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Lecture Series

Lecture Series Presented by Historic New England

Sponsored by Chubb Personal Insurance

Lectures are held in the "Tiffany" Room at the Park Avenue Armory. Seating is on a first-come basis and is complimentary with Show admission.

Sunday, January 24, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
The Meaning of Things: Historic New England's Collections
Nancy Carlisle, Historic New England Curator

Since its founding in 1910 as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Historic New England has collected artifacts along with family narratives, related photographs, and histories of use. Thanks to this rich documentation, these materials resonate with meaning, providing evidence of the way the objects with which we surround ourselves reflect both who we are and where we are from. Curator Nancy Carlisle will single out examples that tell surprising tales of New Englanders - entrepreneurs and ne'er do wells, mariners and artists, men and women, old and young.

Nancy Carlisle has been a curator at Historic New England for more than twenty years. She is the author of Cherished Possessions: A New England Legacy, and co-author with Melinda Nasardinov of America's Kitchens. Ms. Carlisle has written and lectured widely on the material culture of domestic life from the seventeenth century to the twenty-first.




Monday, January 25, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
Heritage from the Home, Do House Museums Still Matter?
Carl R. Nold, Historic New England President and CEO

In a virtual age where Twitter and Facebook are leading sources of information and communication, some suggest that historic house museums and their collections are no longer relevant. Are younger audiences even interested in antiques and historical museums? What role does the study and collecting of the decorative arts play in 2010 America? Mr. Nold explores the issues facing house museums and public collections of the decorative arts with reference to the evolution of collecting philosophy and practice throughout the 100 year history of Historic New England.

Carl R. Nold has served Historic New England as its President and CEO since 2003, leading the organization to record levels of membership and attendance. His prior experience included director positions at Mackinac State Historic Parks in Michigan, The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, and Gadsby's Tavern Museum in Alexandria, Virginia. Since 2003 he has been a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Museums and currently serves as its chairman.




Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
Drawing Toward Home: Designs for Domestic Architecture from
Historic New England
Lorna Condon, Historic New England Curator of Library and Archives

Historic New England's traveling exhibition, Drawing Toward Home, presents one hundred drawings of domestic buildings that depict an array of building types - from estates and modest single-family homes to summer cottages and apartment buildings - and that trace the history of domestic architectural styles in New England from the Federal period to the Modern movement. Lorna Condon, co-curator of the exhibition, will discuss the drawings, the architects who made them, and the clients who commissioned the works. She will also provide an overview of the history and scope of Historic New England's extensive collection of architectural records.

Lorna Condon has served as the curator of the Library and Archives at Historic New England since 1990, where she works with collections of photographs, architectural drawings, manuscripts, and ephemera. She frequently writes and lectures about these collections. Ms. Condon is the co-curator of Drawing Toward Home: Designs for Domestic Architecture from Historic New England.




Thursday, January 28, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
Glittering Narratives: Jewelry at Historic New England
Sarah Sherman, Historic New England Collections Cataloguer

For a hundred years Historic New England has amassed through bequests, gifts, and museum accessions one of the largest jewelry collections with American provenance in the country. The collection ranges from diamond brooches from the finest Parisian retailers to wooden souvenir jewelry and reflects the styles and tastes of Americans, in particular New Englanders, from the mid-eighteenth century to the present.

Sarah Sherman is currently a collections cataloguer at Historic New England. Previously she held the position of Tiffany Curatorial Fellow where she reserached and catalogued Historic New England's extensive jewelry collection as well as curated an online exhibition featuring highlights from the collection. Sarah Sherman received her B.A. in American history from Harvard University and her M.A. in the history of decorative arts, design, and culture from the Bard Graduate Center.




Friday, January 29, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
Furniture Forensics
John Childs, Historic New England Conservator

John Childs will be speaking on Furniture Forensics: Tool Marks as Evidence. He will briefly discuss the history of hand and power tool use in furniture making and show examples of the marks left on furniture by the various tools discussed. He will then examine a number of case studies to show how the examination of tool marks can be used to analyze furniture.

John Childs earned a master's degree in furniture conservation from Winterthur in 1992. Since then, John has worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and now Historic New England, where he is the conservator responsible for all collections. In addition, John worked in private practice in Los Angeles from 1996 to 2006. During his career John has worked on ancient furniture; Renaissance furniture and wooden paneling; 18th century European and American furniture and paneling; as well as Arts and Crafts and mid-century modern American furniture.





Saturday, January 30, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
America's Kitchens
Nancy Carlisle, Historic New England Curator

As the place where parents nurture children and families gather at breakfast and dinner, share chores, and discuss the world outside, the kitchen gives meaning to family life. Historic New England curator Nancy Carlisle will discuss how the American kitchen has evolved from the seventeenth-century to the present. Drawing on her new book, America's Kitchens, co-authored with Melinda Naradinov, Ms. Carlisle will describe the technological and social changes that have taken place in this room and suggest how these innovations have transformed kitchen work and changed women's lives.

Nancy Carlisle has been curator at Historic New England for more than twenty years where she works with some of the most important historic kitchens in the country. Ms. Carlisle is the author of Cherished Possessions: A New England Legacy, and had written and lectured widely on the material culture of domestic life.