Editing Liberty Bell (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Crowd around the Liberty Bell, 1951 - cropped.jpg|thumb|A crowd of tourists gathers around the Liberty Bell at [[Independence Hall]] in July 1951|alt=number of tourists, of all races and ages, dressed in the fashions of sixty years ago, gather around the Liberty Bell.]]
[[File:Liberty Bell Pavilion Exterior HABS 213789pv.jpg|thumb|The [[Liberty Bell Pavilion]] in [[Philadelphia]], the Liberty Bell's home from 1976 to 2003]]
In 1912, the organizers of the [[Panama–Pacific International Exposition]] requested the bell for the 1915 fair in [[San Francisco]], but Philadelphia was reluctant to let it travel again. The city finally agreed to let it be transported to San Francisco since it had never been west of [[St. Louis]], and it was a chance to allow millions of Americans to see it who might never again have the opportunity.<ref>Nash, pp. 110–112</ref> In 1914, fearing that the cracks might lengthen during the long train ride to San Francisco, Philadelphia installed a metal support structure inside the bell, called the "spider".<ref>The Franklin Institute, pp. 28–29</ref> 

In February 1915, the bell was tapped gently with wooden mallets to produce sounds that were transmitted to the fair as the signal to open it, a transmission that also inaugurated transcontinental telephone service.<ref>Nash, p. 113</ref> Some five million Americans saw the bell on its train journey west.<ref>Nash, p. 123</ref> It is estimated that nearly two million kissed it at the fair, with an uncounted number viewing it. The bell was taken on a different route on its way home during which another five million people viewed it.<ref>Nash, pp. 113–115</ref> 

In 1924, one of Independence Hall's exterior doors was replaced by glass, allowing some view of the bell even when the building was closed.<ref>Paige, p. 57</ref> When [[United States Congress|Congress]] enacted the nation's first peacetime draft in 1940, the first Philadelphians required to serve took their oaths of enlistment before the Liberty Bell. Once [[World War II]] began, the bell was again a symbol to sell war bonds.<ref>Nash, pp. 148–151</ref> 

Since the bell returned to Philadelphia, it has been moved out of doors only five times: three times for patriotic observances during and after [[World War I]], and twice as the bell occupied new homes in 1976 and 2003.<ref name="new" /><ref>Paige, p. 54</ref> [[Chicago]] and San Francisco had obtained their visits after presenting petitions signed by hundreds of thousands of children. In 1933, Chicago tried again, with a petition signed by 3.4&nbsp;million schoolchildren, for the 1933 [[Century of Progress]] Exhibition and New York presented a petition to secure a visit from the bell for the [[1939 New York World's Fair]]. Both efforts failed.<ref>Nash, p. 140</ref>

During [[World War II]], it was feared that the bell might be in danger from saboteurs or enemy bombing, and city officials considered moving the bell to [[United States Bullion Depository|Fort Knox]], to be stored with the nation's gold reserves. The idea provoked a storm of protest from around the nation, and was abandoned. Officials then considered building an underground steel vault above which it would be displayed, and into which it could be lowered if necessary. The project was dropped after studies concluded that the digging might undermine the foundations of Independence Hall.<ref>Paige, pp. 64–65</ref> On December 17, 1944, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry offered to recast the bell at no cost as a gesture of Anglo-American friendship.<ref>United Press, “Foundry Offers to Recast Liberty Bell”, ''San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California,  Monday 18 December 1944, Volume 51, page 2.</ref> The bell was again tapped on [[Normandy Landings|D-Day]], [[Victory in Europe Day|V-E Day]], and [[Victory over Japan Day|V-J Day]].<ref>Kimball, p. 71</ref>

After [[World War II]], and following considerable controversy, the City of Philadelphia agreed that it would transfer custody of the bell and Independence Hall, while retaining ownership, to the federal government. The city would also transfer various colonial-era buildings it owned. Congress agreed to the transfer in 1948, and three years later [[Independence National Historical Park]] was founded, incorporating those properties and administered by the [[National Park Service]] (NPS or Park Service).<ref name="nps" /> The Park Service would be responsible for maintaining and displaying the bell.<ref name="ben" /> The NPS would also administer the three blocks just north of Independence Hall that had been condemned by the state, razed, and developed into a park, [[Independence Mall (Philadelphia)|Independence Mall]].<ref name="nps">Nash, pp. 172–173</ref>

