I worked at Carlyle House during the summer of 1983 and visitors were generally interested in the story of the cat in the wall, which we attributed, on tours, to a tradition of housebuilders during the time the house was built. I don’t know if that story still holds water all these years later, but it is part of the lore of the site, at least. I don’t know if actually seeing the mummified cat would change how people relate to the story or not. Amy Killpatrick Fox | Museum Educator Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums | Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Commonwealth Keystone Building, Plaza Level 400 North St. | Harrisburg, PA 17120 Phone: 717.772.1967 | Fax: 717.783.1073 www.PATrailsofHistory.com Trailheads blog: http://patrailheads.blogspot.com From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ilana Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2014 5:10 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Mummified Cats I have no input but this is the coolest thread I've read. :) Ilana Short Curatorial Intern The Bonnet House, Fort Laderdale, FL. Sent from my iPhone On Aug 5, 2014, at 4:59 PM, Helen Wirka <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: Hello, Has anyone had experience with mummified animals being unearthed in an historic building? Our museum has a cat buried in the wall dating back to 1751-53. It was discovered in the 1970s during restoration, removed from it's original location, photographed and then deposited in a new location in our building--but still inside a wall. Please see the linked article, page 2: http://www.nvrpa.org/uploads/Files/published_articles/Oct05.pdf We are considering opening up the wall cavity where the cat is now located and putting in plexiglass so that visitors can see the mummified animal. But we have a couple of questions. 1.) Might there be a possibility that the mummified cat has disintegrated since the 1970s when it was put back into the wall? 2.) Would opening the wall cavity now possibly threaten the integrity of the mummified cat? If anyone has experience with this or can direct me to a good resource on mummified animals, I would really appreciate it. Thank you, Helen Helen Wirka Historic Site Specialist / Curator Carlyle House Historic Park A Property of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority 121 N. Fairfax Street Alexandria VA 22314 Phone: 703-549-2997 Fax: 703-549-5738 www,novaparks.com<http://novaparks.com> ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).