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The Journey Home-- Thesis Presentation
- 1. The Journey Home: A Spatial Narrative of Ann and Elizabeth Croghans Return from School Anna Mallory University of Louisville The Main Question Guiding the Curatorial Project: When critically analyzing the construction and interpretations of historical sites within the United States, it is vital for audiences to consider the political and socioeconomic pressures that mold and buttress them. Thus the main question guiding my curatorial project is: how do those responsible for historical sites utilize finite space and resources to recreate and interpret historical events while navigating the socioeconomic and political constraints faced by the non-profit institution which they represent? Through research and the design and installation of a temporary museum exhibit at Historic Locust Grove, my project explores how non-profit institutions are creating historical interpretations in a world in motion. BACKGROUND Historic Locust Grove is an American Alliance of Museums (AAM) accredited historical site in Louisville, Kentucky owned by Historical Locust Grove Inc. and Louisville City Metro. The eighteenth century Georgian house and 55 of the estimated 700 acres originally tied to the building were purchased by the City of Louisville in 1961. City budgets and the interests of donors and home owners in the neighborhood act as constraints on the content of historical interpretations on the property. My temporary exhibit, to be installed on the third floor of the house, will focus on the return of the two daughters, Ann Heron Croghan (1797-1846) and Elizabeth Croghan (1801-1833), from Louisa Keats' Domestic Academy in Springfield, Kentucky in 1810. According to family letters, thirteen-year-old Ann and eight-year-old Eliza left for the Domestic Academy in September 1810 but shortly returned home in December of 1810. By displaying the objects necessary for the girls during their time at the academy and by having trained docents reading the letters that the children sent to relatives in December 1810, the objects and the tour are combined to narrate a specific historical event. In order to create a narrative that crosses a varied spatial and temporal landscape, a non-linear form of story- telling is needed. LAYOUT OF EXHIBIT The exhibit is structured to engage a variety of audiences and spark connections with the girls. It will be installed in the room interpreted as Ann and Eliza's room on the third floor of the house. Objects will be scattered about the room to recreate the hurried and haphazard unpacking of a child and provide a conceptual and emotional bridge for the audience between the past and present. Due to conservation concerns one of the trunks will remain closed with the other being staged as if it is being unpacked. To create a narrative linking the objects with the girls' return from school, the three letters they penned in September and December of 1810 are referenced by the docents. METHODOLOGY When designing an exhibit for a historical site the audience, the event, and the mission of the site must be taken into consideration. Research for the design required archival investigation of both the site and the Croghan family with an aim of making every detail as historically accurate as possible. This is critical for exhibits at Locust Grove in order to maintain its accreditation with AAM. After completing extensive research I gathered objects from the sites collection and reproduced historically accurate objects to incorporate within the exhibit. This was most apparent in the reproduction of the girls bed-tick. OUTCOMES The final outcome of the project was the successful incorporation of research and objects into an exhibit forming part of the overall narrative of the house. Once the exhibit was installed the docents were instructed on how to incorporate the narrative for my exhibit into the general narrative for the house. The exhibit successfully navigates all of the constraints noted and will remain in the house from mid-August through October 2014. Sources: A Lady. The Ladies Guide to Plain Sewing. Springfield: Kanniks Korner, 1993. Print. Azaryahu, Maoz, and Kenneth E. Foote. Historical space as narrative medium: on the configuration of spatial narratives of time at historical sites. GeoJournal 73.3 (2008) : 179-194. Print. B. Schell, Suzanne. On Interpretation and Historic Sites. The Journal of Museum Education 10.3 (1985) : 6-10. Print. "Bed and Table Linens for the 18th Century Household." Www.textilereproductions.com. Kathleen B. Smith. Web. 8 Aug. 2014. Broadside, Terms of Admission to Mrs. Keets Domestic Academy in Washington County, Kentucky. Located at the Kentucky Historical Society. Docents, Volunteers, and Staff of Historic Locust Grove. Filson Historical Society Archives, Louisville, Kentucky. Kentucky Historical Society Archives files on Louisa Keats, Frankfort, Kentucky. Potts, Gwynne Tuell, and Samuel W. Thomas. George Rogers Clark and Locust Grove. China: Historic Locust Grove, 2006. 47-64. Print. Queen, Sally A. Textiles for Colonial Clothing a Work Book of Swatches and Information. Arlington: Q Graphics Production, 2000. Print. Renan, Lynn Scholl. So Close from Home: The Legacy of Brownsboro Road. Louisville: Herr House, 2007. 64-67. Print. Anns Portrait, by John Wesley Jarvis. Elizabeth's picture some from George Rogers Clark and Locust Grove, by Potts and Thomas. Ann Heron Croghan 1797-1846 Elizabeth Croghan 1801-1833 BEFORE AFTER