A Holiday Season Update: “Portrait of a Citizen” is Published, Offering a Fresh Take on the Life, Legacy, and Material Culture of Stephen Girard

Students at Girard College sing Christmas carols around a piano, ca. 1922 (?). C2019-0128. Courtesy of the Girard College Historical Collections, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

De Gruyter Oldenbourg of Berlin has published Portrait of a Citizen: Stephen Girard, Mariner, Merchant, Banker, and Philanthropist of the Early American Republic.

I am thrilled to share that my new book about Stephen Girard has appeared amid the holiday season. Portrait of a Citizen offers an innovative new portrayal of Stephen Girard’s life and legacy, exploring this famous yet ineffable figure from Philadelphia’s history through the lens of his surviving material culture at Girard College, especially his library and archival collections. Learn more about the book at https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isbn/9783110987171/html#.  

Working on this book has been a labor of love over the past six years, and an in-depth focus of mine for the past three. I decided to take on this project after spending years gazing at the portrait of Stephen Girard hanging in the Rosenbach’s stair hall, and then becoming acquainted with his “Philosopher Ships” by means of a photograph of the vessel Rousseau, shared with me by Kathy Haas at Founder’s Hall, Girard College. These two very different portraits, plus Girard’s surviving library and decorative arts, inspired the approach taken in Portrait of a Citizen. The book examines self-representation and the fashioning of identity through material objects—as well as the implications of Stephen Girard’s civic identity for generations to come, because of his important and controversial last will and testament.

While I live just a short drive from Girard College in Philadelphia and spent many happy hours conducting research there, this project has carried me far and wide, from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Virginia to New Bedford, Massachusetts, searching both for more information about Girard’s Philosopher Ships but also conducting comparative research to situate the Philadelphian story in broader perspective. In addition to these geographic voyages, my scholarly voyages across disciplines and subject areas has been equally expansive. In addition to fields such as material culture studies and book history, in which I have extensive background, Portrait of a Citizen pushed me into new fields including legal history, the history of estates and trusts, economic history, and more. The final product is truly an interdisciplinary work of scholarship. I have grown significantly as an historian and writer because of these experiences, and I will treasure the memories of my scholarly voyages for years to come. Thank you to all who have helped me along my way, especially professionals at collecting institutions, colleagues who reviewed early drafts of my work, and the incredible team at De Gruyter Brill who offered encouragement, support, and guidance every step of the way.

More than anything, I hope this book serves as an invitation for other scholars to explore the incredible collection at Girard College, and to continue reexamining the life and impact of this notable figure in Philadelphia’s history. Happy reading, and Happy Holidays!