Voices from the Back Stairs: Interpreting Servants' Lives at Historic House Museums - Softcover

Pustz, Jennifer

 
9780875806228: Voices from the Back Stairs: Interpreting Servants' Lives at Historic House Museums
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0875806228 ISBN 13: 9780875806228
Verlag: Northern Illinois University Press, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

Historic house museums―one of the most prevalent types of history museums in the country―have long depicted the owners of the house and their families, but representing the servants has introduced a unique set of challenges. While museum professionals have increasingly incorporated women, immigrants, African Americans, and other minorities into portrayals of the past, these portrayals often show an idealistic world without class antagonisms or ethnic conflict. Exploring the domestic conflicts that may have existed between mistress and servant often creates a more vivid and believable experience for guests.

Through her examination of the pitfalls of interpretation, Pustz offers advice for museum professionals on programming accurate and compelling depictions of those who lived their lives in the back stairs and kitchen rather than in the parlor. Based on extensive surveys of historians at historic house museums, this informative study presents examples of successful interpretation programs, including those that have made the kitchen and servants' quarters the most popular stops on the tour. Pustz encourages museum curators to look beyond the archives of their own institution and explore other era-appropriate sources, including advertising and housekeeping guides, when trying to create a complete picture of the house's servants, who often left behind few records.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jennifer Pustz holds a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Iowa and has worked as a historian in historic house museums for more than a decade. She is the museum historian at Historic New England where she conducts and presents research for the organization and its historic sites.

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Verlag
Northern Illinois University Press
Erscheinungsdatum
2009
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0875806228
ISBN 13 
9780875806228
Einband
Tapa blanda
Anzahl der Seiten
250
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