Minutes from the Joint Claymont Historical Society / Darley Society Meeting,

KEY POINTS SUMMARY:

1) Senator Joseph Biden will sponsor a SENATE resolution to support the DARLEY STAMP

2) Philadelphia Pike was named a MILLENNIUM HIGHWAY in 2001 as being part of the larger designation of the WASHINGTON - ROCHAMBEAU REVOLUTIONARY ROUTE (W3R), the march to victory in Yorktown, VA from Rhode Island in 1781. Work is active on designating this same route a NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL; the Claymont Renaissance is in active pursuit of getting the State HISTORIC AND SCENIC HIGHWAY designation for the Pike.

3) The Societies await word from CitiSteel as to whether or not a group of 2 or 3 persons will be permitted into the WERTMULLER HOUSE.

4) A preservation resolution of support is being prepared for approval (see draft attached)

5) The F.O.C. Darley $500 Art Student Scholarship procedure has been approved and the implementation team is in place to make it happen this school year.

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THE DETAILED MINUTES:

(NOTE: the Jan. mtg. minutes were emailed / mailed to all, as are these minutes; the treasure's report, including the final detailing of the Dickens Even are available and will sent to members via email in the next day or two. Secretary, Theresa Fennick, is back in the hospital. A special thanks to Darley Society Treasurer, Gail Stanislow, for all her good work handling all the Dickens Event finances!

b) Senator Joseph Biden has agreed to sponsor a SENATE version of the Joint Resolution urging a U.S. stamp in Darley's honor. Announcement likely will be held until "Darley Day", March 27th.

(1) details for the presentation of the Darley print to Ft. Delaware personnel are progressing

d) Martha Schiek reviewed the status of the Claymont Renaissance and an artist's sketch of what CLAYMONT CENTER is being planned to look like (layout plan).

e) R. Hester reported that the Philadelphia Pike through Claymont has been designated A MILLENNIUM HIGHWAY (this happened in 2001). Work is underway to have the same route (from Rhode Island to Virginia) become a NATIONAL HISTORIC HIGHWAY in honor of the Gen. Washington and the (French) Gen. Rochambeau's "March to Destiny" in 1781 from RI to Yorktown, VA. In 2006, here will be a big re-enactment march commemorating the 225th Anniversary of the 1781 march. The Pike is also likely to become designated as a (State) Historic and Scenic Highway. All this puts emphasis on the Wertmuller House, The Robinson House, the Claymont Renaissance, and all the other historic properties along the route from PA to Wilmington.

f) The Darley Society's Research Historian, Carol Digel, was congratulated on her upcoming (next week) presentation at the Dickens Fellowship in Hartford, CT. This is the Darley - Dickens - Washington Irving slide program that she gave last year at the International Dickens Conference.
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THE WERTMULLER ITEMS:

h) The WERTMULLER HOUSE, is located on the CitiSteel property, east side of the Pike, heading North, between buildings, near Naaman's Creek. Wertmuller lived there from 1803 until his death in 1811. Dr. Ames states that the house should be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

i) The condition of the house is unknown; there are conflicting reports of it's true "structural" situation. The most obvious problem, seen from the road, is holes in the roof.

j) After much discussion, the rules were re-instated and the two Societies voted to:

(1) Continue to wait until the end of Feb., for a reply to Martha Schiek from Mr. Jerry Downey of CitiSteel as to whether or not a 2 or 3 person group will be allowed to enter the Wertmuller house, checking it's condition and taking photos.
(a) Mr. Downey has advised Ms. Schiek that they (CitiSteel) have no funds to do anything with the house ... if in fact it is "savable."

(b) should such a visit be allowed, it will be Ms. Schiek, Dr. Ames, and one of his students.

(2) Develop a resolution of support (now done, and attached) for use in raising awareness about Wertmuller and to help develop support from various groups, public and private, for the future, should the opportunity arise to actually do something with the house, where it is, or moved.

