From the Geil Archive (33)—Geil on the Moon

Click Here for the "From the Geil Archive" Resource Center
To learn more about William Edgar Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center
A year ago on Round and Square (25 October 2012)--Displays of Authenticity—Bayonets and Buggy Whips
Two years ago on Round and Square (25 October 2011)--Styling Culture—So and Such

[a] Where is the Great Wall? RF

Click here for other posts written by Guest Contributor Julia Lacher:
1-About Me                                       2-American Flag                    3-Simultaneous Coin Extractor          
4-Geil Visits the British Museum      5-Friends in High Places        6-Sanitarium
7-Geil on the Moon

Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

[b] Great Wall RF

There are a lot of myths and misinformation about the Great Wall of China. Perhaps the most prevalent legend is that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space, or more specifically, the moon. This piece of information is included in textbooks and games of trivial pursuit, and has become a cultural touchstone and a source of pride for many people. It is not, however, true. At least, not completely. 

How has this saying endured for so long? I remember hearing this piece of information in kindergarten! How and why has this statement become so ingrained in popular culture and history? It turns out that Geil may have been part of the popularity and pervasiveness of this myth.

When did the rumor begin? Most sources point to a letter written by William Stukeley, an English antiquarian and archaeologist. In 1754 Stukeley wrote the Great Wall, “makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe, [and] may be discerned at the moon.” Over a hundred years later, Henry Norman wrote in his 1895 book The Peoples and Politics of the Far East, “…besides it’s age [the Great Wall] enjoys the reputation of being the only work of human hands on the globe visible from the moon.” 

Fourteen years later, in The Great Wall of China, William Edgar Geil also seized upon the idea of being able to see the Great Wall from the moon. He described his first view of the wall: 

[c] A Yankee on the Great Wall DHS

It danced before us in every-varying shapes, now rolling itself together like a scroll, now stretching itself   out to its full length…until we could almost fancy the Wall to be some agile imp playing hide and seek in our imagination, instead of the great structure that some lunar inhabitant might see like a black welt  across the face of the earth.

This was not the only time Geil used this imagery. In an earlier version of The Great Wall of China titled A Yankee on the Great Wall, Geil wrote, “It has been sagely remarked that this long structure…could be clearly defined by the mysterious Man-in-the-Moon if such an individual exist and if he is endowed with the same faculties which we possess.” 

While it seems that Geil was not solely responsible for coming up with the idea, he was certainly active in helping it to spread.

But can we really be so harsh on Geil and those who perpetuated and popularized this myth? Writing in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, Geil and his counterparts would have no reason to believe the Great Wall could not be seen from space, or for that matter, the moon. The first satellites wouldn’t be launched until 1957, and the moon landing was like-wise hundreds of years away. Writers from this time period would have no frame of reference for what was and was not visible from space. Today the idea seems fanciful and if you’re being harsh, preposterous. However, in the context of the early twentieth century, the statement was perhaps meant to be taken as a metaphor. The idea of a structure built by human hands being visible from the moon is undeniably a captivating one. And really, who would be able to refute the statement in 1909? 

[d] International Space Station

It wasn’t until 1967 that definitive proof could be obtained. While it is absolutely impossible to see the Great Wall from the moon, it is sometimes visible from low-level orbit of Earth – if weather conditions are absolutely perfect. This issue came to the forefront in 2005 when NASA’s website published this article on the visibility of the Great Wall from the International Space Station. 

A Chinese astronaut on the ISS reported that he was not able to see the Great Wall from his vantage point, 230 miles above Earth. However, close examination of photos taken by another astronaut named Leroy Chiao were determined to show some sections of the wall. NASA reported that Chiao’s photos “were greeted with relief and rejoicing by the Chinese,” and were printed in newspapers throughout the country, even though Chiao reported that he hadn’t seen the wall and wasn’t sure the pictures showed it. 

While the Great Wall may be visible from low orbit of earth, the same can not be said of the moon. Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean summed it up when he stated, “The only thing you can see from the Moon is a beautiful sphere, mostly white, some blue and patches of yellow, and every once in a while some green vegetation.” 

