Our photographs from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) came! They were taken by photographer James Rosenthal, and I think that the interior shots in particular provide a different view of the Hammond-Harwood House. I am astonished at how big a change temporarily removing the stanchions made. To me, the pictures reinforce the fact that this was a house (with a small h) for years and years before it became a House (with a big H). By that I mean that this was a home, where people ate, slept, read books, took care of their families, and did all of the little activities that make up daily life for years before it became a museum. I think that one of my challenges as a Curator is to give our visitors the sense that they are seeing a home with beautiful but ultimately functional objects in it, not a showplace for things that were never used. But I’m still not letting anyone lay on the bed, so don’t ask.
