West, Patricia, 1958-

Domesticating history : the political origins of America's house museums / Patricia West.

Washington [D.C.] : Smithsonian Institution Press, ©1999.

xiii, 241 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

"Focusing on George Washington's Mount Vernon, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, and the Booker T. Washington National Monument, Patricia West shows how historic houses reflect less the lives and times of their famous inhabitants than the political pressures of the eras during which they were transformed into museums. In the late 1850s, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association evoked a mythologized George Washington to campaign for the "rescue" of his home, glossing over his role as a slaveholder to appeal to patrons on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. In 1912, the establishment of Orchard House as a museum paid homage to Alcott's novel Little Women and unified the Woman's Club of Concord, Massachusetts, which was bitterly divided over women's suffrage. In the 1920s and 1930s, Monticello became a touchstone for professional house restoration and an idealized Thomas Jefferson a focal point for a rift-weary Democratic Party. During the 1950s, the birthplace of Booker T. Washington became a monument created largely by politicians besieged by conflicts over civil rights." "In Domesticating History, West contends that house museum founders, while claiming to create sites strictly devoted to individual lives, were in fact establishing monuments steeped in the issues of their times."--Jacket.

1560988118 (cloth ; alk. paper)
9781560988113 (cloth ; alk. paper)
1560988363 (pbk. ; alk. paper)
9781560988366 (pbk. ; alk. paper)

Haus, ...
Orchard House Museum (Concord, Mass.)
Monticello (Va.)
Budapesti Történeti Múzeum
Historic house museums United States History.
Dwellings Conservation and restoration United States History.
Historical museums United States History.
Histoire Musées États-Unis Histoire.
Habitations Conservation et restauration États-Unis Histoire.
Maisons historiques (Musées) États-Unis Histoire.
Historical museums
Dwellings Conservation and restoration
Historic house museums
Berühmte Persönlichkeit
Politik
Historisches Museum
Haus
Historische musea.
Woningen.
Mount Vernon (Va. : Estate)
Booker T. Washington National Monument (Va.)
Mount Vernon (Virg. : Domaine)
Booker T. Washington National Monument (Virg.)
United States
Virginia Booker T. Washington National Monument
Virginia Monticello
Virginia Mount Vernon (Estate)
USA

History
Books.

Location: Library main 203770
Call No.: E159 .W445 1999
Status: Available