[e] Earth Rise RF

From the Geil Archive (30)—Halloween Edition: The Sanitarium

Click here for the "From the Geil Archive" Resource Center
To learn more about William Edgar Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center
A year ago on Round and Square (18 October 2012)—First and Second Presidential Debates
Two years ago on Round and Square (18 October 2011)—Sports and Games in Modern China

[a] Creepy RF

Click here for other posts written by Guest Contributor Julia Lacher:

1-About Me                                       2-American Flag                     3-Simultaneous Coin Extractor

4-Geil Visits the British Museum       5-Friends in High Places        6-Sanitarium

Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

Before I began to work with Geil’s papers, I never really stopped to think about the kinds of materials that make up an archive—it’s all paper, right? However, the more I work with this collection, the more I understand the incredible diversity of material in Geil’s archive. There are envelopes, thin onion-skinned sheets, folders made of heavy cardstock, lined writing paper, telegrams, receipts, bills, and stationery from hundreds of different personages, hotels, organizations, and, to my surprise, sanitariums. 

[a] Fancy Stationery DHS

The view of sanitariums in popular culture today isn’t all that positive. Dozens of horror movies begin with atrocities committed at remote and lonely sanitariums, often inhabited by the criminally insane who are only outdone in creepiness by their sadistic doctors. It was this version of sanitariums that inspired this Halloween post. So I was surprised to see such a large amount of Geil’s notes written on stationary from different sanitariums: the famous Battle Creek sanitarium in Michigan, and the Clifton Springs Sanitarium in New York.

[b] Clifton Springs RF

Clifton Springs, New York, is a small town of about 2,000 people located in the Finger Lakes region of New York, southeast of Rochester. The town is named for the springs that run through it, which are rich in sulfur and other minerals. The first European settlers arrived in 1801, and were quick to utilize the health benefits of the springs. However, it wasn’t until 1849 that any institution existed to bring the healing properties of the water to the masses.

In 1849 Dr. Henry Foster founded the sanitarium after a religious conversion experience.  He firmly believed that prayer and medicine should be intertwined. In an informal address in October of 1892, Foster explained “God’s ordinary way of healing is through medicines, through hygienic applications, through all well-known remedies. His extraordinary mode is in direct answer to prayer.”

People came from all over to experience the mineral springs, and unlike the current popular view of sanitariums as hellacious prisons for those with uncurable and dangerous disorders, Foster’s sanitarium was more like a health resort, offering services for minor and chronic ailments.

Geil would have been familiar with the sanitarium through his participation in religious revivals all over upstate New York. It is also likely that Foster’s amalgamation of science and religion would have appealed to Geil’s sensibilities.  

[c] Monkeys Enjoy Hot Springs RF

Unfortunately, it is unclear when exactly he stayed at the sanitarium, and for how long. The stationary he writes on is dated 190_, so without more research we can’t be more specific than sometime in the first decade of the twentieth century. Perhaps he came there to rest after his missionary work in Australia in 1902 and his subsequent travels in China and Africa. The peaceful surroundings would have been a good place for him to write. Six of Geil’s 12 books were written between 1902 and 1909, so it’s possible we owe Clifton Springs for Geil’s inspiration to write. 

Whatever the reason and duration of his stay, Geil would have enjoyed living in the impressive five-story red-brick sanitarium, designed in monumental Romanesque style, complete with a chapel boasting a mosaic of the Last Supper designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany as its centerpiece. 

The sanitarium still exists as Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic, featuring The Springs Integrative Medicine and Spa Center, where visitors can continue to experience the healing mineral waters as Foster had envisioned. 

[d] Tiffany Mosaic, Marquette Buidling, Chicago, IL RF

From the Geil Archive (25)—Friends in High Places: William Edgar Geil and Dwight Lyman Moody

Click here for the "From the Geil Archive" Resource Center

To learn more about William Edgar Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center

A year ago on Round and Square (11 October 2012)—La Pensée Cyclique: Rural Religion in China (19)

Two years ago on Round and Square (11 October 2011)—Asian Miscellany: Education in China

[a] Evangelists - RF

Click here for other posts written by Guest Contributor Julia Lacher:

1-About Me                                         2-American Flag                       3-Simultaneous Coin Extractor      
4-Geil Visits the British Museum         5-Friends in High Places

Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

While William Edgar Geil may not have found the lasting fame he so desired from his careers in evangelism and pseudo-anthropological exploration, he certainly ran in the same circles of those who did. 

Perhaps one of the most famous of Geil’s friends was Dwight Lyman Moody. Born in Northfield, Massachusetts, Moody was converted to evangelical Christianity in 1855. He opened his first Sunday School in Chicago, Illinois, after the Civil War, and found much success in the city. However, Moody did not become a household name until his evangelical tour of England and Scotland in the 1870s and 1880s. Geil most likely became aware of Moody during this time. Regularly preaching to crowds between 2,000 and 4,000 people, Moody was a master orator. In Glasgow, he filled the Botanic Gardens Palace, preaching to a crowd of between 15,000 and 30,000.

