I have a few questions regarding the interpretation of historic houses. I am working on a project that involves creating a temporary exhibit about the history of a 1908 house. The house was donated to the museum 1990 by a local arts organization. The arts organization re-furnished the house to 1908 and provided extensive restoration to the interior and exterior. I am in the process of researching the people who lived in the house over many years and I am finding that the current furnishing to 1908 does not accurately reflect the history of who occupied the house from 1908-1982. For example, two rooms in the house are interpreted to 1908, one as a women’s bedroom and the other a child’s bedroom. However, only a single man allegedly occupied the house until 1913. Another issue is that the house is currently named for the last woman who lived there from 1946 to1982. As you can see there are several issues to address here. My questions are: Have any of your museums/historic houses dealt with this kind of dilemma before and if so, what steps did you take to address the issue?

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