Maclure of New Harmony: Scientist, Progressive Educator, Radical Philanthropist

8 Patron of the Natural Sciences

124 Patron of the Natural Sciences It was in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society that Maclure first published his Observations on the Geology of the United States of America. The APS had a national reputation that attested to the vigor of the young nation. The APS was a magnet that drew books, specimens, documents,andodditiestoitsmuseum,archive,andgrowinglibrary—indispensable assets for the scholar. Maclure had been a member of the APS since 1799, and he was a member of its council from 1818 to 1829. Whenever he was in Philadelphia, he attended its meetings, but as a relative newcomer who was frequently absent from the city, he was probably not considered a true Philadelphian, nor was he in the inner circle of power. Clearly, few of the elite would be sympathetic with his social agenda and his strong antireligious views. Maclure’s Philadelphia was a city with a patrician class that ran the affairs of the community. Some of its members were the major figures in the AmericanPhilosophicalSociety,theUniversityofPennsylvania,andvarious other cultural organizations, almost as a birthright. The fifty-year-old APS wastheemblemofrespectability,aforumfordiscussionandthepresentation of original work, mostly of a descriptive nature. Looking to the old country forinspirationandabenchmark,theAPS,whoserostercontainedsomeoutstandinglearnedmen ,aspiredtobecometheyoungrepublic’sanswertothe Royal Society, but in fact it was only a pale reflection of that august group. Eight • Patron of the Natural Sciences · 125 In time, a select group within the Society itself, the Wistar Party, gathered to itself even more influence, so that a small core of members became the leaders of the larger membership and of the practice of science in the city. Maclure never belonged to the Wistar Party. This inner group, which possesseda quietconfidencethatbrookednoopposition,waslargelybased onwealth,familyconnections,andsocialstanding,andrarelyongreatintellectual achievement alone. A nod from one of the elect meant acceptance orrejection.Wealthitselfwouldnotsuffice:thePhiladelphiamerchantand bankerStephenGirard,probablytherichestmanintheUnitedStatesatthe time,whohadsetupahospitalandpersonallycaredforyellowfevervictims in the epidemic of 1793, was blackballed because of his uncouth manners. Passionfornaturalsciencehasneverbeenconfinedtoaselectfew,and so, as the decades passed in the new nineteenth century, a growing assembly of intense and talented young men took shape—botanists, chemists, and apothecaries, all but one self-taught. Many were considered undesirable because of their radical political and antireligious beliefs, but what distinguished them was their acute lack of money, and all of these black marks clearly rendered them ineligible for membership in the APS. In January1812,theymetattheapothecaryshopofJohnSpeakman,aQuaker and radical social reformer, to organize what was to become the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Maclure was closely associated with theAcademy,favoringitovertheAPS,andhebecameitsmajorbenefactor over many years.1 Thegroupheldnoambitiousillusionsthattheyweretheprogenitorsof agreatnewprofessionalorganization,nordidtheyfullyappreciatethevalue of their interest in botany and entomology to agriculture or the value of geology to the extraction of the earth’s treasures. Quite simply, these sons of theEnlightenmenthopedtotakepartin“theadvancementanddiffusionof useful,liberal,humanknowledge.”Thiswastrulyanamateurgroup,without grandpretensions,withlittlethoughtofinteractionwithothergroupsinterested in natural history or with any governmental body, but it did have an interest in educating the public. Its small library and museum were only to be used by members, but as the Academy prospered, there was a significant broadening of their aspirations, promoted and supported by Maclure. The ANSP was clearly an institution out of favor with the elite, and so itreceivednofinancialsupportatatimewhengovernmentdidnotprovide funds for any form of research, nor did it support educational institutions. 126 · Maclure of New Harmony The early years of the ANSP were shaky, operating perilously close to a state of bankruptcy before Maclure’s active participation, but however threadbare, the Academy always had a library and a museum. In their struggle to survive, a few members organized lectures and entire courses in botany, crystallography, and chemistry, to be attended by the public uponpaymentofamodestfee,andsomecourseswereespeciallydesigned to appeal to women. The lectures proved to be enormously popular and had to be repeated to meet demand. Not only did the educational effort satisfy one of the explicit aims of the Academy—to inform the public about science—it also provided a modest income for certain members of the Academy and for the Academy itself. Withgrowingsuccess,theAcademywascompelledtomoveintolarger quarters for meetings, to house an ever-burgeoning library and museum. As the unsavory reputation for radicalism, socialism, and atheism of the Academy declined, membership increased from the original seven in 1812 to about fifty in 1815, with fifty corresponding members. The Academy had saved itself by bypassing the elite powers and reaching out to a public that was quick to respond. By 1817, the Academy was stable enough to adopt a constitution and be chartered by the State of Pennsylvania. But despite all these...