[b] The Beginning - RF

It is interesting to note that Geil also went on an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, preaching throughout England and Scotlandin the early 1900s. Perhaps he was attempting to follow, literally, in the footsteps of Moody. It would be interesting to explore this in a different post. Moody was also affiliated with the China Inland Mission – another connection worthy of exploration between him and Geil. 

Moody returned to the United States in the early 1880s, and in 1886 built the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago’s Near North Side as well as the Mount Herman School in his hometown of Northfield. Though much of his work was in Chicago, Moody preferred to live in the more rural setting of his hometown

It was during a visit to Moody’s home in Northfield, most likely in the late 1890s (Moody died in 1899), that Geil recorded this anecdote. 

[c] Anecdotes - DHS

Moody, having heard of a woman who was giving a series of lectures on the literature of the Bible, invited her to Northfield to speak. He was horrified, however, when for her first lecture the woman got on stage, and instead of speaking about literature “tore the bible all to pieces and told the audience to read the Arabian Nights once a year to see how [the] Bible was written.”

The next day, instead of another lecture, Moody held a prayer meeting.

Besides being a hilarious story, this anecdote gives us some insight into Geil’s evangelical career and his role in the movement at the turn-of-the-century. That he was good enough friends with Moody to be invited to his house speaks volumes about the significance of Geil’s evangelical work. 

A more in-depth exploration of similarities and differences between the two evangelists’ work might reveal more about Geil’s beliefs and the role of evangelical Christianity in his explorations and interest in other cultures. Perhaps if he had stuck with the evangelism, and done less pseudo-anthropological exploration, Geil would be better remembered today. 

[d] Moody Bible Institute - RF

From the Geil Archive (20)—Geil Visits the British Museum

Click here for the "From the Geil Archive" Resource Center
To learn more about William Edgar Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center
A year ago on Round and Square (3 October 2012)—Presidential Debate Zingers (b)

Two years ago on Round and Square (3 October 2011)—Styling Culture: Paragraph Breaks

[a] British Museum RF

Click here for other posts written by Guest Contributor Julia Lacher:

1-About Me          2-American Flag          3-Simultaneous Coin Extractor     4-Geil Visits the British Museum

Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

After almost a month now of going through William Edgar Geil's "stuff" (and he has a lot), I feel that I have gained some insight into his research process.

[b] Pass DHS

Geil used a variety of techniques to get information. A lot of the research seems to have been done for him, by people who had access to books he didn't possess. Geil also appears to have copied whole sections from books—imagine what he would have been able to accomplish with a photocopier! Another way Geil gathered information was by interviewing people he met on his travels. His archive is full of outlandish stories and histories told to him by strangers. 

As I digitized more and more objects, I began to wonder if Geil had ever done any archival research—if he would be able to relate at all to what we're doing here in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. So I was delighted to find passes to the British Museum's Reading Room and to the Student's Room of the Oriental Books and Manuscripts Department among his papers.

The two passes were issued on the same day, December 22, 1913, and were good for six months. In order to gain access to the library, researchers had to apply in writing to the Principal Librarian, who then issued them a ticket. If the researcher wished to renew their ticket after six months, they had to apply to the director, enclosing their original ticket and hoping that they showed "sufficient reason" for the renewal. 

[c] Restrictions DHS

The strict time limit on the tickets made me think back to my museum studies classes, and the discussions we had about the connection between museums and power. Many museums, the British Museum included, were "open to the public" in name only, especially in their early days. While technically anyone could visit, the British Museum restricted access in a number of ways. Guests had to make a written application to the director for a set number of tickets sold each day, and the museum was only open during hours when the leisure class would be able to attend, not members of the working class. Visitors were also not allowed to walk through the galleries themselves, but rather were escorted by officers of the museum. Even the intimidating architecture of the museum building itself mirrored the oppressive, hierarchical privilege structures of the culture that built it. 

I can’t help but wonder if Geil’s excessive use of the title “Dr.,” which seems so unnecessary and even vain to us, was actually the only way for him to gain access to the kinds of research material he needed to do his work. (See Amara Pugen's blog from October 1 titled "Don't Call me Reverend"). It legitimized him as a researcher and academic, making him someone who was allowed to work in such an esteemed institute as the British Museum. There are definitely aspects of Geil and his work that are ridiculous. However, I think it is important to remember to look a little bit deeper, and work harder to see the cultural implications behind the way he presents and thinks about himself. 

