Search engine for discovering works of Art, research articles, and books related to Art and Culture
Javascript must be enabled to continue!
Public Memory Meets Archival Memory: The Interpretation of Williamsburg's Secretary's Office
View through CrossRef
One of the restored buildings in the Colonial Williamsburg historic site is the Secretary's Office, built in 1747-48, the oldest public records structure in the English-speaking colonies. Probably few archivists and other records professionals know that the antecedents of their profession are well represented in such a popular tourist attraction. This essay considers three lessons for archivists in their quest for greater public understanding and support, drawing on how this old public records structure has been interpreted. First, the essay suggests that the story of the Secretary's Office is not well known by archivists and those interested in the history of efforts to preserve our documentary heritage. Second, the essay recounts the story of the failure by America's premier and pioneering historic site to interpret fully the legacy of the public records office. Finally, the essay indicates that the lack of interpretation represents a lost opportunity to promote public understanding of what records represent, why archives are important, and the work of archivists.
Title: Public Memory Meets Archival Memory: The Interpretation of Williamsburg's Secretary's Office
Description:
One of the restored buildings in the Colonial Williamsburg historic site is the Secretary's Office, built in 1747-48, the oldest public records structure in the English-speaking colonies.
Probably few archivists and other records professionals know that the antecedents of their profession are well represented in such a popular tourist attraction.
This essay considers three lessons for archivists in their quest for greater public understanding and support, drawing on how this old public records structure has been interpreted.
First, the essay suggests that the story of the Secretary's Office is not well known by archivists and those interested in the history of efforts to preserve our documentary heritage.
Second, the essay recounts the story of the failure by America's premier and pioneering historic site to interpret fully the legacy of the public records office.
Finally, the essay indicates that the lack of interpretation represents a lost opportunity to promote public understanding of what records represent, why archives are important, and the work of archivists.
Related Results
Redefining "The Resource": Interpretation and Public Folklore
Redefining "The Resource": Interpretation and Public Folklore
Abstract
There has always been practical training offered to staff in public agencies and historic sites on subjects such as how to create public programs and design...
Statues, History, and Identity: How Bad Public History Statues Wrong
Statues, History, and Identity: How Bad Public History Statues Wrong
AbstractThere has recently been a focus on the question of statue removalism. This concerns what to do with public history statues that honor or otherwise celebrate ethically bad h...
When Theatre was for All: the Cork Report, after Ten Years
When Theatre was for All: the Cork Report, after Ten Years
By the mid 'eighties, the Thatcher government's public funding restrictions had taken a firm hold, leading to a now familiar position of crisis theatre management. In 1985, under p...
Elections and election fraud in Georgia and Armenia
Elections and election fraud in Georgia and Armenia
Elections on unfair playing fields are common. Yet election day fraud can result in authoritarians losing office. The freer the environment, the more an authoritarian must rely on ...
Appraising Public Television Programs: Toward an Interpretive and Comparative Evaluation Model
Appraising Public Television Programs: Toward an Interpretive and Comparative Evaluation Model
Public television programs are clearly unique from those produced for commercial broadcast. However, unique appraisal guidelines for evaluating public television programs do not ex...
Media and public sphere in Ethiopia: Mediated deliberations in public and commercial television programs
Media and public sphere in Ethiopia: Mediated deliberations in public and commercial television programs
This paper explores if televised deliberations constitute the public sphere in Ethiopia, analysing the public service and commercial TV stations focussing on the EBC’s ETV Medrek, ...
Being (co-)present: Reflecting the personal and public spheres of asylum seeking in relation to connectivity
Being (co-)present: Reflecting the personal and public spheres of asylum seeking in relation to connectivity
This article links the personal use/meaning of information and communications technology for refugees and asylum seekers with their visibility/invisibility in public spaces. More p...
Categories of the public and private in an analysis of the gender power asymmetry : retrospective and perspective
Categories of the public and private in an analysis of the gender power asymmetry : retrospective and perspective
The paper relects on the gender speciic nature of private and public spheres as discussed in feminist discourses in European and American contexts. Its aim is to explore the potent...