Living activity transforms a preserved house from relic into peopled home

Evidence

I had been many times in this famous home and had delighted in its beautiful maintenance. I had, in truth, never actually felt it to be cold; but like so many other precious relics of the past, its treasures have to be safeguarded, and most of the rooms can be seen only from their doorways. That is a penalty we must pay for preservation. … But now, I felt that this house was peopled. Not by visitors like myself, but by those who had best right there—the men and women who loved the place because it was home. In a drawing room an attractive girl, costumed in the period of 1860, was playing the very tunes that were current at that time. It could have been a neighbor lass of Miss Mary Custis at the instrument, which itself was of the very period. There was nothing obtrusive about the music, and I noted with pleasure that most of the visitors were not curious about it, a sure sign that it was in perfect harmony and accepted as part of the re-creation. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 475

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Interpretive participation must be physical, novel, and significant to count — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 465; Experiencing living history instills a felt sense of belonging to a larger whole — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 480; Interpretive animation means giving life and vitality to historic sites — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 474 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Preservation can kill a place by removing its living use #complicates (0.90) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2919