Jack McCarthy resigns from Historical Society of Frankford 9
Many people, including various neighborhood organization leaders, came out to the Center for Northeast Philadelphia History meeting.
Jack McCarthy, archivist for the Historical Society of Frankford, announced at last night’s meeting of the Center for Northeast Philadelphia History that he’ll resign from his post with the Frankford-based organization, effective in one month.
This announcement, which was the first order of business at the meeting, prompted Fred Moore (a local historian who also serves as the Holmesburg Civic Association president) to propose the Center for Northeast Philadelphia History “divest ourselves from the Historical Society of Frankford.”
Local History
The owner of an old farmhouse in Holme Circle requested the help of the organization in determining the future of his home.
Samuel “Buzz” Stokes grew up at and still lives at 2880 Welsh Rd., which sits on a 1.1-acre lot across from Winchester Swim Club.
Now the sole occupant of the home, Stokes doesn’t want to see the 200-year-old structure be torn down to make way for apartment, though he knows the building is too old for a homeowner to maintain.
He’ll look into alternative options to preserve the house’s history.
With this proposal comes the idea that the group should formalize itself, as it currently has no board or advisory counsel. The 3-year-old organization will pursue independence, with no one neighborhood taking precedence. Moore assured those in the packed meeting room of the Torresdale Branch Library that the Historical Society of Frankford “did not provide us with any hard money.”
The next meeting of what will now be called the Northeast Philadelphia History Center Consortium will be May 19 at Fox Chase Farm. A representative from the farm encourages anyone who is interested to arrive a half hour early at 6 p.m. for a tour.
Any reasoning behing the split, possitive or negative? What will the relationship between the two organizations be?
I don’t know if it’s any correlation, but Debbie Klak, his arch nemesis, is back on the board of the HSofF.
didn’t know there were issues. But I’ve been away.
was the meeting contentious? does this make the frankford historical society less relevant?
As Jack McCarthy implies in the video, his resignation is connected with internal issues at HSF.
There wasn’t much discussion after the announcement, except for the group’s decision to propose a split from HSF. Details are still coming in, but no harsh words were said at the meeting
From @NEastPhilly Jack McCarthy resigns from Historical Society of Frankford http://bit.ly/d4Rd1t
The primary reason for severing formal ties with the Historical Society of Frankford is simply a desire for autonomy and independence. The Board of Directors of HSF must necessarily approve any actions of its subsidiaries. The Northeast Philadelphia History Consortium (our new name) prefer to free ourselves of that authority.
By a show of hands, those in attendence (40+) were overwhelmingly in support of the proposal.
We will continue to work with HSF and all organizations in and beyond NE Phila towards the promotion and preservation of NE Philadelphia history.
[...] was reported by NEastPhilly.com that Jack McCarthy will resign as Archivist from the Historical Society of Frankford within a [...]
I beg to differ with all of you – there was other discussions other that Mr. Mcarthy’s resignation that the “free press” chose to ignore and delete:
Joe Menkevich displayed a 1796 Deed signed by Edward Duffield, for the purchase of the 222-acre Byberry farm of Captain Stephen Decatur (the elder). Capt. Decatur was one of the early trustees of the Lower Dublin Academy. The deed was recently purchased at an auction of the Decatur-Armsden collection, where a Battle of Yorktown Map executed in 1781 by Jean Baptiste Gouvion set a world record and fetched $1.15 M. Joe was lucky and did not pay nearly as much for the Decatur/Byberry deed.
See:
Julia’s sets world record with $1.15M Yorktown battle map
Battle of Yorktown map executed by Jean Baptiste Gouvion on
or about Oct. 29, 1781.
FAIRFIELD, Maine — On Feb 4-5, 2010, James D. Julia, Inc. set numerous auction records with the sale of The Decatur-Armsden collection, a historical trove descended through a number of important historical families. The most notable member included Colonel Tobias Lear, General George Washington’s Aide de Camp and one of his personal best friends and the Commodore Stephen Decatur. In Julia’s own words, the auction included “the most incredible lot of goods [he’d] ever handled.”
Sometime in the very early 1970s a barn on the property was sold to one of the family members. The goods were evaluated and divided into three approximately equal lots of value and significance, going to each of the three branches of the family. That portion which had gone to Alice Decatur Armsden had been maintained in its entirety until her and her husband’s estate was settled this past year. Because of the size, diversity and historical significance of the grouping, the family decided it would be best to sell the collection on the open market where the things would be acquired by the appropriate institutions and advanced collectors.
Julia had learned of the estate’s possession of a map of the siege of the Battle of Yorktown. The siege of Yorktown of course was the most significant military encounters in the history of our country. The map, hand done at the direction of Jean Baptiste Gouvion (who actually took part in the siege), was done a matter of days after the battle took place. It is believed this map had belonged to General George Washington himself, as it is a known fact that Tobias Lear handled Washington’s papers after Washington’s death. … More & Photos:
http://www.militarytrader.com/article/World-auction-record-for-Yorktown-battle-map/