Republic of Shade : the emergence of the American elm as a cultural and urban design element in nineteenth-century New England

This dissertation is a cultural history of the American elm. It explores the transformation of a native tree into a major icon of New England culture in the nineteenth century-both as a multi valanced symbol of New England life, and a defining element in the spatial design of its villages, towns and cities. Drawing from a wide range of source material-traveler's records, local histories, town and municipal records and contemporary newspaper accounts-the study traces the forces and events which made the elm a ubiquitous feature of the Yankee scene, and a core element in the identity and image of the region. The historical narrative begins with a description of the tree in the pre-European era, and explains how cultural disturbance by both native Americans and colonists amplified the elm's presence in the landscape. Subsequent chapters examine the tree first as a solitary or totemic artifact in the landscape, and then as a element which, following a region-wide "village improvement movement" in the 1840s, was planted in vast numbers in villages, towns and cities. The totemic elm endowed Yankee space with meaning, as a civic centerpiece, a relic of antiquity, or a monument to specific historical events or persons. Planted en masse as a street tree, elms changed the quality of that space itself, transforming the appearance of the common landscape, and forging one of the most powerful images of place in American history-the elm-tossed New England town. The study culminates by examining the symbolic and spatial significance of the tree in the urban context, and argues that city elms were perceived by nineteenth-century observers as a mechanism of synthesis between rus and urbe. Long before the Olmsted park, planting elms on city streets placed the elusive ideal of a "pastoral city" within reach. As Charles Dickens observed of New Haven in his American Notes (1842), city elms brought about "a kind of compromise between town and country; as if each had met the other half-way, and shaken hands upon it." In conclusion, the seminal influence of New England on American culture at large is considered, a factor which eventually made the elm a national icon, and "Elm Street" an American institution.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Campanella, Thomas J

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lawrence J. Vale.

• Urban Studies and Planning

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9768

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/9768