The Second Bank of the United States

Nevertheless, by the late 1930s the National Park Service had established a foothold in Philadelphia through ownership of the Second Bank of the United States. For ninety years after 1845 the building had served as the United States Custom House for Philadelphia. With completion of the new Custom House, the building had become redundant, and in early 1938 the Treasury Department put it up for sale. Kimball fired off telegrams to the National Park Service director, Arno B. Cammerer, and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Characterizing the building as "the masterpiece of the Greek Revival in America" and its possible loss as an "artistic calamity," he urged acquisition by the National Park Service if no other public or quasipublic use could be found. The National Park Service historian who was sent to Philadelphia to evaluate the building, Alvin P. Stauffer, pointed out that in addition to its architectural distinction, the bank was a reminder of the landmark struggle between Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle over the federal government's financial policies. Stauffer's superior, Ronald F. Lee, chief historian of the National Park Service, recommended to Cammerer its transfer from the Treasury Department and drafted a letter for Ickes's signature requesting a delay in its disposition. Cammerer agreed with Lee's appraisal, on condition that maintenance of the building could be assured.

Within a few weeks the major components of a feasible plan began to emerge. Fiske Kimball had found that the Carl Schurz Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of German-Americans, would maintain the building to house its offices and library. The Works Progress Administration would fund its restoration and renovation. On the strength of these commitments, the Department of the Interior applied for transfer of the property from the Treasury Department in January 1939, a transfer duly made in April of the same year. After some delay, the Department of the Interior entered into a cooperative agreement with the Carl Schurz Foundation on December 18, 1939. The building would be restored, under the direction of National Park Service architects, by the WPA, using $100,000 in federal funds and $15,000 contributed by the foundation, which would maintain it and allow reasonable public access. By the fall of 1940, the work had been accomplished and the foundation had moved in. With protection of the Second Bank assured, the National Park Service set its sights on the Independence Hall group. In April 1941 Director Newton Drury, former Director Cammerer, and Chief Historian Lee met with Philadelphia's Mayor Lamberton to discuss a cooperative agreement for the city-owned buildings. Although the park service drafted such an agreement, the city did not sign it. The idea, initiated by the National Park Service and unsupported by any strong constituency of Philadelphians, had been presented without sufficient preparation.