Longtime listeners of The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast may remember our interview with historian Erin Bartram in Episode 37: “Should You Go Grad School?” In that episode we discussed Bartram’s February 2018 blog post “The Sublimated Grief of […]
historical sites
The descendants of enslaved persons at James Madison’s Montpelier will now share in the governance of the site
This is unprecedented. Here is a taste of the Montpelier’s press release: In a first-ever milestone for museums and historic sites that are former places of enslavement, The Montpelier Foundation (TMF) board of directors voted Wednesday, based on a proposal […]
Hamilton and slavery at the Schuyler Mansion
Here is Indiana Nash’s piece at The Daily Gazette, a newspaper that covers the Albany region: The Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site is working to parse fact from fiction when it comes to Alexander Hamilton’s role as an enslaver. While […]
Gettysburg Confederate monuments to get new panels to offer more historical context
Here is Nolan Simmons at Penn Live: Panels will soon be installed near each of 12 Confederate state monuments at Gettysburg National Military Park to offer visitors more context to understand when and under what circumstances they were erected. The […]
African-Americans at Colonial Williamsburg
The Virginia Gazette is running an informative piece on interpreting the African-American experience at Colonial Williamsburg. Here is a taste: Established in 1926, Colonial Williamsburg opened its first public site in 1932. Though African-American interpretation wouldn’t start in earnest as a fleshed […]
New York City’s Sons of Liberty
Over at Boston 1775, J.L. Bell calls our attention to a new exhibit at the Fraunces Tavern Museum in lower Manhattan. It is titled “Fear & Force: New York City’s Sons of Liberty.” Here is a taste of Bell’s post: […]
New Book: *Interpreting Religion at Museums and Historic Sites*
If you are interested in the relationship between American religious history, museums, historical sites, and public history, I highly recommend that you get a copy (or ask your library to order a copy) of Gretchen Buggeln’s and Barbara Franco’s new […]
A Museum Veteran Writes About Historical Thinking at Historical Sites
My friend Tim Grove spent the first part of his career working for the Smithsonian. He recently left his post at the Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. and started a history consulting business. This will also give him more […]
Race, Slavery, and Historical Interpreters
Over at The Outline, Zoe Beery writes about Cheyney McKnight, an African American historical interpreter at Historic Richmond Town on Staten Island. Here is a taste: Over the last ten years, McKnight has built a career as a living historian who […]