London’s Benjamin Franklin House

I’m in England for the Attingham Summer School but arrived a day early to get a head start on overcoming jet lag and to visit the new “Benjamin Franklin House “–the only place in world where Franklin lived that still survives (that’s right, all his houses in the US are gone–how’s that for a preservation [...]

Cells and Sites: How Historic Sites are Using Cell Phone Tours

Cell phones have revolutionized the way people communicate, affecting many areas of life, including historic sites. A popular application of cell phone technology is now being used at several of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s historic sites. Chesterwood, Decatur House, and Woodrow Wilson House provide cell phone tours, similar to standard audio tours offered [...]

Reports from the (English) field

This month I’ll be joining a group of fifty professionals from historic sites and museums from around the world in the Attingham Summer School.  For three weeks we’ll be studying and discussing the preservation and interpretation of the English country house (including collections and landscapes) from the 13th century to the present day with field [...]

Celebrate Independence Day with a Visit to a National Trust Historic Site

Several events are taking place at National Trust Historic Sites to celebrate the Fourth of July.The East Side Tenement Museum, located on New York City’s Manhattan Island is hosting tours of their historic tenement building from 11:00 am to 4:30pm on July 4, 2008. The Lower East Side Tenement Museum preserves and interprets an historic [...]

Interpreting 1950s America

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is exploring ways to preserve and interpret Modernism and the Recent Past, an effort that has grown in interest as many of the buildings and places from this period are increasingly threatened with demolition and approaching the magical “fifty year” mark (by the way, the fifty-year threshold primarily applies [...]