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36-544: The Sarah Orne Jewett House is a historic house museum at 5 Portland Street in South Berwick , Maine , United States. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991 for its lifelong association with the American author Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909), whose influential work exemplified regional writing of the late 19th century. The house, built in 1774, is a high-quality example of late Georgian architecture. It

72-669: A collection consistent with the historical structure. Some museums choose to collect pieces original to the period, while not original to the house. Others, fill the home with replicas of the original pieces, reconstructed with the help of historic records. Still other museums adopt a more aesthetic approach and use the homes to display the architecture and artistic objects. Because historic homes have often existed through different generations and have been passed on from one family to another, volunteers and professionals also must decide which historical narrative to tell their visitors. Some museums grapple with this issue by displaying different eras in

108-499: A particular area, social-class or historical period. The " narrative " of the people who lived there guides this approach, and dictates the manner in which it is completed. Another alternative approach, deployed by nonprofit organization House Museum , includes contemporary art integration, where artists are invited to respond to the physical and conceptual history of a site, thus injecting contemporary perspectives and value into historic places. In each kind of museum, visitors learn about

144-486: A professor of history and political science, further adds to social history and its relationship to locations by saying – Following this historical movement, the concept of " open-air museums " became prominent. These particular types of museums had interpreters in costume re-enact the lives of communities in earlier eras, which would then be performed to modern audiences. They often occupied large wooden architecture buildings or outdoor sites and landscapes, that were true to

180-400: A year, more than fifty percent of historic house museums received fewer than 5,000 visitors per year. These museums are also unique in that the actual structure belongs to the museum collection as a historical object. While some historic home museums are fortunate to possess a collection containing many of the original furnishings once present in the home, many face the challenge of displaying

216-854: Is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500, or roughly three percent, of over 90,000 places listed on the country's National Register of Historic Places are recognized as National Historic Landmarks. A National Historic Landmark District sometimes called a National Historical Park may include more than one National Historic Landmark and contributing properties that are buildings, structures, sites or objects, and it may include non-contributing properties. Contributing properties may or may not also be separately listed or registered. Prior to 1935, efforts to preserve cultural heritage of national importance were made by piecemeal efforts of

252-535: Is not only associated with the individual but is a shared experience. It also focused on the way individual memory is influenced by social structures, as a way of continuing socialisation by producing memory as collective experience. An example of a site that utilizes collective memory is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan. It was restored and is based on the dialectics of memory, however it also has

288-410: Is now owned by Historic New England , and is open for tours every weekend between June and October, and two Saturdays per month the rest of the year. The Jewett House is set prominently at the northeast corner of Main and Portland Streets in the center of South Berwick, Maine. The house, a two-story wood-frame structure with clapboard siding, was built in 1774 for John Haggins, a successful merchant. It

324-478: Is surmised from the modest exterior and elaborate interior that Haggins did exceptionally well during the American Revolutionary War , and was thus able to afford a higher quality of workmanship for the interior. The main block of the house is five bays wide and two deep, with a hip roof pierced in front by three gabled dormers. A gable-roofed Colonial Revival portico shelters the main entrance; it (and

360-844: The Historic American Buildings Survey amassed information about culturally and architecturally significant properties in a program known as the Historic Sites Survey. Most of the designations made under this legislation became National Historic Sites , although the first designation, made December 20, 1935, was for a National Memorial , the Gateway Arch National Park (then known as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) in St. Louis , Missouri. The first National Historic Site designation

396-606: The United States Congress . In 1935, Congress passed the Historic Sites Act , which authorized the interior secretary authority to formally record and organize historic properties, and to designate properties as having "national historical significance", and gave the National Park Service authority to administer historically significant federally owned properties. Over the following decades, surveys such as

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432-538: The 1970s and 1980s, as the Revolutionary War's bicentennial set off a wave of patriotism and alerted Americans to the destruction of their physical heritage. The tradition of restoring homes of the past and designating them as museums draws on the English custom of preserving ancient buildings and monuments. Initially homes were considered worthy of saving because of their associations with important individuals, usually of

