Student Paper: Telling a Story of Freedom: The Preservation and Interpretation of New Philadelphia as a Site of Public History

I SEE NEW PHILADELPHIA as a two-in-one story. You have Free Frank McWorter and his family and you have New Philadelphia. Particularly as foretold by the title of my talk, this is a public history project. I'm going to be talking about the interpretation of the history, the interpretation at the site—which are distinct from each other—and the preservation and development of the physical site.Recently on social media, King Tut and his duck tunic have been a big topic. He has this tunic with ducks embroidered on it. He also has shoes with ducks on them and along with lots of toys, many of which were ducks. Scholars say that the explanation is nothing grand. It's just that ducks were revered in his culture. So, of course, there would be ducks all over the place. They were important. My point in sharing this is that people are looking for ways to humanize this child king. They want to relate to him and see beyond the glamorous pictures from our grade school textbooks and from blockbuster movies.Seeing the human side of legendary historical figures is essential to understanding who they really are to history, even if it's small details, such as Leonardo da Vinci really liking hues of pink and maroon. So, maybe now, when you look at his paintings, you'll see a little more pink in them. Abraham Lincoln loved cats, and his favorite dessert was white almond cake, and I can tell you lots of other random facts about Abraham Lincoln if you need to know them (which I'm sure you do). Queen Lili‘uokalani of Hawai‘i loved the symbolism and beauty of butterflies and loved the color yellow. So, those became the symbols of her reign. And Michael Jackson really liked spicy food, especially enchiladas. So how is this relevant to Frank McWorter and New Philadelphia?An oral history project that involved descendants and community members revealed five themes: Frank McWorter as a romantic image; memory of the Underground Railroad; images of community cooperation; images of racism; and the community's involvement in the archaeology project.1 The archaeology project was just in their recent past, as you may have heard about this morning. It's almost a given that people would talk about that as being relevant. But the other themes tie directly into my research and how this history should be interpreted. Of course, race and racism are central, because we wouldn't be here if race and racism were not in the picture. However, the legend that was Frank McWorter is the reason that we are here. We must not lose sight of the man that he was along with his family.Who were the McWorters and what is their story? Sources from the period, all of which were written after Frank had passed away in 1854, remember Frank as a “live enterprising man, a reputable, worthy citizen, kind, benevolent and honest. [Frank and Lucy] were both members of the Baptist Church and led exemplary lives. . . . By industry and economy, they left a valuable farm to their heirs. A large and respectable settlement of their descendants now exists around the old home.”2They worked hard for their family because of their love for and commitment to each other. Frank didn't free himself and say to his family, “I did it, so can you. Get to it.” He freed his wife first so that she and her soon-to-be-born son could be free. Frank then set out to free his entire family, which soon became a family effort, as more and more of them were freed. He even provided in his will that more family members be freed, which his sons carried out, and this dream was achieved. As historian Carol McCartney writes, “Pat Likes, retired New Philadelphia Association board member, once said that New Philadelphia is a love story; Free Frank loved his freedom, his family, and his town. Oral histories have confirmed these facts. . . . What Frank possessed in love, pride, determination, commitment, and persistence needs to be distributed to people today. . . . The magic elixir, ‘Frank's Formula.’”3Descendants of Frank and Lucy proudly today wear their family names and continue to be dedicated to carrying on the legacy set forth by Frank and Lucy. Pat McWorter explained, “I have never changed my name . . . because that's not who I am. I'm a McWorter. And I guess that kinda tells you how I feel about my name.”4 Generations since have pursued higher education and have served their communities, all while proudly professing the history of their ancestors and keeping their memories alive in programs just like this. And as Gerald McWorter said: “The real tradition of our family has to do with service. We are social workers, teachers, and working-class people.”5Remembering Frank and Lucy as hardworking, smart, and compassionate people is easy to do when you read primary-source documentation. To put this into a fitting cliche that we have heard referenced a few times this morning and that Faye Dant so wonderfully worked into her talk, they were ordinary people who achieved extraordinary feats. So, let's remember the extraordinary and the ordinary.The same goes for their town. New Philadelphia was an ordinary frontier town that helped those extraordinary feats come true. The birth and life of the town are where this town's uniqueness and profound importance lie, and that should be the focus of interpretation at the site. Almost every primary source out there that mentions the founding of New Philadelphia states that its purpose was to raise money to free the rest of the McWorter family. Such sources often also note the prosperity of the town and the determination of Frank to carry out his mission.The Act to Change the Name of Free Frank was the law that allowed Frank to have the last name McWorter and to sue and be sued, to own land, have property rights, and more. This act states that Frank “has laid off a town which he calls Philadelphia, and understanding and believing that the said Frank has laid out the town intending to apply the proceeds of the sales for the purchase of his children yet remaining as slaves, two young women about twenty years of age—The said town is in a handsome county undoubtedly healthy.”6 There is a very similar line in his Certificates of Good Character. He had two of those, one from Kentucky and one from Illinois.New Philadelphia was mostly a self-sustaining town that was located on a busy stagecoach road. This road connected the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, so it saw a lot of industrial travel. Other roads in the vicinity connected New Philadelphia to other towns near and far. It was in a very accessible location