Director's Letter
A Letter from the 
Director
SHEAR NEH Landmarks Workshop
Library Company of Philadelphia
1314 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
nehlandmarks@shear.org
http://www.shear.org/nehlandmarks
Dear Colleague:
Philadelphia’s history encapsulates the American national narrative from its origins as William Penn’s seventeenth-century “green country towne,” its eighteenth-century rise to the largest port in the British North American colonies, its ten years as the nation’s new capital, and its nineteenth-century transformation into an industrial metropolis. To explore these developments and more, I invite you to apply for:
You will explore the city’s rich history, learn how to incorporate historic landmarks into classroom teaching, and initiate or further your personal research interests. Two dates are available: June 6-12, 2010, and June 13-19, 2010. There is no fee for this program, and all participants receive a $1,200 stipend to help defray expenses.
Structure, Content and Faculty
Your workshop will involve five-and-a-half days of activities. Morning sessions feature guest scholars leading seminars on different aspects of American history using Philadelphia as a starting point for addressing larger historical themes.
In Monday morning’s presentation, Daniel K. Richter considers Native American history and early European settlement. Dr. Richter is Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and Richard S. Dunn Director of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies. His research and teaching focus on colonial America and Native Americans before 1800 and his second book, Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America (Harvard, 2001), was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002. His session reintegrates Indians into American colonial history and discusses the Seven Years’ War and its contributions to the tensions in the pre-Revolutionary mid-Atlantic region, before concluding with a consideration of how these events shaped Revolutionary-era Philadelphia.
On Tuesday, Michelle Craig McDonald of Stockton College and the Project Co-Director uses goods such as coffee to explore U.S. trade patterns in the early republic and ask how “independent” America was from the Revolution up to the 1820s. Dr. McDonald will be paying particular attention to the social, political, and economic relationships Philadelphia formed with the Caribbean.
Wednesday morning features C. Dallett Hemphill from Ursinus University. Dr. Hemphill is currently completing a study of sibling relations in early America and her research and teaching focus on women’s history, family history, and the history of Philadelphia. Her presentation uses the city’s urban landscape to understand the impact of immigration and early industrial development from the 1780s through the early nineteenth century.
On Thursday, Michael Zuckerman, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, concludes the week’s seminars with a capstone discussion that examines the experiences of various groups of people among Philadelphia’s population to discuss just how revolutionary the American Revolution was and how republican we can consider the early republic.
The fifth day of the workshop, led by myself, Tamara Gaskell, Editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, and Assistant Project Director, Laura Keenan Spero, a Ph.D. candidate in American History at the University of Pennsylvania, who is completing a dissertation on the history of the Shawnees, focuses on researching and writing for presentation and publication. The afternoon is set aside for research, after which we will reconvene for dinner and a continuation of the publication discussion at City Tavern, a restored colonial restaurant in Old City Philadelphia.
Workshop readings include a variety of both primary and secondary sources, some written by guest faculty presenters; many will be posted on the project website under “Readings,” while others will be mailed to workshop participants in advance of the program.
Because community college teachers bring a wide range of interests and needs to the program—some attracted to specific historical topics or questions while others seek to enhance classroom performance through new teaching resources—the workshop offers a range of afternoon options that take advantage of Philadelphia’s historic sites, archives, and libraries. Scheduled site visits include the National Constitution Center, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, Elfreth’s Alley, Franklin Court, and Eastern State Penitentiary.
Significant portions of other afternoons are reserved for archival research and writing to take advantage of three key Philadelphia repositories—the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, founded in 1824 and one of the oldest historical societies in the United States; the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as North America’s first subscription library; and the American Philosophical Society, founded in 1769 as the first scholarly society for scientific study in North America. A more detailed description of workshop activities can be found on the program website schedule of events at http://www.shear.org/nehlandmarks.
Workshop Institution and Staff
The Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR), based at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies on the campus of University of Pennsylvania, is the program’s intellectual home. Established in 1977, SHEAR is an association of scholars dedicated to exploring the events and the meaning of United States history between 1776 and 1861. Its principal outreach efforts include an annual conference and the sponsorship of research fellowships, as well as publication of the Journal of the Early Republic (JER), the quarterly journal that I edit, which is committed to publishing the best scholarship on the history and culture of the early United States.
