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An Icon Tells New Stories
A conservation project sparks innovative research on the National Museum of American History’s Gunboat Philadelphia.
The Revolutionary War-era gunboat Philadelphia, the oldest surviving U.S. warship, has been an iconic part of the National Museum of American History since its earliest days.
Generations of curators and conservators have studied the historic wooden vessel, raised from the bottom of Lake Champlain in 1935 and put on display at the Smithsonian in 1965. Yet the warship still harbors secrets.
The Philadelphia is often interpreted through the lens of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold’s quick assembly of a small fleet in the summer of 1776 and the Battle of Valcour Island against the British that October. One of eight gunboats built that summer, the Philadelphia was sunk on the first day of fighting.
Now, Smithsonian historians are using a collaboration with conservators from Texas A&M University “as a jumping-off point to do new research and bring in missing stories,” says Jennifer Locke Jones, curator and project director for the Philadelphia. Conservators have found evidence contradicting the story of a hasty effort: Shipbuilders cut the gunboat’s timber frames with millimeter precision, suggesting careful planning despite the compressed timeline.
Discoveries like this have led Jones and Ken Cohen, curator of early American history and chair of military history, to shift their focus from the military figures to the shipbuilders and other laborers. “The cast of characters gets significantly expanded,” Cohen said. “The patriots recruited all kinds of people, including free African Americans, Native American allies and people whose last names suggest Spanish or Iberian ancestry.”
For Jones, the ship’s conservation embodies the museum’s aim to strengthen democracy and shape the nation’s next 250 years: “We need to continue to monitor and care for this icon of history the way we care for our democracy—through talking about it, looking at it, examining its past.” The project will culminate in 2026, on the shared 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the gunboat Philadelphia.
“The Philadelphia is a powerful symbol of a new and burgeoning nation. Its story extends beyond the battle in which these ships fought to the craftsmanship and multicultural landscape that produced it. It is our next great challenge to conserve this significant treasure.”
—Anthea M. Hartig, Ph.D., Elizabeth MacMillan Director, National Museum of American History
Lead support for the preservation of the gunboat Philadelphia is generously provided by Americana Corner; a Save America’s Treasures grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior; Rutledge Family Foundation; Robert and Lynne Uhler; and the museum’s board in honor of former director John L. Gray.
Published Fall 2024 in IMPACT Vol. 10. No 2
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