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Interpreting Historic House Museums. Edited by Jessica Foy Donnelly. (Walnut Creek, California: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, AltaMira Press, 2002. Pp. via, 326. Index. Cloth, $70.00; Paper, $24.95).
Adult Museum Programs: Designing Meaningful Experiences. By Bonnie Sachatello-Sawyer and others. (Walnut Creek, California: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, AltaMira Press, 2002. Pp. xxvii, 209. Appendices, bibliography, index. Cloth, $63.00; Paper, $24.95).
In a 1972 work, What Time Is This Place?, Kevin Lynch underscored the special role of material culture in teaching people about history. "Historical knowledge must be communicated to the public for its enjoyment and education. Words and pictures convey much, but real things make the deepest impression" (51-52). Authors of the books under review here confirm Lynch's judgement as they advance recommendations to museum personnel about how best to use their "real things" in engaging the public with the past, movement, for example, is limited at best. She simply states "the role of
Interpreting Historic House Museums had its genesis in two conferences hosted and financed during the 1990s by the McFaddin-Ward House Museum in Beaumont, Texas. Conference speakers-all experienced museum professionals-revised their presentations into the collection of articles that constitute this book. The editor's preliminary observations underscore the import of the not-so-new social history-with its interest in the...