by Libbie Hawes
For the last two decades, historic
sites around the country have been engaged in a steady, thoughtful
discussion about slavery and race. This conversation isn’t always
comfortable or easy, but it happens consistently and it happens with the
authenticity and veracity that can only happen in an old place, in a
place where history happened and history is preserved, and history is
connected to the present. This year the Preservation Leadership Forum
blog takes a look at National Trust Historic Sites and how their
interpretation of slavery has evolved and changed over the years. The full series is available here.
In spring 2010 a longtime caretaker vacated Cliveden’s
Kitchen Dependency, giving staff a chance to examine the interior of
the building—especially evidence of an 18th-century cooking hearth. With
a generous grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage,
Cliveden—a National Trust historic site—is now able to undertake a
comprehensive master plan for preserving and interpreting its kitchen
spaces. The Living Kitchens project will re-orient how people
understand Cliveden’s history by shifting focus to the service spaces
and encouraging discussion of their occupation and use. The project is
the next step in the ongoing expansion of Cliveden’s interpretation.

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Cliveden, viewed from the back-of-house | Credit: Garth Herrick |
Interpreting the Kitchen Dependency
The 1767
Kitchen Dependency was originally a detached service building that was
later connected to the Main House dining room by a covered colonnade
passage. Used as both the household’s main cooking area and a residence
for those enslaved and in service, this building was the center of
back-of-house life at Cliveden throughout the more than two centuries
during which the site was occupied. When a large addition was added to
the rear of the Main House in 1868, the colonnade was enclosed,
constructing an additional interior back-of-house space. The colonnade
was renovated with a mid-century modern prefabricated kitchen in 1959,
which is extant today. By simultaneously examining the two kitchens, the
project is exploring how the past informs the present.
The
opportunity to consider the Kitchen Dependency came amid groundbreaking
interpretive changes at the site. Cliveden held a series of public
meetings in 2010 to share research about the Chew family’s plantations
in Maryland and Delaware and the large numbers of enslaved laborers who
worked there. Cliveden’s staff and board went on to invite the
Germantown community to take part in re-interpreting the site to include
the difficult and uncomfortable aspects of American history.
Using
public feedback, Cliveden developed a more inclusive interpretation
that juxtaposed the lives of those enslaved and in service with those of
the elite of Chew family that they supported. A new core exhibit—Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness?—opened
in 2012, and the continuing education of the Cliveden guide corps
rejuvenated the traditional tour program. The award-winning speaker
series, “Cliveden Conversations,” continued the public discussion of
race, place, and memory. A revision of Cliveden’s National Historic Landmark nomination expanded the significance of the site in the public record, and Liberty to Go to See—a dramatic event that takes place onsite—continues to extend the reach of the interpretation to new audiences.
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1959 Kitchen at Cliveden | Credit: Libbie Hawes |
During the implementation of these programs, the potential of
Cliveden’s kitchens as interpretive spaces that locate the narratives of
the enslaved and in service became increasingly apparent. In 2011, as a
pilot project of the expanded interpretation, the kitchens were opened
to visitors in an unrestored state. Though interpretation of the
dynamics of the Cliveden household operations is limited so far, the
positive response from our audience reinforces the importance of the
kitchens project. Visitors consistently react to the contrast of the
1959 kitchen set in an 18th-century house with audible surprise.
Exploring the architectural evidence in the Kitchen Dependency brings an
experience of discovery and participation to the tour.
Understanding the Significance of Kitchens
The Living Kitchens project
is pursuing Cliveden’s interpretive goal of blending heritage, memory,
and scholarship in provocative ways. The project seeks to develop
content and approaches around the kitchen, a household place that
filters common experience through diverse perspectives. The process will
compare and contrast the design of the spaces, exploring the ways they
were peopled and used, as well as how and why the Cliveden kitchens
changed over time. Phases of the project include research, consultations
with experts, opportunities for public input and programs to
demonstrate findings.
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Kitchen Dependency partition demo day, December 2015 | Credit: Libbie Hawes |
The project is undertaking archival research and architectural
archaeology to understand the history of the kitchens and those who
lived and worked in them. As Cliveden opens for the 2016 season, this
research is in full swing and the results are already being shared with
visitors. The
document only an inconsistent record of physical changes and furnishing
of the kitchens. However, a close look at early invoices from
Germantown carpenters Jacob and George Knor reveals their continued work
at the property, making improvements and providing furnishings,
including a dish drainer, a dough trough, and a bottle rack for the
kitchen as well as benches for the milk house. More research is needed
to learn about the people who worked in the kitchens, as records are
few.
Visitors to Cliveden this season will also see firsthand the
architectural excavations that demonstrate the construction and physical
changes to the kitchens. The project team has uncovered details about
the cooking hearth in the Kitchen Dependency and how it was changed over
time to accommodate new cooking technologies. The team is also coming
to understand kitchens as a network of spaces, including the work yard
behind the buildings, additional outbuildings, and spaces in the cellars
as part of the story of the kitchens. While this research is taking
place, Cliveden has held a public program series called “Kitchen
Conversations” to share ongoing findings along with those of scholars
working on allied projects. As part of the project, Cliveden staff have
also reached out to the Germantown community to collect memories from
the kitchen spaces of their past. In meetings at churches and senior
centers, we discussed ice deliveries, laundry practices, and favorite
recipes as well as who has done the cooking in homes over the last 75
years. Cliveden asked the community to participate by loaning an object,
accompanied by a recipe and a memory, for an exhibition in the Cliveden
Carriage House. Audience response to the programs suggests that
learning about this project by connecting it to their own kitchens has
been meaningful for the community.
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Hearth wall with infills in the 1767 Kitchen Dependency at Cliveden | Credit: Libbie Hawes |
The
Living Kitchens project is delving into provocative
material by locating household operations in kitchens—places that expose
the intersection of different lifestyles and classes over time.
Cliveden will continue to use the authentic place and narrative that are
central to this project to explore relationships between the wealthy
and those enslaved and in service. By including both experts and a
public audience in the inquiry, Cliveden aims to creatively engage
stakeholders in the preservation and interpretation of the site.
Libbie Hawes is the preservation director at Cliveden.
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