468-819: The 50 states. New York City alone has more NHLs than all but five states: Virginia , California , Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New York, the latter of which has the most NHLs of all 50 states. There are 74 NHLs in the District of Columbia . Some NHLs are in U.S. commonwealths and territories, associated states, and foreign states . There are 15 in Puerto Rico , the Virgin Islands , and other U.S. commonwealths and territories ; five in U.S.-associated states such as Micronesia ; and one in Morocco . Over 100 ships or shipwrecks have been designated as NHLs. Approximately half of

504-577: The Jewett-Eastman House serving as a visitors center. Historic New England also oversees the Hamilton House in town. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and was declared a National Historic Landmark on July 17, 1991. Historic house museum Historic house museums are sometimes known as a "memory museum", which is a term used to suggest that

540-634: The National Historic Landmarks are privately owned . The National Historic Landmarks Program relies on suggestions for new designations from the National Park Service, which also assists in maintaining the landmarks . A friends' group of owners and managers, the National Historic Landmark Stewards Association, works to preserve, protect and promote National Historic Landmarks. If not already listed on

576-608: The National Register, or as an NHL) often triggered local preservation laws, legislation in 1980 amended the listing procedures to require owner agreement to the designations. On October 9, 1960, 92 places, properties, or districts were announced as eligible to be designated NHLs by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton . Agreements of owners or responsible parties were subsequently obtained, but all 92 have since been considered listed on that 1960 date. The origins of

612-541: The United States secretary of the interior because they are: More than 2,500 NHLs have been designated. Most, but not all, are in the United States. There are NHLs in all 50 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C. Three states ( Pennsylvania , Massachusetts , and New York ) account for nearly 25 percent of the nation's NHLs. Three cities within these states, Philadelphia , Boston , and New York City , respectively, all separately have more NHLs than 40 of

648-655: The death of her husband James T. Fields . In the summer of 1882, the two women traveled to Europe together and began a relationship which has been termed a " Boston marriage ". Thereafter, the two women shared spaces and divided their time between the Jewett home in South Berwick, the Fields home on Charles Street in Boston, or a summer home at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts . Sarah Orne Jewett became widely known for her writing after

684-419: The dormers) were added in the late 19th century. A two-story ell extends to the rear of the main block. The interior has an elaborately-decorated entrance hall, with a keystone arch supported by fluted pilasters, and a staircase whose carved balusters and posts were reported to take two men 100 days to complete. The public rooms downstairs also feature decorative Georgian carved paneling. The rooms are decorated to

720-403: The elite classes, like former presidents, authors, or businessmen. Increasingly, Americans have fought to preserve structures characteristic of a more typical American past that represents the lives of everyday people. Historic house museums usually operate with small staffs and on limited budgets. Many are run entirely by volunteers and often do not meet the professional standards established by

756-420: The era, adding to authenticity. Collective memory is sometimes used in the resurrection of historic house museums; however, not all historic house museums use this approach. The notion of collective memory originated from philosopher and sociologist Maurice Halbwachs , in "La Memoire Collective" ("On Collective Memory", 1950). This extended thesis examines the role of people and place, and how collective memory

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792-578: The first National Historic Landmark was a simple cedar post, placed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their 1804 outbound trek to the Pacific in commemoration of the death from natural causes of Sergeant Charles Floyd . The cedar plank was later replaced by a 100 ft (30 m) marble obelisk. The Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City, Iowa , was officially designated on June 30, 1960. NHLs are designated by

828-461: The home's history within different rooms or sections of the structure. Others choose one particular narrative, usually the one deemed most historically significant, and restore the home to that particular period. There are a number of organizations around the world that dedicate themselves to the preservation, restoration, or promotion of historic house museums. They include: National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark ( NHL )

864-595: The house in 1898. Jewett used the home as a model for the setting of her book The Tory Lover in 1901. After the death of Sarah in 1909 and Mary in 1930, the house was inherited by Caroline's husband Edwin Eastman; he gave the property to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA, now Historic New England ). That organization now operates the main house as a house museum dedicated to Sarah Orne Jewett, with

