The recent data collected by Reach Advisors in the Connecticut Cultural Consumers Study initiated by the CHC and Connecticut Landmarks confirmed what I had always suspected about visitors and historic sites: people want to play house.

Visitors want to get closer to the objects, they want to sit in the chairs, dine at the dinner table and attend parties. Children and adults alike want to dress up and experience the house as it once was.

Think about it...wasn't it our romantic fantasies of the past and our imaginations that got many of us in this business from the start! Those of us that have worked in historic houses know the freedoms we have enjoyed on the other side of the velvet rope!

"Treat every object as if it were a Rembrandt", James Vaughan writes in the opening of his article, "Rethinking the Rembrandt Rule." This idea has been taught and accepted as the basis for good museum practice and is standard for collection care.

Vaughan's article questions if this is the appropriate approach for most historic sites and reflects on how this question generated considerable discussion at "The Forum on Historic Site Stewardship in the 21st Century" held at Kykuit in April 2007.

Vaughan offers a refreshing and somewhat liberating discussion of the choices and changes that museums must make to improve stewardship to assure that our historic sites remain relevant and sustainable for future generations.

He notes that the objectives of museums differ (artifacts vs. stories and experiences) and many of the standards have been borrowed from the broader museum community (say, art museums) and suggests that new standards of stewardship for historic sites should be modeled to reflect their distinct nature. Our very effort to protect these artifacts detracts from the setting and diminishes the intended visitor experience.

Vaughan calls for a little flexibility, notes that we must be selective in our collecting (like science and natural history museums), and wonders if a tiered approach to collections and their care might be warranted.

Might we reclassify our collections "for use" and "for limited use"? Can the field simplify cataloging and deaccessioning procedures?

Vaughan wisely does not give any definitive answers but raises a number of important questions. He warns that these issues must be reexamined if our sites are to survive and, if we do not address them soon, we will in fact fail our duty of stewardship.

The Kykuit Forum and ensuing discussion was the prelude to AASLH's recently piloted Standards and Excellence Program for History Organizations (STEP). AASLH will officially launch the new STEP program later in 2009.

"Rethinking the Rembrandt Rule," was written by James M. Vaughan, Vice President of Stewardship of Historic Sites for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  His article appeared in the March/April 2008 issue of AAM's Museum magazine and is available on the AAM website here.