I will be leading the workshop along with Michelle Craig McDonald of Richard Stockton College and Laura Keenan Spero of the University of Pennsylvania.
Roderick A. McDonald, Project Director, is Professor of History at Rider University and Editor of the Journal of the Early Republic. He is the author of several books on African American and Afro-Caribbean history.
Michelle Craig McDonald, Project Co-Director, is Assistant Professor of History at Richard Stockton College and studies early American trade and consumer behavior. She also worked in museum and public education for eight years.
Laura Keenan Spero, Assistant Project Director, is a Ph.D. candidate in American History at the University of Pennsylvania and is completing a dissertation on the history of the Shawnees. She is also a research associate and fellow with the McNeil Center for Early American Studies.
Eligibility
The NEH Landmarks workshops are designed for faculty members at American community colleges. Adjunct and part-time lecturers as well as full-time faculty in english, history, philosophy, anthropology, political science, government, and other humanities-related disciplines are encouraged to apply, as are librarians and other community college staff members.
Perhaps the most important part of the completed application is an essay of one or two double-spaced pages. This essay should include information about your professional background and interest in the subject of the workshop; your special perspectives, skills, or experiences that would contribute to the workshop; and how the experience would enhance your teaching and/or research.
Additionally, applicants should submit a letter of recommendation from their department/division chair, or another professional reference (such as a colleague or dissertation advisor) in support of their application. Your completed application should be postmarked no later than March 2, 2010, and should be addressed as follows:
SHEAR NEH Landmarks Workshop
Library Company of Philadelphia
1314 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
For complete application information, go to our website at http://www.shear.org/nehlandmarks and click on "How to Apply." Note: If you are receiving this letter via email, you will find full application instructions in the accompanying email attachment.
Facilities
The Cassatt House, home to SHEAR’s JER office, serves as the workshop headquarters. A historic structure in its own right, the Cassatt House at 1320 Locust Street was designed by Furness & Evans in 1883-84 for J. Gardner Cassatt, brother of painter Mary Cassatt and Alexander J. Cassatt, a longtime executive of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and its president from 1899 to 1906. In 2004, the Library Company completed a multi-million dollar renovation and reopened the building as a place of public scholarship. The three-storey building includes state-of-the-art lecture and seminar rooms equipped with wireless internet access, projectors, and full-service audio-visual presentation equipment.
The Cassatt House is conveniently located next door to the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and within easy walking distance of most historic sites and archives you will visit. Public bus service can take participants to the American Philosophical Society and the University of Pennsylvania within ten minutes.
We have arranged for participants to be housed at Club Quarters, a private hotel located four blocks from the Cassatt House in the heart of Center City Philadelphia’s restaurant and shopping district. Single and double rooms are available as are a limited number of larger suites for those traveling with families. Additional hotel amenities include: a private concierge, and fitness room, 24-hour coffee service, wi-fi internet service as well as several computer facilities with printing capability, all at no additional cost.
This is a membership facility offering discounted rates through the workshop’s affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania. Rates will be: $99/single, $114/double and $176/family suite per night. The workshop will assist in matching participants interested in sharing a room to defray costs. More information about Club Quarters can be found at http://www.clubquarters.com.
Stipend
Faculty selected to participate will receive a stipend of $1,200 at the end of the workshop session. Stipends are intended to help cover housing, living and travel expenses and workshop materials. Stipends are taxable. Please note, there are no longer travel supplements separate from the stipend in this program. For more information about stipend, accommodations and travel arrangements, please visit the website at http://www.shear.org/nehlandmarks.
Just a reminder, your completed application should be postmarked no later than March 2, 2010 (please be aware that this year’s due date is two weeks earlier than in past years). Successful applicants will be notified of their selection by April 1, 2010, and will have until April 5, 2010, to accept or decline the offer.
Thank you for your interest. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or need additional information at nehlandmarks@shear.org or (609) 895-5456. I anticipate an engaging, enlightening, and enjoyable week in historic Philadelphia and look forward to receiving your application.
Yours sincerely,
Roderick A. McDonald
Project Director