and lent itself to great commerce.7The use of the term “death” to describe the declining fortunes of New Philadelphia is a subject of controversy. This became a major part of my paper, and this is something that I want to continue to pick apart in future research because there are a lot of layers to it. The decline of the town was steady, beginning in the 1840s, after the major road that went through the center of the town was relocated to its northern edge, where it is today, and it now goes through the center of Barry.8The difference in growth between Barry and New Philadelphia was evident, as both towns reached their peaks around the Civil War. Barry had surpassed New Philadelphia in lot sales, and its population was quickly climbing. As Phil Bradshaw mentioned this morning, Pike County and most of its existing towns peaked in population around the Civil War. It hit its highest number, around thirty thousand, during the Civil War, and it has since been creeping downward, and now we're at less than half of that, unfortunately.Barry had a key advantage over New Philadelphia: mills. New Philadelphia never had a mill, which was a common staple of frontier prospect towns. Barry, or Worcester in its early years, had the woolen mills, a sawmill, flour mills, plus eventually a pork plant and apple orchards. New Philadelphia didn't attempt to compete with this, and instead took advantage of those services and products.The first railroad through Pike County, completed in 1869, had varied impacts on area towns. A few towns, including Hull and Baylis (originally named Pineville), owe their founding to the coming of the railroad. Others, like New Philadelphia, were hurt by shifts in industry to other places, like the railroad company's namesakes, Hannibal and Naples.9 Several towns throughout Illinois were negatively impacted if they didn't have a depot, and many of them have since been unincorporated. And this is a statewide, even nationwide, thing. There have been lots of economic studies on this, and I didn't have time yet to delve into that, but that's a future project of mine.It is undeniable that New Philadelphia not having a depot negatively affected its growth. However, many argue that there is more to this story. Therein lies the controversy. My position, which I will explain further below, is that New Philadelphia's death is not really that unique. It dwindled and faded away, just like dozens of other area towns, and just like lots of other frontier prospect towns. It had to do with shifts in industries and differences in areas’ needs. The more popular opinion is that the railroad intentionally diverted around the town due to racist influences, causing its nearly immediate disappearance.This is a good time to discuss the memory and future of the site. We don't need to sensationalize the story. The story is amazing enough on its own, and all we have to do is tell it. Its significance has been recognized time and time again, because it speaks for itself through primary-source evidence.What follows is a list of both primary and secondary sources that were key to my analysis. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather an overview of some of the essentials. The dates accompanying them are when the author's first or most relevant piece (as it relates to New Philadelphia) was published.Pike County Atlas, 1872William Grimshaw, 1876Charles Chapman, 1880Melville D. Massie, 1906Jess Thompson, 1930sGrace Matteson, 1964Helen McWorter Simpson, 1980Juliet Walker, 1982Carol McCartney, since 1985Gerald and Kate McWorter, 2018Thankfully, Pike County has been blessed with historians to carry us through the generations. These authors have kept stories like that of the McWorters and New Philadelphia alive. Since we have so many sources at our disposal to construct a well-rounded interpretation of this history, it's kind of overwhelming, but in a good way, because there's just so much there to work with, and you can develop a beautiful, amazing way to pass that on to visitors to the site.Grace Matteson was the first to track down and compile all the primary sources that Frank and Lucy's descendants kept, along with finding relevant courthouse records. Juliet Walker did this on a much larger scale in her thesis, which she developed into the book titled Free Frank: A Black Pioneer on the Antebellum Frontier.During and after the archaeology project in the early 2000s, more scholarship arose based on the project's findings. The project yielded thousands of artifacts from only a fraction of the town site. Those artifacts told us a lot about the daily lives of New Philadelphia residents, and this information should be presented to visitors with careful interpretation.In writing my capstone, I got to use a wide variety of sources. I used railroad company meeting minutes from 1853 and 1857 plus an 1860 county plat map to create a map of the railroad routes in the eastern half of Pike County. I talked to a restoration specialist at a in who on the of of New Philadelphia. I also read lots of county histories that provided of New Philadelphia and the McWorters by people who or so it's or also to and when my for the future of the site. was to the on a little to remember what was and what was Since this is now a what is the going to be to do to the What are they going to What are their As for secondary I of the and the the 1853 Hannibal and meeting the two routes that the railroad could were I used the minutes and the 1860 plat map to construct my 1853 and 1857 meeting minutes named that where the routes were to The that were accessible and we went out and them. and were all for the Illinois into Pike County, that how they were going to from the by the the and into the rest of the is where the was to there's where there is the took his company the from into this they the and then they got and had to the and routes were the 1853 The difference is in the 1857 had because of the that they would have to plus the of a So this the northern line would from and through point here is that they were looking for the of because this is early on in the of They didn't have of the with this railroad is that it was all and They did not in to It was all what man and could carry and what they could do with their own So, it had to be as easy as for which was really hard to do with so many and and with It was hard to a they did to a easy was about a of New Philadelphia. where they to the was a lot in that and New Philadelphia is on of a There are on You can in the of the road and look around and it like on of the you that it it it goes all over the place. I in the and to a line on create the map of the and I