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The Still Room Blog

New Year’s Day – A Great Day to Run Away

Becky Fifield

Jan 1, 2015
2 min

New Year’s Day – A Great Day to Run Away

Der Wöchentliche Pennsylvanische Staatsbote 9/17/1773. RL Fifield Photo. Library of Congress. Many of us choose some aspect of life to rejuvenate on the 1st of January. On a whim, I decided to reference my runaway servant research database to see how popular a day New Year’s Day was for running away. My study focuses on indentured and enslaved women living in North America, 1750-90, who were advertised for recapture in newspapers (read a previous post on the project). I used

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Becky Fifield

Jul 8, 2013
1 min

Museum Monday – Working at Winterthur

I’m in residence at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden working on my 18th century runaway project and participating in a preventive conservation exchange. I’m extremely grateful to have this time to focus on my projects and to work with the incredible collection and staff at Winterthur. While my posts won’t be as regular, I’ll try to slip in a few tidbits here and there. To the books! #slavery #research #Winterthur #Delaware #runaway #museum #indenture #collectioncare #li

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Museum Monday: Maryland State Archives in 2013

Becky Fifield

Apr 1, 2013
4 min

Museum Monday: Maryland State Archives in 2013

The stepped structure of the Maryland State Archives on Rowe Blvd, Annapolis. For a building built in 1984, I think the Maryland State Archives inspires. Maybe it strikes a chord with me akin to the library buildings of my childhood. Unlike it’s colonial and colonial revival ancestors further down Rowe Blvd in the heart of Annapolis, the building lacks quoins, pedimented doorways, and mullioned windows. After Registration, you enter the reference/research area, a vaulted spac

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Shifting Garment Styles, 1750-1790: What Research and Sketching Have in Common

Becky Fifield

Dec 21, 2012
2 min

Shifting Garment Styles, 1750-1790: What Research and Sketching Have in Common

I roll over this analogy in my mind as I work with my study of 1,000 runaway indentured and enslaved women and their 6,000 garments, which I’ve cataloged in a database. See my Textile History article on the Runaway Clothing Database project and a post featuring repeat runaway Eleanor Farrell here. The data shows that for the whole period 1750-1790, gowns were worn in equal amounts to all other shorter garments. But when you compare 1750-60 with 1780-90, it becomes apparent th

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Becky Fifield

Sep 24, 2012
2 min

Museum Monday: A Questionable Practice – Museums Charging for Collections Research Time

I am a museum collection manager with over twenty years working with museum collections. I started cataloging costume objects when I was sixteen during my summer tour guide job at the Carroll County Farm Museum. I recently approached a local history collection (which will remain nameless, for the time being) for a photograph of an object to use in a Powerpoint presentation. I was impressed that they spelled out their collections access policy. It’s great to have a policy, and

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Museum Monday: Researching Museum Collections for Living History Practitioners

Becky Fifield

Aug 27, 2012
4 min

Museum Monday: Researching Museum Collections for Living History Practitioners

Lecturing at the Bergen County Historical Society, March 2011. I’m a Collections Manager in a large New York City institution. My first museum job was as a thirteen year old volunteer at a “living history” state park, Heritage Hill, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Living history generally denotes that the park shares its educational mission – to educate visitors about history – via recreation of historical settings. Historical buildings or reproductions thereof are filled with anima

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Names of the Forgotten – Runaway Clothing Database Project

Becky Fifield

Jun 23, 2012
1 min

Names of the Forgotten – Runaway Clothing Database Project

Maryland Gazette, August 9, 1787. Library of Congress. RL Fifield photo. The Runaway Clothing Database project uses newspaper runaway advertisements to catalog the garments of indentured and enslaved women in the American colonies from 1750-1790. These advertisements are often the only glimpse of these women in the documentary record. Personal information, such as their physical characteristics, habits, and skills are included in the runaway advertisements. You can read an ab

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The Act of Research – London Metropolitan Archives Edition

Becky Fifield

May 5, 2012
2 min

The Act of Research – London Metropolitan Archives Edition

A swatch preserved in the billet books at the London Metropolitan Archives. Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. Foundling number 12250, admitted April 2, 1759. In January of 2010, I arrived in London six hours late due to abnormal ice and snow conditions. One cancelled flight, one airport switch, and a six hour delay got me to the London Metropolitan Archives at 3pm. London was a mess – a shortage of snowmelt salt (which is a sickening pink) made all the sidewalks treachero

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