Battle of Brandywine: The Road to Recognition is on display through December 1.
By Rich Schwartzman
Spurred by the upcoming 235th anniversary of the Battle of Brandywine, the Chadds Ford Historical Society and the Christian C. Sanderson Museum are co-sponsoring a new exhibit, Battle of Brandywine: The Road to Recognition. The exhibit is on display at the Historical Society’s Barn Visitors’ Center on Creek Road now through December 1.
Referring to the anniversary as the “excuse” for the exhibit, CFHS board member Sallie Corbishley — exhibit curator — said there was something else that she found interesting.
“What I found interesting is what has happened to the land over the years since 1777. Everybody has talked about the battle and the generals, but what has happened to the land,” she said.
After reviewing old newspaper files, Corbishley said people have been trying to save the battlefield site for years.
“They tried and tried, but it was hard to do,” because of money and politics.
She added that it was politics that led the state to buy the property on Route 1 in Chadds Ford and designate it the Brandywine Battlefield Park even though the battle was not fought there.
“For years and years they tried to get some land near Birmingham Friends Meeting where the battle actually occurred starting in 1900,” said Corbishley.
At that time, a Col. Francis Hooten had an agreement from landowners to sell an area of land at Sandy Hollow for a memorial, but it didn’t work.
“Apparently the governor vetoed that one,” Corbishley said. “One of the other early attempts, I understand, the Pittsburgh delegation voted against it. So, it’s all political.”
Part of the exhibit shows a timeline from 1777 to 2009.
“That’s all about the politics of battlefield land area, of trying to preserve the battlefield, to keep out development, and, until probably the 1950s, it really didn’t matter because this was still a rural area,” Corbishley said.
It all changed with the growth after WWII, she added, when the dairy farmers lost their European market and were burdened with extra rules and regulations.
“So they were willing for development, ripe to sell. They needed the money. That’s when the development started. That’s when everyone started to look at this. If we don’t do something now, there won’t be anything left to preserve,” she said.
Corbishley hopes people who see the exhibit come away with an appreciation for where they live and for what happened here.
In addition to the timeline, there are numerous artifacts on display, courtesy of the Chris Sanderson Museum.
According to Sanderson curator Chuck Ulman, the two organizations had worked together on other exhibits, so the collaboration was a no-brainer. The groups had just a couple of meetings before the Sanderson board agreed to get involved.
Ulman said there are about 20 items on loan from the museum with the primary one being a sheet map and a Washington Headquarters’ sign painted by N.C. Wyeth for Chris Sanderson.
CFHS Board President George Franz said he thinks the exhibit is “phenomenal.”
“Sallie always does a good job of trying to come up with an exhibit that appeals to multi-generational things. So, there’s lots of stuff in there that will intrigue kids and things that, I think, will intrigue adults,” Franz said.
One of the items, he said, youngsters will like is a table display filled with jelly beans representing the 27,000 British and Colonial troops that took part in the battle.
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