(a) Members of both Socieities: pls. emal or call your vote and/changes to me (792-2127 nrh@claymontde.org) [ Reminder: our bylaws allow this ... vs. in person ... IF I have CONFIRMED (email is best) votes from a majority AND 'no' member disagrees with the procedure ... for this particular vote. These votes will be submitted by me at the next meeting ... as having been voted on by xxx, yyy, and so on. ]

(b) Upgrades to the Resolution and votes will be accepted UNTIL SUNDAY, FEB. 10TH, 10 pm. The "Joint Meeting" was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

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THE DARLEY SOCIETY ART STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP (Darley Society meeting convened, 8:30)

k) After discussion, lead by Jim Parks (a Scholarship Committee member) the Society voted (unanimously) to accept the recommendations of the Scholarship Committee .. except ... that the award would be in the form of a gift certificate for use in the book store, of the student's "to be" art education school, college, or university.

l) A 5 member team will "implement" the plan: Jim Parks, Julie Shenk, Andrew McGhie, Frank Kolling, and Ms. Pinchin (Art Coordinator for the Brandywine School district) ... all subject to acceptance by those committee members not present to accept. The team will elect a Chair who will make status reports to the Board and Membership as the key dates/events are up-coming.

m) These minutes are subject to "correction" in the next Society meetings (Darley, March 6, WED; Historical March 12th -Tue. .. both subject to confirmation, as is the place)

l) The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. by unanimous vote.

Sincerely,
Judith Hester, Acting Secretary

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(NOTE: These minutes will be ON LINE, via www.claymontde.org (then select "Darley Society") [the resolution will not be there ... yet]

====================== the draft resolution ==============================

PRESERVATION OF CLAYMONT'S ALDOPH WERTMULLER HOUSE Action by the Claymont Historical Society and the Darley Society of Claymont, February 11, 2002

SYNOPSIS

This Resolution directs the President and Executive Director of the Claymont Historical Society, to work with haste to inspect the Adolph Wertmuller house, located on CitiSteel property, and to work with the Darley Society to pursue private (including CitiSteel) and/or public courses of action to prevent further damage to, and the loss of this famous artist's historic property.

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Whereas, Adolph Uric Wertmuller was born on February 18, 1751 in Stockholm, Sweden, and

Whereas, after studying at the Art Academy in Stockholm, he went to Paris, France in 1771 and in 1773 was accepted as a student at the Royal Academy (of Art), and

Whereas in 1784 King Gustaf III of Sweden named him "First Painter" to the King and he was chosen as a member of the Swedish Art Academy, and

Whereas in 1785, he painted the French Queen, Marie Antionette and her children, and

Whereas in 1887 completed his famous nude masterpiece, "Danae and the Golden Rain," reportedly modeled by "three of the most beautiful ladies of the court of Louis XVI," and

Whereas, in 1794 he sailed from Spain to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then the capital of the United States, and

Whereas he there continued his work, painting portraits of members of Congress and George Washington, and

Whereas the portrait of Washington was chosen for the engraving made by H.B. Hall for Washington Irving's "Life of Washington" biography, and

Whereas in 1794 he moved to North 9th Street in Philadelphia which became known as a most congenial center of Swedish-American culture, and

Whereas, in 1800 he married Elizabeth (Betsey) Henderson, granddaughter of the famous Swedish painter and pioneer, Gustaf Hesselius, who had migrated from Sweden to America in 1710, and

Whereas Wertmuller became an American citizen in 1802 and

Whereas in 1803, he purchased a 145 acre farm at Naamans Creek along the Delaware River and the road taken by General George Washington and the comte de Rochambeau on their "march to destiny" and the defeat of the British in Yorktown, Virginia in 1781, and

Whereas the retiring artist worked and toiled on his farm along with his hired help and continued his painting, maintaining relations with artists like Charles Willson Peale and his son Rembrandt, and

Whereas he painted portraits of two Delaware statesmen, James A. Bayard ("the elder Bayard") a distinguished lawyer in 1808 and George Read II, son of the "Signer of Delaware" and

Whereas he died at his home on October 5, 1811 at age 50 and was buried at Old Swedes Church (Gloria Dei) in Philadelphia.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED that the Claymont Historical Society should undertake all reasonable efforts to document the Wertmuller house and, with the Darley Society, hastily pursue avenues towards preventing further structural deterioration and towards restoring it as an historic treasure for public use and as a Heritage Tourism attraction in Claymont, New Castle County, and Delaware.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President and Executive Director of each the Claymont Historical Society and The Darley Society shall pursue the overall support of all individuals and organizations who may be helpful to the success of this undertaking, including CitiSteel directly.

This resolution was accepted by vote of the Claymont Historical Society and the Darley Society on February 11, 2002.

Judith Hester, Acting Secretary
The Claymont Historical Society, Inc., and
The Darley Society, Inc.

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SOURCE: The book, WERTMULLER ... ARTIST AND IMMIGRANT FARMER, by Franklin D. Scott, Chicago, The Swedish Pioneer Historical Society, 1963 (Now called ) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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