

* Washington had additional meetings with Hoban. By 1793 Hoban's drawings for the White House showed a 2-story, 11-bay facade (below right).

William Seale, of the White House Historical Association, is the expert on this. He has no doubt that the bow window from Philadelphia was the inspiration for the oval rooms at the center of the White House.

[Titus]

There were plenty of architectural books being sent over from Britain the the colonies with renderings of Adam and Palladian style designs. The White House Historian is using wishful thinking in my opinion just as many of us prefer national mythology to reality.

But then I was just expressing my opinion.

[BenStone]

Seale's main point was that Adams and Jefferson USED the oval rooms at the center of the White House in the same way that Washington had used the Philadelphia bow window -- standing before the 3 windows when formally receiving guests. Instead of moving the levees (audiences) to the East Room, the 2nd and 3rd presidents continued the Philadelphia tradition. At least, until Jefferson stopped hosting levees altogether.

Of course, trying to tie Washington's bow window to his curved tent is a reach. But it is an interesting coincidence.

[supersupper]

I'm not arguing whose bow window came first. I'm arguing this was an architectural element in vogue at the time, and not something unique to GW and where he lived. (nevermind architectural plans are developed well in advance of new construction versus retrofitting an existing house).

William Seale, of the White House Historical Association, is the expert on this. He has no doubt that the bow window from Philadelphia was the inspiration for the oval rooms at the center of the White House.

Here's where your confusion lies.

Just because GW greeted guests in front of a set of bow windows doesn't mean this was some architectural feature GW dreamed up.

You walk into someone's house, marvel at their bamboo flooring and say to yourself, gee, I'd like to have that in my house please.

The bow window is a fabulous continuation of something that has now become a tradition for american political theatre, and an architectural reminder of first president's sensibilities. Some things from GW's sensibilities have survived, some not. We all look around and take advantage of whats available for whatever reason.


This goes to my point there was nothing as special about the House GW lived in as what went on in the house.

That we are able to witness the actual foundations of the bow window as history goes much further than some fantastical recreation of a house that was effectively randomly selected for GW's residence for a few years.

[BenStone]

Source: White House History Volume 22 (2008) Publications | White House History

George Washington’s Window, to the Present

By Edward Lawler Jr.

On May 7, 2007, an extraordinary discovery was made at the President’s House site on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Archeologists unexpectedly unearthed the partial foundations of the bow window that George Washington added to the State Dining Room. What might at first seem like an archaic find with no connection to today, actually has a contemporary cultural resonance recognizable to every American.

Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the United States, 1790-1800, while the permanent national capital was under construction in the District of Columbia. Washington and John Adams each spent the lion’s share of their presidencies living and working in the mansion at Sixth & Market Streets -- the “White House” before there was a White House.

The country was very young in 1790. We had declared our independence from Great Britain fourteen years earlier, and successfully defended it through a half-decade of war. The initial, unicameral federal government -- Congress under the Articles of Confederation -- had proved weak and ineffective, and the U.S. Constitution, with its federal government composed of legislative, judicial and executive branches, had been ratified by a majority of the states only two years earlier.

The idea of a president, the nation’s having a chief executive rather than a king, was new. Washington was acutely aware of this, and sought ways to project the legitimacy, stability, and permanence of the office (and of the United States itself), both to foreign powers and to its own citizens. A useful tool in accomplishing this was ritual.

But how much formality was appropriate for the elected leader of a republic? How accessible should the president be to the people? When a steady stream of well-wishers (and job-seekers) knocking on the front door interfered with his doing his work, Washington instituted the weekly levee or public audience.

On Tuesday afternoons at three o’clock, visitors could call on the president for an hour. According to Senator William Maclay’s journal, at the New York City levees Washington received these visitors while standing in front of a fireplace. But the transfer of the national capital to Philadelphia gave him the specific opportunity to create the ceremonial space in which the public would meet the president. That space was this bow window.

Washington stood in the center of the bow for his weekly levees. It was here that he received the Senate and the House of Representatives in the reciprocal visits that began each session of Congress. It was here that he faced down Citizen Genet, the French minister who tried to rally the American people to oppose our government’s neutrality policy. The famous peace medallion that Washington awarded to the Seneca chief Red Jacket probably was presented in the bow window. The President’s House was the center of the celebration of our independence, and according to Abigail Adams, a thousand people would visit on the Fourth of July and shake the hand of the president (while he stood in the bow window).

