The Foundations of the Founders

FAIN: FT-59358-11

Susan J. McWilliams Barndt
Pomona College (Claremont, CA 91711-4434)

In this project, I study the most tangible of the American founders' constructions--the cities, farms, homes, parks, and public buildings they designed--in order to shed a new kind of light on their visions for the new nation. By considering the places and spaces that the founders brought into being, this project reveals new dimensions of their thought, dimensions not evident in the abstract language of the Constitution and Declaration. In doing so, it uncovers many of the central assumptions, convictions, and tensions that lie beneath the surface of those famous documents.