Second Edition of New Solutions for House Museums Planned
In 2007, AltaMira Press published Donna’s book, New Solutions for House Museums: Ensuring the Long-Term Preservation of America’s Historic Houses, under a co-publishing agreement with the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH). According to the publisher, New Solutions for House Museums has been the best-selling book in the AASLH series since its publication. AASLH has asked us for a second edition which will include 40% new or substantially rewritten content, and we are busy planning this project now.
The original intent of the book was to provide struggling historic sites with examples of the wide range of use options for their properties. It has become an important textbook used in graduate school programs across the country that are preparing the next generation of house museum curators and historic site managers.
In thinking about how to broaden and deepen the impact of the book for a second edition and bring it up to date, five new case studies will be added to illustrate the book’s main thesis that not every historic house saved by local activists needs to be turned into a traditional historic house museum. A new chapter on diversity and inclusion at historic house museums will highlight examples of African American, Latino, LGBT, and other underrepresented groups that are pioneering new ways to commemorate their histories without turning their sites into traditional house museums. We are looking for leads on historic sites to include in this chapter, so please contact us at heritageconsultinginc@gmail.com if you have an idea. We are excited to be working on a new edition. Look for it in 2020
Updated 1-2022