William Seale, in his definitive history of The White House, argues that the oval rooms at the center of that building were inspired by the bow window of the Philadelphia house. Following three-and-a-half years in Philadelphia, John Adams was the first president to occupy The White House. There, he received visitors in the Blue Room while standing at one end of its oval -- a position of power. Jefferson moved his levees to another room, and then abandoned them altogether, but likely continued the Blue Room tradition for open houses on New Year's Day and the Fourth of July. Several presidents used the second-floor oval Yellow Room as their private office, and Theodore Roosevelt built the first Oval Office in the West Wing. When FDR built the current Oval Office in 1933, his models were those same oval rooms of The White House. But it is unlikely that he understood the connection back to George Washington.

Whenever we see a photograph of the Oval Office with the president’s desk standing in front of the three windows -- the architectural embodiment of the presidency -- we are actually seeing a cultural echo of this bow window that Washington added to the Philadelphia house.

[BenStone]

An article on public reaction to slavery at the President's House in today's Philadelphia Inquirer:

Visitors to President's House grapple with reality of slavery

[Gladys]

I love it when geeks fight. Its so educational.

[supersupper]

I love it when geeks fight. Its so educational.

GEEK

The term is often used self-referentially without malice or as a source of pride, and has changed considerably over time. There is no longer a definitive meaning.
________

An acronym G.E.E.K was popularized in the US army and denotes "General electrical engineering knowledge".

"Geek chic" refers to a minor fashion trend that arose in the mid 2000s, with the media identifying various celebrities as "trying geek" or "going geek" for their wearing such glasses, such as David Beckham, Justin Timberlake and Myleene Klass.

Meanwhile, in the sports world, many NBA players wore "geek glasses" during post-game interviews, drawing comparisons to Steve Urkel.

As many of the other identifying characteristics of the trend—such as clip-on suspenders worn with short-sleeved shirts—were unsuitable for the business environment into which young adherents were entering,the trend quickly died out.

The term is now nominally used in the world of retail optics, where it is similarly erroneously applied to both hipsters as well as retro style.

geekipedia

[BenStone]

We don't know for certain that James Hoban's July 1792 submission for the White House contained any oval rooms.

Assuming the (generally-conceded) 9-bay original facade, the building would have been divided into thirds -- with a 3-bay East Room to the east and a 3-bay grand staircase/State Dining Room to the west. The Blue, Red and Green Rooms all would have had to squeeze into the middle third, which seems awkward and unlikely.

We don't know what happened during Washington's private meetings with Hoban in Summer and Fall 1792, but the building changed markedly over that period. By early 1793 the design for the White House was generally as it was built.


Benjamin Latrobe's 1807 redesign (left, unbuilt) shows the grand staircase. This was removed in 1902 when the State Dining Room was enlarged.

[MarketStEl]

An article on public reaction to slavery at the President's House in today's Philadelphia Inquirer:

Visitors to President's House grapple with reality of slavery

The Avenging the Ancestors Coalition got a lot of flak for its campaign to give the slaves who toiled in the President's House a voice, and there are those who feel the resulting memorial gives them too much of one.

Reactions like those I read in this story suggests to me that they needed all the voice they were given. As I've said before, race-based slavery was this country's original sin, and it wasn't as though people at the time didn't understand the moral wrong involved: Thomas Jefferson wrote about it in his only book, Samuel Johnson archly noted the hypocrisy of slaveowners decrying tyrannical rule by others, and Washington himself moved to free his slaves upon his death.

Even now, this often gets glossed over in the grand historical narrative of America. We have plenty of places we can go to celebrate the genius of the Founders, including the two tourists draws that bracket this memorial, the National Constitution Center and Independence Hall. There aren't that many where we can contemplate the shame that stained that genius. We must never forget that too.

[BenStone]

Someone on the observation deck at the 2007 archaeological dig said he almost wished that the site had not been the President's House. Let it have been Robert Morris's slave quarters or some obscure slaveholder's that the Liberty Bell Center was built over. Then the focus of the site could have been entirely on slavery.

But it was the President's House. And there were 10 years of presidential history that took place there.

Doesn't the "Power of Place" require that what happened at a site be interpreted at that site?

[MarketStEl]

Someone on the observation deck at the 2007 archaeological dig said he almost wished that the site had not been the President's House. Let it have been Robert Morris's slave quarters or some obscure slaveholder's that the Liberty Bell Center was built over. Then the focus of the site could have been entirely on slavery.

