Summary: Historical notes for the epic Centennial.
Rated: PG
Word Count:
Centennial Historical Notes
If you would like to see some of the exhibits viewed by the Cartwright brothers at the Centennial Exhibition, you will find many of them available at this site: http://libwww.library.phila.gov/CenCol/index.htm. The Digital Collection has a marvelous search engine, so type in whatever you’re interested in seeing, i.e. sculpture, restaurants, Horticultural building, etc. If you’d like to see what a specific country sent to Philadelphia, you may need to type in alternative versions of the nationality (both France and French, in other words) to see all the collection offers.
Those wishing to read more about the Centennial Exhibition may consult my chief reference for this story, The Illustrated History of the Centennial Exhibition by James Dabney McCabe. This mammoth work is available online at the Making of America site: http://moa.umdl.umich.edu/ and features many drawings of the buildings and exhibits. Put the author’s name in the search engine to bring up this and other historical books by Mr. McCabe.
Historical notes for individual chapters are included below.
Chapter Nine
Kudzu was first introduced to America at the Centennial Exhibition. Americans fell in love with the decorative vine and began to incorporate it into their landscapes when they returned home. It not only thrived, but showed a remarkable propensity for taking over every other plant it came near, and research now focuses on how to get rid of the pest, which buries trees in eerie curtains of leafy green. Fortunately, dealing with urgent matters in Philadelphia kept Adam from pursuing his idea of introducing it to the Ponderosa!
Chapter Fourteen
- H. Chase was the principal of Philadelphia Collegiate School in 1873, and I have made the presumption that he still held that office in 1876.
Mark Twain’s commentary on the Can-Can is authentic. Its appearance in the Philadelphia Public Ledger on the specified date is the author’s conjecture, based solely on the needs of the plot.
Chapter Fifteen
Due to the late entrance of Alexander Graham Bell’s invention in the Centennial Exposition, the only place that could be found for it was in the corner of an educational exhibit. Since he was from Boston, I have surmised that Bell’s first telephone was demonstrated in the rooms of the Massachusetts Department of Education. The invention created a sensation and won a medal of merit.
Chapter Seventeen
Pickpockets were prevalent, especially on the Market St. line of streetcars, and while Mrs. Atkinson is a fictional character, history does record that a woman’s gold pocket watch was stolen and recovered on a streetcar of that line during the time frame of this story.
Chapter Nineteen
Joseph Smith was the actual proprietor of the Maple Spring Hotel and was the creator of animal carvings in laurel root on sale there.
Chapter Twenty
If you would like to read the text of the Women’s Declaration of Independence, you will find it here: http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/1876.html
Chapter Twenty-two
Paintings and statues of nude men and women offended some visitors to the Centennial, and some displayed their outrage by defacing the paintings or knocking off portions of the sculptures with their walking sticks or umbrellas. Memorial Hall was temporarily closed, and when it reopened, canes and umbrellas had to be checked at the door. Though I have no record of the date this action was taken, it is likely that by the time Adam and Joe visited the art gallery, the rule was already in place.
Dr. William Pepper was, historically, the resident in charge of the Centennial Medical Department. His associate in this story, Dr. Barnes, is fictitious.
Chapter Twenty-Three
While Dr. Marcus Whittaker is fictitious, Dr. Reginald Fitz is a historic figure. Credited with coining the term “appendicitis,” he studied the disease extensively and in 1886 recommended that the appendix should be removed within twenty-four hours if symptoms persisted. This story makes the assumption that he might have discussed his beliefs in private prior to that date of their publication.
A British surgeon, Robert Lawson Tait, performed the first recorded appendectomy in 1880, four years past the time of this story. (Of course, if that Cartwright boy had just stayed put in the hospital, so that his case could be fully documented, medical history might read differently!) Dr. Thomas Morton, who performed Little Joe’s surgery, is credited with the first successful appendectomy for a perforated appendix in 1887. In addition to the bed carriage mentioned in this story, he also invented a ward dressing cart.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Miss Frances Irwin was appointed Chief Nurse at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1875 and served three years in that capacity. As indicated in the story, it was not considered appropriate at that time for female nurses to attend male patients, and that attitude did not change until 1885, when they were first assigned to the men’s medical ward.
The following resources are recommended for those wishing more information about hospital care in nineteenth-century America:
The Care of Strangers: The Rise of America’s Hospital System by Charles E. Rosenberg
The History of the Pennsylvania Hospital, 1751-1895 by Thomas G. Morton
Chapter Thirty-Three
Information about the life of Edwin Booth comes from American Gothic: The Story of America’s Legendary Theatrical Family—Junius, Edwin, and John Wilkes Booth by Gene Smith, published by Simon and Schuster in 1992. Edwin had a friend named Adam Badeau, for whom he used the nickname “Ad,” which has here been applied to Adam Cartwright. Booth’s record of one hundred straight performances of Hamlet was unbroken until John Barrymore did so in 1924. While Booth did tour as Hamlet in 1876, his appearance in New York City in late July is an invention of the author.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The incident in which a horse from an Adam’s Express wagon bolted into the Grand American Restaurant is historical.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Pity poor Dreaming Ioanthe, whose buttery features were marred when a deliveryman sat upon her face! Nonetheless, the sculpture, presumably mended, attracted extraordinary attention and was described by one author as “beyond all comparison the most beautiful and unique exhibit in the Centennial.” Judging by the illustration in the McCabe book, the lady was quite lovely.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Historical sources differ on the date of arrival in Philadelphia of the arm and hand of what would later be known as the Statue of Liberty. Most place the time in mid to late August, with one source giving a date as late as September 1, 1876. By any estimate the statue probably arrived slightly past the time of the Cartwright brothers’ visit, but it has been included here for added educational information and interest. Dark in color when first constructed, the statue has weathered to a beautiful green patina over time. While Bartholdi’s great statue was intended as a gift for America’s Centennial, it was not actually completed and erected on Bedloe’s Island in New York harbor until ten years later.
More than one version exists of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The words quoted in this chapter come from the Hay Version, chosen because it seemed closest to the way I memorized the Address as a child.
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