I used to hate oysters. Typically, tidewater Marylanders pat oysters in cracker meal, fry them, and if you need a condiment, slather on...

I spent July at a Research Fellowship at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden. This mainly meant identifying manuscripts and object...

A few photos from a trip to Taormina, Sicily. It was early March and nearly desolate of tourists: perfect. Vegetation on the way to the...

Do we say “museums are not for everyone” and leave it at that? Or should we have meetings this Monday morning to figure out how our...

To sleep in your car – completely American? Or not normal? Here’s the Thing, Alec Baldwin’s excellent radio program. I’m not much of a...

This was too good not to share. I work at a large NYC art institution (you can figure out which one). We welcome guests from the...

Nothing like a little research day on my birthday. Quarter Session Docket, June 1, 1767. Philadelphia City Archives. During my stay at...

I usually think of mushrooms when I think of Kennett Square. This corner of Pennsylvania is known for growing famous fungus. Check out...

Chester County Historical Society. In addition to Swarthmore College’s Friends Historical Library, Wednesday also took me to the Chester...

My time here at Winterthur is wrapping up. I took yesterday to visit two incredible local institutions, the Friends Historical Library at...

One benefit of being at Winterthur this month is my proximity to The Charcoal Pit on Route 202. This commercial stretch is somewhat at...

RL Fifield. I attended the American Institute for Conservation’s Annual Meeting in Indianapolis at the end of May. The opening reception...

Dr. V, Jeremy Witteveen, (of Le Cafe Witteveen), and Tina Serafini and I all decamped to France in June. Our cheery, sunny French...

Back in May, I gave a lecture on collections emergency preparedness at the New York Archives Conference. It was supposed to be a...

I’m in residence at Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden working on my 18th century runaway project and participating in a preventive...

My research on indentured and enslaved servants’ lives has led me to mapping out their existence on historic maps of Philadelphia. I’m...

My colleague and friend Rob Waller of Protect Heritage Corp. recently sent me a book he collaborated on in 1996, Developing Staff...

On a Sunday afternoon in 1992, I was collecting fallen autumn leaves along Chapel Road outside Havre de Grace, Maryland where my...

Thumbs up: Indianapolis. Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station on a Saturday night, the usual bustle gone. The World War I memorial. RL...

I was really impressed with downtown Indianapolis. Ambitious restaurants. People on the streets. Bike Lanes. A canal walk trimmed with...