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Defining Democracy in America Exhibition offers new insight into President Franklin Pierce’s journey from a frontier town to the White House
Concord, NH July 5, 2004 -- Of his close friend Franklin Pierce, author Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “He comes before the people of the United States at a remarkable era in the history of this country and of the world.” Pierce’s presidency was the culmination of an unexpected rise to power from a small town on the New Hampshire frontier, to leader of a young Republic. How Pierce arrived at the office of President, what that said about the nation he led will be the focus of a groundbreaking exhibition entitled Franklin Pierce: Defining Democracy in America. Never before have Pierce artifacts, paintings, letters, and personal accounts been brought together on such a large scale.
The exhibition Franklin Pierce: Defining Democracy in America will be presented in at the New Hampshire Historical Society’s library located at 30 Park Street, in Concord, NH. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free to the public.
Opening on July 3, 2004, the exhibition will showcase more than 100 objects, paintings, photographs and documents drawn primarily from the Society’s museum and library collections, but also incorporating material from other institutions. The exhibition will explore subjects universal to American life and culture (such as community, education, political participation, public memory) through the lens of Pierce’s life. A variety of public programs, designed to enhance the exhibition, will examine Pierce’s military, legal, and political career, as well as his personal and family life within the larger contexts of state and national history.
The exhibition opens during the Bicentennial year of Pierce’s birth, and will place the life and career of Franklin Pierce (1804-1869) in the context of American culture, past and present. According to Wesley Balla, the New Hampshire Historical Society’s director of collections and exhibitions, Franklin Pierce’s life and career, like that of many famous Americans, are understood through a mixture of scholarly interpretation and popular myth. “The New Hampshire Historical Society is a major repository of Franklin Pierce objects and papers, and the overall goal in presenting this exhibition has been to use those materials to move Pierce out of the realm of myth and legend and show him as a human being and how he influenced, and was influenced by, ideas and events of his time,” he said.
When Pierce was growing up in Hillsborough, NH, his home was in a remote town some eight hours from the state capital. He went on to become the political leader of New Hampshire, growing up with the country in the first half of the 19th century. Yet, only one complete biography of Pierce has been published in the last century, and little has been said or researched on the only person for New Hampshire to serve as U.S. President. “Pierce’s life and career were very complex, and there is a great deal to talk about,” Balla points out. “We tried to create subject areas that will discuss major aspects of his life and how they intersected with issues and themes in state and national history.”
Franklin Pierce: Defining Democracy in America will focus on these seven aspects of Pierce’s life, world and career. They include: Inheriting the Revolution (influence of Revolutionary ideals on American thought and culture); New Hampshire Democracy (democratization of 19th-century American economy and politics); Family and Friends (influence of antebellum social and cultural networks on Pierce’s life); Citizen Soldier (Mexican War and the role of the militia in advancing national expansion); The Great Debate (antislavery and reform impulses threatening to restructure American society); Young Hickory of the Granite Hills (campaign and presidency of Franklin Pierce); and In the Public Memory (each generation judges public figures by its own beliefs, values, and needs).
Jayme Simoes, Pierce Bicentennial Commission chairman, sees the exhibition as the centerpiece of a yearlong commemoration. “Pierce is nearly forgotten, and his life is often overlooked or misunderstood. Yet his life paralleled the founding of our nation, and he was President at a turning point in American history. This exhibition will answer many of the questions we have about the enigma of Franklin Pierce.”
Major funding for Franklin Pierce: Defining Democracy in America is provided by Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, P.A., with additional support from the Lane and Elizabeth C. Dwinell Charitable Trust; New Hampshire Political Library; Banknorth Wealth Management Group, Trustee of Benjamin Cohen Trust u/w; Franklin Pierce College; Louis Karno & Company Communications; Norwin S. and Elizabeth Bean Foundation, Theresa's Catering; and the Duncan S. McGowan Fund for Eagle Square.
The exhibition content and script was developed in consultation with Pierce scholar, Peter A. Wallner, author of the recently published two-volume life of Franklin Pierce (Plaidswede, 2004). Franklin Pierce: Defining Democracy in America will run through May 8, 2005. A series of workshops and programs will be offered in conjunction, and a special issue of Historical New Hampshire, the Society’s award-winning magazine, will present new interpretations of the life of Franklin Pierce.
Founded in 1823, the New Hampshire Historical Society is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing New Hampshire history through the Museum of New Hampshire History and the Tuck Library, both located in Concord. For more information call 603/228-6688, or visit the Society online at www.nhhistory.org.
Franklin Pierce’s Life
Franklin Pierce served his country during one of the most tumultuous periods of American history. Born in Hillsborough in 1804, he was the son of Governor Benjamin Pierce and Anna Kendrick.
During Franklin Pierce’s formative years the Pierce Homestead served as a gathering place for statesmen and politicians of the era. Pierce studied at Bowdoin College in Maine, where he established a lifelong friendship with writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Pierce followed his father Benjamin into public service. Pierce was first elected to the State Legislature in 1828, and soon became the youngest speaker of the house in state history.
In 1832 Pierce was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served two terms before being elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 32. In 1834 Pierce married Jane Means Appleton, the daughter of a minister who had served at Bowdoin. Soon, the Pierces retired from politics to Concord to practice law.
Finally, the Mexican War would stir Pierce to leave his private life. After enlisting in the army as a private, he was promoted to Colonel, and then to General. He was again called to serve his country in 1852 by the Democratic Party Convention, where he was nominated to run for President.
At age 48, Franklin Pierce was the youngest President yet elected, and he would leave the nation divided. In the South fears were high that the western territories would enter the Union as “free” states, giving the North a political advantage. In the North, hatred against European immigrants flared as Pierce defended their rights under the Constitution. But, it was the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed settlers to choose whether to allow slavery that would shatter the nation’s stability. Pierce stood by his party’s extreme pro-slavery line and supported the bill. Armed conflict quickly erupted. He was denied his party’s nomination for a second term. The Pierces left for Europe shortly after his term ended. Franklin Pierce died in Concord on October 8, 1869, five years after his wife, Jane.
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