But it was the President's House. And there were 10 years of presidential history that took place there.

Doesn't the "Power of Place" require that what happened at a site be interpreted at that site?

The paradox is that were this site not the President's House, the artifacts of slavery would likely have been covered right back over without much notice or fanfare after the ones worth salvaging were removed and catalogued.

I think we're still figuring out how to best acknowledge at historic sites the role slavery played in building the nation (and nearly destryoing it too). I'm pleased that the various Presidential historic sites in Virginia - and also that historical theme park, Colonial Williamsburg - are incorporating slavery into their tours and narratives, but at least when I visited Ash Lawn-Highland and Monticello, the subject still felt like an afterthought. On the other hand, I think you do have a point in saying that the President's House Memorial omits the President, who matters every bit as much in its significance. I guess we are still searching for the proper balance.

[BenStone]

I guess we are still searching for the proper balance.

I admire your generosity of spirit. On this we totally agree.

[Titus]

I agree with you both but what I still do not understand is why Philadelphia has been chosen for this. Not that slavery did not exist here- it certainly did - but this was an early center for the abolitionist movement - my own ancestors signed their protest I believe in the 17th century here - and it confuses the work of two presidents alone here - one of whom was keenly opposed to slavery. In my mind the memorial belongs elsewhere and ought to be better - much better. Better that it should be in DC in proximity to the White House.

[supersupper]

Someone on the observation deck at the 2007 archaeological dig said he almost wished that the site had not been the President's House. Let it have been Robert Morris's slave quarters or some obscure slaveholder's that the Liberty Bell Center was built over. Then the focus of the site could have been entirely on slavery.

There are plenty of old properties over which the Liberty Bell Center has been built over, and in fact the entire mall has been built over many many more properties than that and you can be sure many had slaves.

But it was the President's House. And there were 10 years of presidential history that took place there.

Doesn't the "Power of Place" require that what happened at a site be interpreted at that site?

Sure does.

"Power of Place" for some people means George Washington lived there.

"Power of Place" for others means George Washington lived there with his slaves.

[AsYouWere]

I agree with you both but what I still do not understand is why Philadelphia has been chosen for this. Not that slavery did not exist here- it certainly did - but this was an early center for the abolitionist movement - my own ancestors signed their protest I believe in the 17th century here - and it confuses the work of two presidents alone here - one of whom was keenly opposed to slavery. In my mind the memorial belongs elsewhere and ought to be better - much better. Better that it should be in DC in proximity to the White House.

I agree with you totally. Philadelphia and environs included many early abolitionists including down into Delaware etc, and Philly was seen as a safe refuge. For these efforts there is never any thanks.

[MarketStEl]

"Chosen" isn't the right word. It would be more accurate to say the President's House Memorial was thrust upon us as a side project once it became clear that the new Liberty Bell pavilion would encroach on its site - in particular, the slave quarters.

That got local activists upset. We know the rest of the story, I think. Personally, I also think it would have been far more interesting if the NPS had simply left the archaeological dig site remain open, cover it over with glass or plastic, make the viewing platform permanent, and add some interpretive plaques.

As for the work of abolitionists here, yeah, it too gets short shrift. But even though Pennsylvania moved to abolish slavery early on, the issue remained a contested one in the 19th century. A mob burned down Pennsylvania Hall, built to house abolitionist meetings and activities, in the 1850s, for instance.

[supersupper]

That got local activists upset. We know the rest of the story, I think. Personally, I also think it would have been far more interesting if the NPS had simply left the archaeological dig site remain open, cover it over with glass or plastic, make the viewing platform permanent, and add some interpretive plaques.

That was acknowledged by most everyone halfway way through the dig. It was also acknowledge that money wasn't available (along with large technical hurdles) which was why they sealed the dig so that in the future, at the next go-round of rehashing the Mall the site would still be intact for a further reveal.


All this complaining about oh woe is Washington that he's getting short shrift really annoys me. Everyone knew about the Washington House yet let it decay thorough the years. That physical proof was still intact was fairly new, ane showing Washington had slaves adds a layer of complexity to our history along with the willingness to discuss it. The discovery of the slaves quarters just cemented that discussion. The original design meant to acknowledged Washington hasn't really changed from the original selection- The changes were additive, not subtractive. There never was a plan for some huge Washington historical story telling untill someone else came in to tell their story.

Those who felt that particular story had to be told made it happen. Those who feel Washington is getting shot shrift just sit back and complain.