美國弗農山莊婦女協會的保存行動(1853-1860)

Mount Vernon Ladies’Association of the Union’s Efforts of Historic Preservation: 1853-1860

自從1853年，弗農山莊婦女協會(the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union)發起保存美國開國總統--喬治華盛頓(George Washington)的故居以降，此地不僅成為美國人心目中的聖地，更引發了美國社會與文化極其重要的發展--歷史保存運動(the PreservationMovement)。在19世紀的美國社會裡，歷史保存的成功條件，取決於女性參與、愛國思想、私人主導等因素的調和。這些其實都和當時社會風行的「共和國母親」(Republican Motherhood)理論、對開國人物與獨立戰爭的情感需求，以及美國憲法第一條第八項條文的限制有關。 弗農山莊保存行動的成功，應該歸功於康寧漢女士(Ann Pamela Cunningham)的公關運作、愛國演說家艾略特(Edward Everett)的巡迴演講、州政府特許權的授予等。但若分析各州分會的領導人物，其實整個行動的推手就是美國政府。政府退居幕後，由議會核准特許狀，以鼓勵非營利組織主導歷史保存的做法，不但突破了憲法的限制，也成為美國歷史保存的基本模式。其影響則在於建構了19世紀美國以私人提倡、軍事和政治人物為核心、具備國家聖地和偶像特質、婦女主導等的歷史保存內涵。而這些特色，就是美國歷史保存和其它國家的不同之處。

Since the Mount Vernon Ladies’Association of the Union successfully originated its preservation action in 1853, Mount Vernon has become an American Mecca and triggered off a signifi cant development in American society and culture: namely the Preservation Movement. In the nineteenth century, most preservation efforts were characterized by patriotism, women and private support. That could be attributed to the theory of“Republican Motherhood”, a searching for American roots after independence and the restriction of the U.S.’s constitution. The Mount Vernon Ladies’Association of the Union’s achievement arose from“Public Relation”exercises, the advice and contributions of Edward Everett and the charter from the Virginia legislature. However, we should not neglect the government’s effort. If we survey the vice regents of the MVLA, who were responsible for collecting donations, it is easy to find out that most of them were the daughters or wives of federate government offi cials. Without them, and the legal status chartered by the state legislature, this impressive success could probably have failed.