[d] Research RF

From the Geil Archive (16)—The Simultaneous Coin Extractor

Click here for the "From the Geil Archive" Resource Center
To learn more about William Edgar Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center
A year ago on Round and Square (27 September 2012)—Academic Autobiography: Tristes Tropiques-b

Two years ago on Round and Square (27 September 2011)—Styling Culture: Italics and Points of Emphasis

[a] Sydney....later RF

Click here for other posts written by Guest Contributor Julia Lacher:

               1-About Me                    2-American Flag               3-Simultaneous Coin Extractor

Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image, you need permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

[b] Headline DHS

In the summer of 1902, William Edgar Geil left the United States to bring his evangelism and preaching to the inhabitants of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia had been formed only a year earlier in January of 1901, and Geil appears to have been eager to bring his special brand of evangelism to the new country.

Geil's gave a series of sermons in Melbourne, Sydney, Ballarat, Bendigo, Adelaid, Perth, and Brisbane called "The Simultaneous Mission." He spoke on numerous subjects: props, dancing, sinners, hell, aborigines, evangelists, and missionary work.

[c] Lecture DHS

His sermons were hugely successful, filling meeting halls, churches, and theaters to capacity and earning rave reviews from local papers.

However, it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. This cartoon was published in a Perth, Australia, in the summer of 1902. The headline reads "Come and See Geil, the Simultaneous Coin Extractor," and features a drawing of Geil, dressed as a clown, surrounded by his colleagues. A collection box placed next to him bears a plaque that states "Place a coin in the slot and receive salvation/Notice - must be gold or silver coins - gold preferred/copper will not work." In addition, Geil is pictured holding a fat goose labeled "The Public."

[e] Personal DHS

One of the most striking images in this picture is that of Geil dressed as a literal clown. The comedic effect of his costume is heightened by its contrast to the dour, somber outfits of Geil's colleagues, who surround and applaud him. The clown costume is also there to signify Geil's American-ness -- he is literally wearing the stars and stripes. The artist of this cartoon obviously did not see Geil as a serious evangelist and interpreted the humor and Americanisms in Geil's speech as a cheap trick, designed to set him apart from the crowd of more subdued (but no less corrupt) preachers.

The fear that Christian preachers are there not to save souls, but to line their pockets, is not a new one. The idea that the church uses fear to rip off the devout goes back to the Medieval Catholic Church and the sale of indulgences. The cartoonist in this situation is playing upon such fears, portraying Geil as a masquerading clown whose purpose is not salvation but his own personal gain. The depiction of the public as a dead goose shows the artist's belief that the people are willing participants in their own deception.

Was Geil merely out to make a buck? Or was he sincerely invested in saving people's souls? Perhaps in the coming weeks we will get a clearer view of Geil's motivations, but it is likely we will never fully understand them. In the meantime, Geil was making plans to continue his missionary work in places even more far flung than the new commonwealth of Australia. 

[e] Far-flung RF

From the Geil Archive (12)—American Flag

Click here for the "From the Geil Archive" Resource Center
To learn more about Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center
A year ago on Round and Square (20 September 2012)—Assignments: Source Letter

Two years ago on Round and Square (20 September 2011)—Remonstrance: Critical History

[a] Planted RF

Click here for other posts in the Round and Square series "From the Geil Archive":
               Introduction                              1-Southern Mountain Museum             2-Sacred Mountain Map           

               3-Hat and Cattle                       4-Seeking Anthropology                       5-Curly Fives
               6-How to Write the Book          7-Mortarboard Man                               8-Orator
               9-Naming (Un)Conventions     10-Unlike the Others                            11-Killed by Lightning
              12-American Flag                    
Julia Lacher is a proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from Beloit College in May with a double major in Anthropology and History and a minor in Museum Studies. She is the only intern working with William Edgar Geil's papers at the Doylestown Historical Society who did not take Professor Rob LaFleur's class on "The Accidental Ethnographer," and is currently wondering what she got herself in to.

[b] Unsubtle DHS

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Please note that all items marked "DHS" are property of the Doylestown Historical Society, and used with DHS permission. If you wish to use an image, you need to have the permission of the Society. Please contact Robert LaFleur (lafleur@beloit.edu), and he will put you in contact with the appropriate people.

An American Abroad: Nailing Flags to the Great Wall
After two weeks and more than 600 scanned newspaper articles, each headline alternately more haughty and expansionist than the last, I didn't think there was anything left in the archive that would shock or surprise me. However, I was proven wrong when I came across a picture of Geil at the end of his trip along the Great Wall of China in 1908.