In the postwar period, the bell became a symbol of freedom used in the [[Cold War]]. The bell was chosen for the symbol of a [[savings bond]] campaign in 1950. The purpose of this campaign, as then [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Alben W. Barkley]] said, was to make the country "so strong that no one can impose ruthless, godless ideologies on us".<ref name="ben">Paige, p. 69</ref> In 1955, former residents of nations behind the [[Iron Curtain]] were allowed to tap the bell as a symbol of hope and encouragement to their compatriots.<ref>Paige, p. 71</ref> Foreign dignitaries, including [[Prime Minister of Israel|Israeli Prime Minister]] [[David Ben-Gurion]] and [[West Berlin]] Mayor [[Ernst Reuter]], have visited the Liberty Bell, and they commented that the bell symbolized the link between the United States and their nations.<ref name="ben" /> During the 1960s, the bell was the site of several protests, both for the [[civil rights movement]] and by various protesters supporting or opposing the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>Paige, pp. 76–78</ref>

Almost from the start of its stewardship, the Park Service sought to move the bell from Independence Hall to a structure where it would be easier to care for the bell and accommodate visitors. The first such proposal was withdrawn in 1958, after considerable public protest.<ref name="nonono">Paige, p. 72</ref> The Park Service tried again as part of the planning for the 1976 [[United States Bicentennial]]. The Independence National Historical Park Advisory Committee proposed in 1969 that the bell be moved out of Independence Hall, as the building could not accommodate the millions expected to visit Philadelphia for the Bicentennial.<ref>Paige, p. 78</ref> In 1972, the Park Service announced plans to build a large glass tower for the bell at the new visitors center at S. Third and [[Chestnut Street (Philadelphia)|Chestnut]] streets, two blocks east of [[Independence Hall]], at a cost of $5&nbsp;million, but citizens again protested the move. Instead, in 1973, the Park Service proposed to build a smaller glass pavilion for the bell at the north end of Independence Mall, between [[Arch Street (Philadelphia)|Arch]] and Race streets. Philadelphia Mayor [[Frank Rizzo]] agreed with the pavilion idea, but proposed that the pavilion be built across Chestnut Street from Independence Hall, which the state feared would destroy the view of the historic building from the mall area.<ref>{{Cite news |title=New home sought for Liberty Bell |page=15 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |date=September 4, 1973 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50714FB3A59137A93C6A91782D85F478785F9&scp=5&sq=liberty+bell&st=p |access-date=August 10, 2010 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104000150/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50714FB3A59137A93C6A91782D85F478785F9&scp=5&sq=liberty+bell&st=p |url-status=live }}</ref> Rizzo's view prevailed, and the bell was moved to a glass-and-steel [[Liberty Bell Pavilion]], about {{convert|200|yd}} from its old home at Independence Hall, as the Bicentennial year began.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wooten |first=James T. |title=Move of Liberty Bell opens Bicentennial |page=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |date=January 1, 1976 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1091FF73B5514758DDDA80894D9405B868BF1D3&scp=1&sq=liberty+bell+pavilion&st=p |access-date=August 10, 2010 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104000158/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1091FF73B5514758DDDA80894D9405B868BF1D3&scp=1&sq=liberty+bell+pavilion&st=p |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the Bicentennial, members of the [[Procrastinators' Club of America]] jokingly picketed the Whitechapel Bell Foundry with signs "We got a lemon" and "What about the warranty?" The foundry told the protesters that it would be glad to replace the bell, so long as it was returned in the original packaging.<ref name="Whitechapel" /> 

In 1958, the foundry, then trading under the name Mears and Stainbank Foundry, offered to recast the bell, but was told by the Park Service that neither it nor the public wanted the crack removed.<ref name="nonono" /> The foundry was called upon, in 1976, to cast a full-size replica of the Liberty Bell known as the Bicentennial Bell that was presented to the United States by the British monarch, Queen [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]],<ref>Nash, pp. 177–178</ref> and was housed in the tower once intended for the Liberty Bell, at the former visitor center on South Third Street.<ref>Greiff, pp. 214–215</ref>

