The Wynds of History: From Moravians to Objects

Thursday, October 8, 2009

From Moravians to Objects

I love the sudden right turns one can take while during research. There are no wrong destinations. Just not enough room in the filing cabinet for all the finds.

Today I was looking for information on the 19th C Moravian communities in Pennsylvania, specifically in terms of social history. What I found was a new public history book. (See what happens when I get lost on the UPenn Press website?)

Do Museums Still Need Objects by Steven Conn is so new that my copy is still sitting in the virtual shopping cart. Publication date is October 2009 - one assumes they're working on it.

A subsequent search resulted in a new-to-me public history publication, Origins, and Cohn's blog.

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From the age of seven, when I first "met" Elizabeth Blackwell, my fascination with people and places has led me to ask questions - who were they? where did they live? what did they think? how did they feel? how was she different from me?

I read every biography about a woman my elementary school had to offer, searching for those answers. I wasn't satisfied with the books that started with what someone had accomplished - her "famous moment" so to speak. I loved one specific series that started with a heroine's childhood and told a narrative story about her entire life.

While I now look first to primary documents and objects for answers, I'm still asking questions. While I still search to place an individual within a specific context and deduce motivations, I also now search for answers on how to share that information with others, in ways that spark spark imaginations and trigger more questions. I am simultaneously committed to preserving the stories, objects, and locations that give me and others a tangible, direct link to the lives we study.