Take a look at Image C. Yes, that is an American flag nailed to the Great Wall of China.

While this picture made me think about issues of colonialism and nationalism that I would like to explore in a later post, it also made me think about how Geil's identity as an American -- his "American-ness" -- was intricately tied to how he presented himself, both as a speaker and as a writer.

 

From the title of his first published book,  A Yankee on the Yangtze (1904), it is clear that Geil was very invested in his identity as an American.

[c] Flagged DHS

In fact, many reviews of his books, especially his 1908 The Great Wall of China, make allusions to Geil's American qualities. A review  of On the Great Wall of China printed in the Boston Herald in 1910 reads "it must be admitted, however, that the reading matter...is charaterised by an optimistic quality that indicates what is usually regarded as the genuine Yankee temperament." 

This is not the only article to point out Geil's American qualities, though it is more laudatory than some others, such as the  which instead of refreshing find Geil's familiar and humorous language obnoxious. "We could, however, wish that there were not so many light-hearted Americanisms in it" writes a reviewer for the London Queen in 1910.

I can't help but wonder if Geil's familiar, American prose and the humor he sought to inject into his writings is what made him popular in his day, but also contributed to his being forgotten. Geil seems to vacillate between wishing to be taken seriously (often adding the word "Dr." before his name as it appears in newspaper articles) and using humor and "plain talk" to sell books and entice people to come to his lectures.   

[d] Consequences (of a later era) RF
"American Invaders Will 
Surely Be Defeated"

While exploiting his identity as a plain spoken, boisterous American may have made him successful in the short term, it is perhaps his lack of a serious academic mien—both in his writing and in his speaking—that relegated him from the ranks of serious academic to the level of amateur traveler, doomed to obscurity (...until now!)...

In the meantime, I do hope he refrains from nailing any more flags to important cultural symbols. 

Guest Contributor Biographies—Julia Lacher

Click here for the introduction to Round and Square's "Guest Contributor" series (coming soon)
Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square Series "From the Geil Archive"
To learn more about Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center
A year ago on Round and Square (14 September 2012)—The New Yorker: Bobbie Ann Mason, "Shiloh"

Two years ago on Round and Square (14 September 2011)—Seinfeld Ethnography: Elaine Flies Coach

[a] Des Moines RF

Hello readers! My name is Julia Lacher, and I was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. Most people look at me sympathetically when I tell them this, but I believe that  Des Moines is one of the greatest cities in the world (seriously, I'm not being sarcastic).

[b] To do JL

While I will always defend Des Moines and Iowa as a beautiful, diverse, and vibrant place, I didn't want to stay there for college. I ended up at Beloit mostly because it was on the list of schools I could get a tuition exchange scholarship at (my mom worked at Drake University in Des Moines), but also because I had heard about their wonderful anthropology and museum studies programs and I was sure I wanted to be an archaeologist.

As I gained experience at Beloit, I learned that I would rather be the one taking care of the objects after someone else had dug them up.  In the meantime, my interest in museums, archives, and history was growing. By the end of my sophomore year I knew that I wanted to work with museum collections (indoors, preferably in a climate controlled environment.

[c] Veteran's Museum JL

I've always been interested in material culture, and the things that you could tell about someone just by looking at their stuff. I had also transferred in tons of history credits from a stint at the Des Moines Area Community College. I remember thinking "eh, might as well get a history major too." During my time at Beloit I learned to integrate my interests in material culture, history, anthropology, and museums, and I graduated this May with a double major in History and Anthropology and a minor in Museum Studies.

I have interned at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison, a historic house museum in Beloit, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and I spent a summer in Italy learning how to conserve archaeological ceramics. 
[me leading the collections committee meeting at the vets museum

I also spent the last two summers house-sitting for Professor LaFleur and taking care of his two (adorable) cats, Vic and Rhonda.

[d] Cathouse JL

I've recently become interested in historic architecture, especially architecture that seeks to emulate the styles of the past, and identity as it is expressed through the built environment.  My undergraduate thesis focused on the Gothic Revival architectural movement in the United States. In Doylestown, I plan to conduct research on William Edgar Geil's house, The Barrens.  Parts of The Barrens were built to resemble portions of the Great Wall of China. What was Geil seeking to do when he designed this? I think the answer lies beyond the simple "He liked China," and I hope my research will reveal how identity, self-expression, and architecture are all interconnected.

Thanks for reading, and check back weekly for my posts from me!