Sandra Kay Gladney <[log in to unmask]> wrote in article
> I am a graduate student at the University of Oregon in Arts Management.
> I have been participating in this listserv for a few weeks and hope that
> some of you can help me, too.
>
> I am trying to locate organizations that use performance to illustrate
> historical people and events.  I am reluctant to use the phrase "living
> history" because I do not want to limit my search to military
> battle reenactment activities. So far I have three organizations
identified:

Sandra:

As someone who wrote his own MA on a related topic a few years back, I can
certainly sympathize with your search for information...

However, as I'm sure you're beginning to realize from your other replies,
"living history" is not limited to "military reenactment."  If I may be so
bold as to offer a summary definition, "Living history is the
interpretation of the past through physicalization on the part of the
historian."  This is perhaps even more inclusive than your search for the
dramatization of history, as it would also include experimental
archaeology, reenactment, and a host of other activities.

More to the point of your issues, while many have suggested contact with
both Association of Living Historical Farms and Agricultural Museums
(ALHFAM) and the National Association for Interpretation (NAI) (both on the
web); I'd also give your library (or interlibrary loan) a work out....
Try looking at all or some of the following texts:

Jay Anderson's various works on living history, including "Time Machines:
The World of Living History" and "The Living History Reader";  The annuals
of ALHFAM (over a dozen volumes of articles); Warren and Piatt's "History
Museums in the United States: A Critical Assessment"; Richard Schechner's
"Between Theater and Anthropology"; Steven Eddy Snow's "Theater of the
Pilgrims"....  and pay close attention to the footnotes and bibliographies,
as these will lead you to at least 100 more texts, articles, and items on
the subject.

Hope this helps,

Mark L. Shanks
[log in to unmask]
"Clio Eternum, Vita Brevis"