Anarchist's Guide to Historic House Museums [Paperback]

In these days of an aging traditional audience, shrinking attendance, tightened budgets, increased competition, and exponential growth in new types of communication methods, Americas house museums need to take bold steps and expand their overall purpose beyond those of the traditional museum. They need not only to engage the communities surrounding them, but also to collaborate with visitors on the type and quality of experience they provide. This book
-is a ground-breaking manifesto that calls for the establishment of a more inclusive, visitor-centered paradigm based on the shared experience of human habitation;
-draws inspiration from film, theater, public art, and urban design to transform historic house museums;
-provides a how-to guide for making historic house museums sustainable, through five primary themes: communicating with the surrounding community, engaging the community, re-imagining the visitor experience, celebrating the detritus of human habitation, and acknowledging the illusion of the shelters authenticity;
-offers a wry, but informed, rule-breaking perspective from authors with years of experience;
-gives numerous vivid examples of both good and not-so-good practices from house museums in the U.S.

This book offers a step-by-step guide to historic house museums to make them more informative and sustainable through an inclusive, visitor-centered paradigm of the shared experience of human habitation.

“The tone of the book is blunt, but I think that is necessary. The whole historic-preservation industry is so deeply rooted in either a 'Jackie Kennedy' faux-gentility or a dead-white-men's 'this is how history is done, boys!' approach to everything.”
—Ulysses Dietz, Chief Curator and Curator of Decorative Arts, The Newark Museum

I enjoyed reading this book very much. It is written in accessible language, making complex matters very approachable. Thlă