JAIC 1994, Volume 33, Number 2, Article 12 (pp. 211 to 220)

THE DILEMMA OF INTERPRETING AND CONSERVING THE PAST AT NEW YORK STATE'S HISTORIC SITES

DEBORAH LEE TRUPIN, DAVID BAYNE, MARIE CULVER, NANCY DEMYTTENAERE, HEIDI MIKSCH, & JOYCE ZUCKER

ABSTRACT—This paper discusses the development of New York State's 34-unit state historic site system and its museum support and conservation center (Peebles Island) located in Waterford, New York. Then diversity of the state historic sites and their collections presents a wide range of conservation problems. Recognizing this, New York State Bureau of Historic Sites conservators and other staff have used teamwork and consensus building to develop suitable, practical, and ethical conservation responses for these collections. Problems, solutions, and new directions in collections assessment, environmental management, collections storage, and interpretation are discussed in detail.

Article Sections:

1. INTRODUCTION
2. ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING
3. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
4. STORAGE
5. INTERPRETATION
6. CONCLUSIONS
a: Author Information

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