Philip Terrie, professor of American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University, lectured at Hamilton on Nov. 14 in conjunction with the Adirondack Sophomore Seminar. His talk was titled "The Adirondacks and the Invention of American Wilderness."
In the last 15-20 years a body of work has "pointed out the difficulty of defining wilderness," said Terrie. He discussed William Cronin's argument that wilderness is a human creation and a product of civilization. In the 17th century, Puritans viewed the wilderness as something to be feared. "There are two factors that have led to radically changing assessments of wilderness," explained Terrie.
The first factor was the cult of the sublime, which encouraged Americans to see wilderness as a "cultural pride" of the United States. The second factor was the exploration of the American frontier, which "encouraged people to think of wilderness as something good," said Terrie. In the 19th century, "Culture declared wilderness as something good," he said.
Terrie then discussed the role of the Adirondacks in how people have viewed the wilderness. "It can be argued that the Adirondacks have played a pivotal role in how American culture responds to wilderness," he said. Ralph Waldo Emerson spent time in the Adirondacks and composed a poem about the experience. While Emerson was on his camping trip, he received word of the laying of the first trans-Atlantic cable. This news profoundly affected Emerson, and while he greatly enjoyed the wilderness, he came to feel that camping was "somehow failing to participate…a postponement of real-world obligations." Emerson's poem reflected this conundrum and involved a delicate triangulation of three central ideas about wilderness: the spiritual appeal of nature, the constant awareness of the existence of a world beyond the wilderness and the fact that different communities often display quite different interpretations of nature and the outside world.
Verplanck Colvin first advocated for the establishment of an Adirondack park. He had read about the exploration of the American west and desired to experience the wilderness. He escaped the world of commerce and became a surveyor of land in the Adirondacks. Colvin had two main arguments for the development of a state park: first, said Terrie, was "the importance of forest and watershed to state commerce," and second, "the recreational potential of forests." However, according to Terrie, there was conflict within Colvin's argument. Should the Adirondacks be a place for wilderness, for commerce or a place where people work and live?
Another key player in the conservation of the Adirondacks was Robert Marshall. In his writing, Marshall emphasized the pleasure he took in measuring and mapping the lands of the Adirondacks. He believed "wilderness referred to a specific kind of place. He knew it when he saw it," said Terrie. Marshall did not believe that wilderness was a constructed thing.
In 1946, Howard Zahniser, director of the Wilderness Society, met Paul Schafer, and together the men fought to protect the wilderness. They took a camping trip in the Adirondacks in 1948 on which they discussed the importance of preserving the wilderness, and in 1956 Zahniser drafted the first draft of the Wilderness Act, a bill to protect some of the nation's remaining wilderness. The bill went through eight years of House and Senate hearings. "Zahniser's commitment never waivered," said Terrie. Four months after Zahniser's death, the act became law.
Those who live in the area should "take special pleasure that the Wilderness Act was born in the Adirondacks," said Terrie.
In closing, Terrie discussed the competing narratives about the idea of wilderness. "[It] is something that can be invented," he said. "[The meaning of wilderness] is culture and experience intertwined." The American ideal of wilderness, however, has important roots in the Adirondacks.
-- by Laura Trubiano '07
