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Exhibition Review
"French Founding Father: Lafayette's Return to Washington's America." New-York Historical Society. New York, N.Y. http://www.nyhistory.org.
Temporary exhibition, Nov. 16, 2007–Aug. 10, 2008. 4,500 sq. ft. Richard Rabinowitz, American History Workshop, curator and writer; Lynda B. Kaplan, executive producer of media and curatorial director; Hal Tinè, chief designer; Keith Ragone, chief graphic designer.
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| This exhibition is an expanded version of one created by the staff at Mount Vernon called "A Son and His Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington." It was intended to mark the 250th anniversary of the Frenchman's birth and was on display at Mount Vernon in 2006 and 2007, and at Lafayette College's Williams Center for the Arts for two months in 2007. The expanded version opened at the New-York Historical Society in November 2007. Unlike most museums in New York that are downright cavernous (the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History come to mind), the New-York Historical Society is practically cozy. It is located in a moderate-size building in Manhattan (and a good chunk of the interior is occupied by its library), and a stay of a day or even a few hours will allow a visitor to see just about everything. Yet, when I tell my survey classes about the society, I am usually confronted by blank stares and amazement that such an institution exists in New York City, even though the historical society was founded in 1804. |
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That situation is unfortunate especially considering the high quality of the impressive exhibit on the marquis de Lafayette. I was struck by the contrast with exhibits the society had many years ago when it was strapped for money. Then, a guard in the exhibit hall turned on the lights when a visitor approached and promptly turned them off when the visitor had finished. There is no penny-pinching now. "French Founding Father" was an elaborate presentation rich with multimedia. The exhibit began with a depiction of an excited New York crowd waiting for Lafayette to disembark. Visitors could track the crowd's back-and-forth conversations (which appeared in text), and the piece ended with simulated fireworks, all while the "Marseillaise" played. Other parts of the exhibit featured recordings of toasts given in Lafayette's honor, extracts from a speech of Daniel Webster, music performed for the Frenchman (musical instruments, including the unusual serpent horn, were displayed nearby), and two brief films on Lafayette and his legacy. |
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The exhibit emphasized the importance of Lafayette's trip in 1824–1825 for the national development of the United States. Lafayette traveled to all twenty-four states by carriage (a basket wagon he used in Vermont was on view) and sometimes by boat. He journeyed to out-of-the-way places and to the big cities of the 1820s. Macon, Georgia; Mobile, Alabama; Natchez, Mississippi; and even St. Louis all greeted the visiting hero. |
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It is often forgotten that in 1824 the United States was still, in many respects, the first new nation, a developing country similar to the Third World of today. In 1803 the United States had become one of the largest nations in the world because of the Louisiana Purchase, and during the early republic period there was concern that all Americans in that sprawling territory remember that this was one country—as Webster emphasized in his speech. History was essential, especially the history of the American Revolution, and Lafayette was a living, walking relic of that glorious era. Only a teenager when he joined the Continental Army, by 1824 he was the last living general of that time. His arrival at the Bunker Hill Memorial—he laid the cornerstone in front of 200,000 onlookers—inspired the campaign to finish it. When Philadelphians heard Lafayette was coming, they turned Independence Hall into the semi-sacred place it is today. On his visit to Mount Vernon he cried before George Washington's tomb. A huge crowd almost rioted in Concord, Massachusetts, because the festivities there were in a small tent that could only hold a few people. Americans rushed to name cities and children after the French hero. |
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