They Helped Build a Nation

I recently wrapped up a productive weekend in Philadelphia, where my colleague Chris Young and I did some recon for our upcoming tour, "Founders in Philadelphia: Franklin, Jefferson, and a New Nation."  (We have about two dozen people who have expressed interest.  It's not too late to book a slot.  Visit https://www.mindinclined.org/philadelphia for more info and email office@mindinclined.org to register.)

One of the many historic sites in Philadelphia is the splendid Carpenters' Hall (which, along with Independence Hall and many other sites, is on our itinerary).  This beautiful and historic building inspired this week's column.

What are you building?

If you had asked some Philadelphia builders that question back in the 18th century, they probably would have answered, "a house" or maybe "a public building."  Such answers were true, but they told only part of the story.

A Company of Builders

For centuries, workers from a variety of trades have come together to form guilds, unions, and the like.  For example, long before the Masons became known as a fraternal organization, there was a guild made up of actual masons — that is, workers who contributed their stone- and brick-working skills to building projects.  (Now there's a good topic for a future column.  Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was an active member of what was then called the Freemasons or that Masonry/masonry inspired some dark humor in Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Cask of Amontillado"?  There's much more, worthy of at least one column here in Mind Travel.)

One of the most influential of trade groups was the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia.  Formed way back in 1724, this organization originally served not so much carpenters, as we use the word, but builders, including what we might think of as architects and engineers.

In any case, the purpose was multifaceted, as the National Park Service explains: "The Company regulated the quality and cost of construction, promoted architectural instruction, and supported members and their families in need."  It was an admirable mission, to be sure, but it was only the beginning.

A Place to Meet

In the early 1770s, the company began constructing a building where they could meet.  (One of the perks of being a group of builders is that you can build your own structure.  The rest of us have to hire someone, usually at a premium price.)

The building was completed within a few years, and it's a beaut: a two-story elegant Georgian structure with an attractive, understated exterior of brickwork and a few lovely accents, such as arches over some of the windows and an octagonal cupola.  They called it "Carpenters' Hall."  (Perhaps they should have hired a poet to come up with something a little more creative.  Poets do not charge a premium price.)

Look back at that time span.  Hmm, what else was going on in Philadelphia in the early 1770s?

History Comes to Carpenters' Hall

Inspired — perhaps infuriated would be a better word — by their treatment by the British government, several American colonists decided in 1774 to come together to strategize a response.  They needed a place to meet.

Enter Carpenters' Hall.  That's what they did, in fact: they entered Carpenters' Hall.  Then they sat down and talked — and talked and talked and talked.  They called their meeting "A Meeting of Talkers" — just kidding; actually, it became known as the First Continental Congress.  Apparently, someone in this circle came with a little more linguistic creativity than the builders had.

It was here in Carpenters' Hall, a small structure that the Carpenters' Company had built for their comparatively mundane business, that George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Jay, and 51 other delegates deliberated and ultimately produced a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, an important precedent to the more famous Declaration of Independence.  It was here, too, that taxation without representation came under fire.  The delegates even endorsed a boycott of British products.

They could not have done any of these things without a place to do them.  There was, after all, no Zoom back then.  (That's probably a good thing.  It would be a shame to have "Mr. Adams . . . Mr. Adams, you're muted" on the record somewhere.)

A Stamp on Colonial America (and the World)

The impact of the members of the Carpenters' Company didn't stop there.  Company members also played a role in the construction of a pretty notable building then known as the Pennsylvania State House.  We know it as Independence Hall.

Robert Smith, a leading member of the Carpenters' Company, also worked on the Christ Church steeple and a house for a guy named Benjamin Franklin, as well as a house for the less famous Samuel Powel, a leading resident of Philadelphia.  (Franklin's house, alas, no longer stands, but Powel's house is open to the public.)

The Carpenters' Company and its members, in short, put their stamp on colonial Philadelphia.

The impression they left, furthermore, is a stately one.  Carpenters' Hall and Independence Hall would be photo ops even if they weren't historically monumental.  By giving us sights so lovely — works of art, really — the builders in the Carpenters' Company enhanced our lives and provided something difficult to measure, but impactful nonetheless: inspiration.

Furthermore, by constructing highly functional buildings, they helped build something greater than themselves: a nation.

What Are You Building?

Now it's our turn.

No matter what your skill set, you can play a role in creating something impactful and inspirational — something truly great.

Perhaps you've heard some version of the story of the three construction workers.  Two of them, asked what they were doing, focused on the jobs right in front of them — laying bricks, for example — but the third replied, "I'm building a cathedral."  That third worker had vision.  You can have vision, too.

You don't have to belong to the Carpenters' Company — or, for that matter, a political body such as the U.S. Congress — to build something magnificent.  As an educator, I build people.  As an activist or law enforcement officer, you can build communities.  As a manager or accountant, you can build businesses.  As a scientist or an engineer, you can build understanding, tools, and systems that ultimately protect and sustain the environment in which we live.

Finally, working together, all of us can build a better world.