the information from all the sources I just mentioned and the map to create this. It the most because I did it in on a school when my I will a more and map that the 1853 routes were and they were little by little to to out where the of The line even a in The that was was the 1857 with a few especially near the at the Illinois the there are some that were to be with you can see that they had to do to create the that's there today. to New Philadelphia, the line is just over half a away at its I read a variety of sources while information to my paper, my sources presented some I that I to with each of these sources and their I these on secondary they for primary sources as What is the author's What is their to New What is the purpose or of their What sources did they did those sources to their What the this writing be more that are especially since we're talking about the future of New Philadelphia: What should visitors sources should be in on the to do their own which sources should we I the for my work as I my paper, but have needs and as they work through their own So that is something to develop as the the on the site. They will develop their own to talk about the the the the and the The last of this the of interpretation and preservation at the site. New Philadelphia is a of that all have needs. This is where I will discuss some for the future of each of some a little more than with what the of today. You there and you see It's a We got told that by a who was that his were going because of a We to to him and tell this is a really about and he having it. like this are so important. It is our to through to those and it's our to the importance of this history with the that the there is the and the it. the also the there's this little area of and some and a the the are with and an you The is really You can the New Philadelphia on and you it to the and it the and then it on what you can would be in of you if it were The is on the side of as as the McWorter or Philadelphia It's about a of the town The is about half a directly and it by the so it's not accessible from the site. were by the of the which is a major what people for the future of the a lot of people that love to see it like New New of is where Abraham Lincoln in his which was during the This is the same that New Philadelphia was The was by the in the and history to and interpretation by people who are in and are in as a which would be first or they are the story as history, which is New worked there for two and took it to I could about the the history, the period, and Abraham all with a public history I developed and on how should as as preservation and I have a opinion that New is it much the The a lot of for the in the of the and some people are really about the way it's but in my it like by what they a restoration specialist at in and he a lot of the that I had been or had from my time at New The most was that having physical for people to and for to is essential to an and so don't the of you from what is for the interpretation of the site. are after been they away from it and from it. It was a great with and I I could him for on that, but that's the of what he of this is to say that of at a few at the the that we know the most about and can most is for visitors and it for a for There are for it. It is and that you can a if the is is what we have but The is an and the there set a great It's a and that is good for people to what they need to know to have an understanding of the site. But the with that is that they lose the that you would at a history You lose the of going into the and the the and talking to the as they are it is that them about the and You have to if looking for that kind of for visitors and what it's going to to to would be and which are both ways to the of what was there to know all the It's a because not an entire It can you the of what was but again, you don't have the of having it and it to you as it last to be careful of is the of education and is the term used to describe the and of that are to be and into something that is and I read that is a of both restoration and and This is time when New and in it much They do a very good of education and and those to create a and don't have a lot to say about the McWorter farm and the because there's not a lot about them as as talking about them. The farm is the it's not even in the town As as I may have been of what I'm is to the McWorter I that should be part of the because that is where the family out in Pike The are a of a because there was not a school in the so you would have to do like what New did and pick a in the town that going to the and something there if you were to that McWorter is not but I'm sure that will eventually as the for the site. It's from the town. The itself is in good and it would just need an to restoration and to the site. The as I is on the other side of the but it should be in the of the story. This is to in You may read along the in life but in The McWorter is the of mostly Black and and the is the of mostly white and some But is that racist or is that because of the of the who the and were there their family is a that we will have to as we do more It's one of those where you don't want to to to the you may is a in a frontier Illinois But it The was by the same family who in the town. They just never This was the It is a that is in great The was It was it is not the research or of I very argue that it needs to where it it should be for use as it to use is from because it like to This to the as as while and and meeting should not be the I don't it should be to the public with for it for the It is a hard to through and wear and which a center should be and I with about where I that should but the And there should be of the so people can about it it, so it can be because it is really the town's only remaining used Gerald and Kate titled New Philadelphia, in one of her last I was not to the she did to them for their on she the how we should remember this history, the first was that we need to tell Frank and Lucy's story because it's a kind of story and never heard something like it The very with that and so do The birth of this town and the life of it are what it so as an Underground a site. We should visitors with primary sources and those be the interpretation is in this but with the of primary sources to we feel with a big story because the story lies in those archaeology project only a small of the town. studies in the rest of the town the and the should be but especially the town site. Those will and those can be used in the and it, or as as and the it would be This all goes the history of how to visitors in for a and