====Liberty Bell Center====
[[File:Liberty Bell on display (2022).jpg|alt=The Liberty Bell hangs in a glass-backed structure with a brick, 18th-century building with a steeple visible in the background.|thumb|The interior of the Liberty Bell chamber at the Liberty Bell Center with [[Independence Hall]] and the Centennial Bell visible in its steeple in the background]]
[[File:Independence Hall2.jpg|thumb|[[Independence Hall]] with the [[Liberty Bell Center]] (on right) in August 2004]]
[[File:Liberty bell mount.JPG|thumb|A view of the Liberty Bell's mount in October 2009]]
[[File:Liberty Bell Center South (front view).jpg|alt=The south end of the Liberty Bell Center|thumb|The south end of Liberty Bell Center with both the Liberty Bell and a  reflection of [[Independence Hall]] in January 2022]]
In 1995, the Park Service began preliminary work on a redesign of Independence Mall. Architects [[Robert Venturi|Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates]] developed a master plan with two design alternatives. The first proposed a block-long visitors center on the south side of [[Market Street (Philadelphia)|Market Street]], which would also house the Liberty Bell. This would have interrupted the mall's three-block vista of Independence Hall, and made the bell visible only from the south, on Chestnut Street. The second alternative placed a similar visitors center on the north side of Market Street, also interrupting the mall's vista, with the bell in a small pavilion on the south side.<ref>Stephan Salisbury, "Architects push proposal to ring Liberty Bell with visitors center," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', July 2, 1996.</ref> City planner [[Edmund Bacon (architect)|Edmund Bacon]], who oversaw the mall's design in the 1950s, saw preservation of the vista of Independence Hall as essential. He created his own plan that included a domed bell pavilion built north of Market Street.<ref>Henry Magaziner, "A Debate: Imagining the Mall," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', June 30, 1996.</ref> Public reaction to the possibility of moving the Liberty Bell so far from Independence Hall was strongly negative. NPS announced that the bell would remain on the block between Chestnut and Market streets.<ref>''Revision of the Proposed Plan for Independence National Historical Park'', "Alternate E-1: Site Specific Actions #10 – Liberty Bell" (Denver, CO: National Park Service, September 1996), p. 11.</ref>  Other plans were proposed, each had strengths and weaknesses, but the goal of all was to encourage visitors to see more of the historical park than just the Liberty Bell.<ref>Thomas Hine, "Lost in Space on Philadelphia's Independence Mall," ''The New York Times'', February 9, 1997.</ref>

The [[Olin Partnership]] was hired to create a new master plan for Independence Mall; its team included architect [[Bernard Cywinski]], who ultimately won a limited design competition to design what was called the Liberty Bell Center (LBC). Cywinski's design was unveiled in early 1999. Significantly larger than the existing pavilion, allowing for exhibit space and an interpretive center,<ref>Laurie Olin, "Giving Form to a Creation Story — The Remaking of Independence Mall," in Rodolphe el-Khoury, ed., ''Liberty Bell Center, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson'' (Philadelphia, PA: Oscar Riera Ojeda & Associates, 2006) {{ISBN|0-9746800-4-4}}</ref> the proposed LBC building also would cover about 15% of the footprint of the long-demolished [[President's House (Philadelphia)|President's House]], the residence used by [[George Washington]] and [[John Adams]] before the [[White House]] was completed in 1800.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/history/maps/map.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808001437/http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/history/maps/map.htm|url-status=dead|title=Footprints of LBC and President's House|archive-date=August 8, 2011}}</ref> Archaeologists excavating the LBC's intended site uncovered remnants of the 1790–1800 executive mansion that were reburied.<ref>[[Faye Flam]], "Formerly on Ice, Past Unearthed. The Icehouse Found in Philadelphia Gives Glimpse into Colonial History," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', February 23, 2001.[http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/pi022301.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419144337/http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/pi022301.htm|date=April 19, 2012}}</ref> The project became highly controversial when it was revealed that [[George Washington]]'s slaves had been housed only feet from the planned Liberty Bell Center's main entrance.<ref>Stephan Salisbury & Inga Saffron, "Echoes of Slavery at Liberty Bell Site," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', March 24, 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/inq032402.htm |title=Echoes of slavery at Liberty Bell site |access-date=2012-03-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419204831/http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/inq032402.htm |archive-date=April 19, 2012}}</ref> The Park Service refused to redesign the LBC building, or delay its construction.<ref>Joann Loviglio, "Historians decry burying history for Liberty Bell," Associated Press, March 30, 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/ap033102.htm |title=Historians decry burying history for Liberty Bell |access-date=2012-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419133730/http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/ap033102.htm |archive-date=April 19, 2012}}</ref> NPS initially resisted interpreting the slaves and the slave quarters,<ref>Stephan Salisbury, "Proposed wording on slave quarters draws fire," ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', October 31, 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/inq103102.htm |title=Proposed wording on slave quarters draws fire |access-date=2012-03-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007155511/http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/inq103102.htm |archive-date=October 7, 2012}}</ref> but after years of protest by Black activists, agreed.<ref>Stephen Mihm, "Liberty Bell Plan Shows Freedom and Slavery," ''The New York Times'', April 23, 2003.[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/23/arts/liberty-bell-plan-shows-freedom-and-slavery.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907034241/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/23/arts/liberty-bell-plan-shows-freedom-and-slavery.html|date=September 7, 2017}}</ref>