900-446: The inclusion of joyous festivals to mask the turmoil. The Hiroshima Traces (1999) text takes a look at the importance of collective memory and how it is embedded in culture and place. Thus, collective memory does not only reside in a house or building, but it also resonates in outdoor space – particularly when a monumental event has occurred, such as war. Problematic creation of collective memory occurs within historic house museums when

936-401: The late 19th century, and the bedroom of Sarah Orne Jewett on the second floor is essentially as it was when she died there. Theodore Jewett, also a merchant, moved his family into the house sometime in the 1820s. John Haggins died in 1819, and his estate sold the house to Jewett in 1839. His son, Dr. Theodore H. Jewett, moved into the house in 1848, and it is here that his second daughter Sarah

972-411: The museum contains a collection of the traces of memory of the people who once lived there. It is often made up of the inhabitants' belongings and objects – this approach is mostly concerned with authenticity . Some museums are organised around the person who lived there or the social role the house had. Other historic house museums may be partially or completely reconstructed in order to tell the story of

1008-553: The museum industry. An independent survey conducted by Peggy Coats in 1990 revealed that sixty-five percent of historic house museums did not have a full-time staff, and 19 to 27 percent of historic homes employed only one full-time employee. Furthermore, the majority of these museums operated on less than $ 50,000 annually. The survey also revealed a significant disparity in the number of visitors between local house museums and national sites. While museums like Mount Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg were visited by over one million tourists

1044-403: The narrative of all people who lived there is dangerous. While some plantation museum narratives have changed following an outcry from the public and the academy, "plantation museums reflect, create, and contribute to racialized ways of understanding and organizing the world" by limiting or eliminating the narrative of the enslaved inhabitants. A degree of authenticity is also to be considered in

1080-481: The narrative of non-family members is dismissed, ignored, or completely rejected. Within the Southern United States, plantation museums (the former homes of enslavers) constitute a significant portion of the museum community and contribute to the racialized collective memory of the United States. Because museums are responsible for "the building of identity, cultural memory and community", neglecting to include

1116-472: The previous inhabitants through an explanation and exploration of social history . The idea of a historic house museum derives from a branch of history called social history that is solely based on people and their way of living. It became very popular in the mid-twentieth century among scholars who were interested in the history of people, as opposed to political and economical issues. Social history remains an influential branch of history. Philip J. Ethington,

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1152-463: The public good and the preservation of American history, especially centered on the first U.S. president, General George Washington. Since the establishment of the country's first historic site in 1850, Washington's Revolutionary headquarters in New York, Americans have found a penchant for preserving similar historical structures. The establishment of historic house museums increased in popularity through

1188-542: The publication in 1896 of The Country of the Pointed Firs . The work popularized a form of literature now called American literary regionalism , in which the character of a region (in Jewett's case, rural southern Maine ) is infused into the writing. She was hailed by writer Willa Cather for her influence, and her publications and life are the regular subject of scholarly interest. Jewett convinced her friend Emily Tyson and Tyson's stepdaughter Elise to purchase and restore

1224-405: The restoration and creation of a historic house museum. The space must be authentic in terms of truly replicating and representing the way it once stood in its original form and appear to be untouched and left in time. There are three steps when declaring if a space is authentic: The earliest projects for preserving historic homes began in the 1850s under the direction of individuals concerned with

1260-593: Was born the following year. From 1854 to 1877 the young family lived next door, in what is now called the Jewett-Eastman House . Sarah Orne Jewett and her sister Mary inherited this house in 1887, with their younger sister Caroline moving into the 1854 house next door. The two sisters, neither of whom married, lived in the house for the rest of their lives. Theodore Jewett died in September 1878 and Sarah turned to her friend Annie Adams for comfort, particularly after

1296-657: Was made for the Salem Maritime National Historic Site on March 17, 1938. In 1960, the National Park Service took on the administration of the survey data gathered under this legislation, and the National Historic Landmark program began to take more formal shape. When the National Register of Historic Places was established in 1966, the National Historic Landmark program was encompassed within it, and rules and procedures for inclusion and designation were formalized. Because listings (either on

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