Whitman College Alumni Association Philadelphia Trip

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
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As nearly every American above intermediate school age knows, the sentence above is the preamble to the US Constitution, a document fundamental to the governance of the United States, crafted in the City of Brotherly Love near the end of the 18th century. That fact notwithstanding, why would we embark upon a multi-day trip to Philadelphia, considering that we (Anne and Marty) both have lived within a 45-minute drive of the city since the 1970s? The short answer is that our 5 day stay in Philadelphia in early June was no ordinary vacation. Instead, our sojourn might be characterized as "in situ, focused cultural enlightenment." While this portrayal might seem a bit pompous, it's a fairly accurate description of a recent field trip sponsored by the alumni association of Whitman College, Anne's alma mater in Walla Walla, Washington. The 5-day "class" in Philadelphia was entitled "Discovering the Constitution ― The Great Debates." Our "instructor" was Dr. Bob Withycomb, Chair of Whitman's Rhetoric and Film Studies Department, and the abstract of the event described it as a detailed examination of texts of "the key public arguments--the sermons, speeches, and social protests--that helped propel the new republic," complemented by visits to venues at which many of these texts were written and presented, or are currently archived. Margaret Hoglund of Whitman's Office of Alumni Affairs was the principal promoter and coordinator of this event, and did an outstanding job of ensuring that every aspect of this trip fit together perfectly. Our well-informed, local guide was Estelle Volkert, a native Philadelphian employed by Philadelphia Hospitality, an organization that arranges custom tours for small groups such as ours. The "student body" comprised a total of 16 adults, including us, all of whom were either Whitman alums or their significant others. (I was one of the "others"; I haven't verified whether or not Anne considers me to be "significant.") All but four of us currently reside in the Pacific Northwest.

		Whitman Alumni Philadelphia Tour Group
		Liberty Bell Center
		Front row, left to right: Joe Richter, Bill Hall, Charlie Phillips. Back row, left to right: Bob Withycomb, Marty Hall, Linda Brown, Margaret Hoglund, Priscilla Johnson, Keiko Amakawa, Marty Bloomenthal, Anne Bloomenthal, Craig McGee, Dorothy McGee, Greg Brown, Patty Phillips. Absent from photo: Estelle Volkert (tour guide and photographer), John Bieber.

Our Philadelphia accommodations were at the at the Union League. According to its Internet home page, "the Union League, founded in 1862 as a patriotic society to support President Lincoln's policies during the Civil War, is the country's oldest private club of its kind." We were much more taken, however, by the the facility's blatant partisan political orientation, as we spent our first evening dining adjacent to a chronologically-arranged, grand portrait gallery of selected US presidents, including Hoover, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush the Elder, ... well, you get the idea. This spectacle was wasted on our group, which, as we gradually became aware, represented a distinctly-liberal political bent. Descriptions of many of the sites we visited are presented below, some of which I admit to having cribbed from the custom brochure prepared for us by Philadelphia Hospitality. While I had my camera with me, I shot relatively few photos, since high quality images of virtually all of our destinations are readily available. Therefore, instead of illustrating this tome with my own snapshots, I have enhanced the text by including hyperlinks to the web sites of many of the venues, where you can see plenty of photos and also learn as much about each as you might care to know. The various points of interest are not listed in the sequence of our visits, and in some cases represent exploration over multiple days.


Independence National Historic Park	"America's most historic square mile," where much of American colonial, revolutionary and Federal-period heritage is preserved. Our destinations included the Liberty Bell Center, (the third resting place of this icon during the past 40 years), Independence Hall (where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were penned), Congress Hall, and Franklin Court, the approximate site of Ben Franklin's home in Philadelphia. For a literal "bite of history," we stopped for lunch at City Tavern. We also enjoyed a recent addition to the park, the National Constitution Center, designed by the internationally-renowned architectural firm, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
Christ Church	Situated on the eastern edge of Independence Park, Christ Church was built between 1727 and 1754. Many of our nation's Founding Fathers worshipped here long before they even dreamed of declaring independence from England, and a number of them are buried here as well. But the building is more than an historical relic, since it has continued to this day to serve as the house of worship for an active Episcopal congregation. A short distance away is Elfreth's Alley, the oldest, continually occupied residential street in the country.
American Philosophical Society	Also within the bounds of Independence Park is Philosophical Hall, home to the American Philosophical Society. Originally built in the late 1780s for its membership of "deep thinkers," it now serves as an archive for numerous original, historically-significant documents, such as Thomas Jefferson’s hand-written Declaration of Independence and the travel journals of Lewis and Clark. Roy Goodman, Assistant Librarian and Curator of Printed Materials gave us a private lecture and passed around a few of the Society's priceless holdings, including an issue of Poor Richard's Almanac, for us to examine at close range.
Powel House	This stately Georgian mansion, built in 1765, was owned by Samuel Powel, the last mayor of Philadelphia under the Crown and the first in the new Republic. While a sign outside the house indicated that it was closed for tours, Estelle had arranged a private tour for our group, led by a cousin of Samuel Powel (several generations removed, of course), who serves as both a guide and resident caretaker of this well- preserved reminder of the way upper echelon Philadelphians once lived.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania	Another well kept secret, the Historical Society boasts a collection of approximately 20 million historical documents, such as the first two drafts of the US Constitution and the original plan for Independence Hall, surprisingly none of which is digitized. The resources of the Historical Society are available for virtually anyone who is conducting serious research.


