Cultural Life hist204 sp08

History 204 Sp 08 | Political Life | Cultural Life | Economic Life | Essays of 1876

Culture and Society in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1876

Culture deals with objects and ideas produced by human society. In the eighteenth century culture was produced for the elite and powerful, drawing on the most valuable resources and talents of the time to produce enjoyment for the privileged. As the nineteenth century progressed culture became more accessible to the public and less reserved for the elite. The 1800’s was the age of emergence for literature, dance, theater, mass production and consumption.

Inventions allowed for proliferation of culture through American society. Thomas Edison patented the phonograph in 1878 bring the art of music and dance to all ethnic and economic crevices of the United States. Technological developments with the emergence of the steam-driven cylinder press, the railway and canals brought ease to distribution allowing greater access to literature. Lakeside Library opened in 1875, the first cheap library to open in the United States, bringing literature to the masses. Dime novels opened cheap fiction, with tales of the American West and adventures of Buffalo Bill Newspapers rapidly penetrated the American public. Stories published in the newspapers further brought popular fiction to the people, as by the mid-1800’s newspapers penetrated the nation.

Cumberland County, like the rest of the United States was affected and influenced by the proliferation of newspapers. The American Volunteer, The Carlisle Harold and the Daily Evening Sentinel were just a few of the local papers bringing news to the people, creating a culture of awareness and involvement in the community. The papers, each with biased reporting represented the greatest cultural influence of Cumberland County in 1876.

In the year 1876, Carlisle was known not as a place of industry, but as a place for homes. It was still very much a frontier, but the people who lived there had an enormous amount of allegiance to their town. With its water supplied with pure limestone from the reservoir on Conodoguniut Creek, the people of Carlisle were able to enjoy life without the bangs and booms of many factories.

Carlisle in the year 1876 was booming with education. There were private schools, colleges, normal schools, and most popularly, common schools. Common schools were schools for families that could not afford an education for their children. As a result children between the years of five and twelve were required to go to government funded schools, or common schools. In 1879, there were twenty common schools in Carlisle with 1,003 students attending. Of those 1,003 students, 481 were male and 522 were female. It is very curious to note that more females than males attended common schools in Carlisle, something that was uncommon in the rest of the nation.

As far as Carlisle's local college, Dickinson College, enrollment trends did not match the enthusiastic participation in education of local youth. In 1876, due in part to unpopular and controversial faculty changes, enrollment at Dickinson was at an all time low. Faculty considered waiving entrance exams for incoming freshman and sophomores. Ultimately, the college decided to open its doors to female applicants, the first being Zatae Longsdorff.

In regards to transportation, Carlisle was very conveniently well connected. In 1837, a railroad was built down High Street, much to many citizen’s dismay. Also, the Carlisle, Hanover, and Baltimore turnpikes run through Carlisle, leaving easy access in and out of the town.

Newspapers were very popular in 1876 and were the only source besides word of mouth for citizens in Carlisle to receive news about what is going on with the rest of the world. In the year 1876, there were four newspapers circulating Carlisle. Those newspapers were The Carlisle Herald, The Volunteer, The Sentinel, and The Carlisle Semi-Weekly Mirror. All of these newspapers provided different perspectives to politics and happenings around the world.

With a population of around 7,000, there was no wonder that there were so many churches in Carlisle in 1876. In fact there were fifteen churches: two Methodist, two Presbyterian, two Lutheran, one Episcopal, one German Reformed, one Roman Catholic, one Evangelical Association, one Church of God, three African Churches, and lastly one Mission Church. This wide representation of churches shows that there was a lot of religious activity in Carlisle in 1876. In 1876, the Methodist Episcopal Church located on Pitt Street and High Street was torn down and in honor of the centennial, the Centennial Church was built in its place. This also signifies the town’s allegiance not only to their religion but to their country as well.

Masculinity as Reflected by Dickinson Students

By 1876 a muscular male had replaced the eighteenth-century ideal of manliness of suitable stances and expressions. The Civil war changed the way masculinity was perceived and the way it was expressed. Athletics and a primitive demeanor shaped the way America viewed masculinity and the role suitable for men. For Dickinson College students in 1876 fraternity constitutions, orations and popular magazines such as Harpers dictated their role as rising men in American society.

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German Immigration's Affect on Art

At the centennial, many people of German ancestry had well established ties to America. Most were not immigrants themselves, but instead were second, third, or even fourth generation Americans. Still, the German American community retained strong ties to their German heritage. German Fraktur, or highly decorative records like baptismal or marriage certificates, is one example of such Cultural maintenance. Though Fraktur did change when Germans immigrated, it is still a prime example of culture melding which incorporated both German and American identity.

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The Depictions of Women in Carlisle, 1876

1876 was a transitional year for women. Although the Civil War itself did not change the status of women, the fast developing industry and its demands changed women’s roles from purely that of a housekeeper and mother to a factory worker, housekeeper, and mother. This changing perspective traveled quickly from city to city, but failed to reach small towns like Carlisle in 1876. In Carlisle, women were still dainty figures who were helpless except to bear children. Newspapers such as the American Volunteer reflect the opinion people had of women in 1876.

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