Notwithstanding this trip's promotional objective, our itinerary also included many destinations unrelated to the founding of the US, and in some cases had virtually nothing to do with history at all. In fact, perhaps the only thing these additional venues had in common with one another is that all are located in Philadelphia. However, given the fact that many of our traveling companions had never before been to this city, and for some it might be their only opportunity to discover its treasures, this departure from the "theme" seemed perfectly reasonable, especially since almost everything we did together, whether relevant or not, was quite enjoyable. As Paul Harvey might say, "here is the rest of the story":

Art	One of the top (and largest) art museums in the US, the Philadelphia Museum of Art includes permanent exhibits spanning from medieval works through modern art and sculpture, but it is probably best known nationally for its long flight of exterior steps, triumphantly ascended by Sylvester Stallone in the original Rocky movie.
	More than simply an art gallery, the Barnes Foundation comprises the private collection of Dr. Albert C. Barnes, containing works by such artists as Renoir, Cezanne, van Gogh and Picasso, meticulously arranged by Mr. Barnes into collages covering entire walls, interspersed with anonymous period decorations. Currently located outside Philadelphia in Merion, PA, the Barnes collection is slated to be moved into the city in the near future.
	Opened in January 2000, the National Liberty Museum displays a unique collection of contemporary works, many of which have been executed in glass, to represent the "fragile qualities of freedom." Defenders of liberty from around the world are honored.
Only in Philadelphia	The Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians was originally established in 1858 to display pathological specimens for medical students. Today, visitors are fascinated and enlightened by the unusual collections describing medical history.
	The Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, more commonly known as the Masonic Temple, is a stunning structure whose exterior is reminiscent of a classic cathedral constructed centuries ago. Inside are seven awe-inspiring, huge meeting rooms each of which has been designed based on a different historic theme. Be sure to check out the comprehensive virtual tour on the Temple's website.
	The enormous Reading Terminal Market features the crafts and foods of just about any place on the planet you can think of. Many of our traveling companions from the northwest opted to sample the famous Philly Cheese Steak, but since this "delicacy" is readily available to us, we opted instead for Mediterranean cuisine.
Adventures in Dining	Aside from the eateries already noted above, the most notable was Joseph Poon's Asian Fusion Restaurant. Before preparing our dinner, the hilarious Mr. Poon, who has appeared on national TV programs such as the Tonight Show and the Ellen DeGeneres Show, led us on a two-hour walking tour of Philadelphia's Chinatown. Joining us this evening were a number of additional Whitman alums, including Anne's '74 classmates, Betty Eidemiller and Steve Carlson.
	Another unusual dining experience was lunch aboard The Moshulu, a tall ship now permanently moored at Penn's Landing on the Delaware River. The fare we were served in a private dining room was both artfully presented and delicious.
	Rounding out our dining experiences during our stay were breakfasts each day at the Union League, lunch at the very proper Merion Cricket Club, and one dinner each (on our own nickel) at the Sansome Street Oyster House and the Philadelphia location of Roy's Hawaiian Fusion, the first of which was opened by Chef Roy in Honolulu in 1988.


Lest you conclude from the foregoing that the scholarly aspect of this trip was overstated, I should also point out that Margaret Hoglund had sent each of us a 1/2 inch thick bound compendium of documents and speech transcripts a few weeks before our arrival in Philadelphia, assembled by Bob Withycomb for us to read in preparation for our "discoveries." (Whether anyone actually read the entire booklet in advance we'll probably never know.) Each evening after dinner, we convened in Margaret's suite in the Union League for drinks and a two-hour discussion of the finer points of texts spanning from Puritan leader John Winthrop's "A Model of Christian Charity," through the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, selected Federalist papers by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, speeches by Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cady Stanton confronting the inequities of existing laws regarding slavery and women's suffrage, all the way to John F. Kennedy's 1963 "Address to the Nation on Civil Rights." While we had all studied at least some of these long ago in the course of our respective formal educations, I believe that every one of us came away from the analytical discourse with new insights about the critical role that each of these documents played in the continually evolving legal and moral standards of the United States. But the bottom line of this adventure is best captured in the closing paragraph of the introduction that Bob had written in the reference booklet noted above: "... so do the reading and come ready to share your insights and questions. Most of all, come prepared to have fun in one of America's great cities!" Mission fulfilled!!! Whether Philadelphia is a great distance from where you live or virtually in your backyard, we encourage you to plan to spend some time in Ben Franklin's home town to partake of the many delights it has to offer. Marty Bloomenthal