Research & Interpretation
Okay, you've mined your vast archives for material related to a new exhibition coming up next year. You've mobilized a great team of volunteers to extract information. They've come through again, and delivered you a mountain of simmering, tantalizing, relevant facts. But you realize that, with all your other responsibilities, by the time you digest all the material and whip it into shape, it will be the year 2023. In this situation, Variety Arts Enterprises can help.
R.W. Bacon has been a researcher since his days as a newspaper journalist in the 1960s. Years later, during a long career as a performing artist, he researched and wrote two books on arcane specialties, investigating the roots of skills that extend back to the beginnings of American vaudeville and European music hall & circus. During the decades of presenting theatrical shows packed with period flavor and content, one constant challenge was how to get the material across the footlights and connect with the contemporary audience in a fresh and immediate way. (Years later, during a graduate school lecture, he was tickled to learn that for years he had been an unwitting practitioner of the principles of museum interpretation!)
Local history and family history research are particular specialties. R.W. Bacon is author of The Bacon/Weeks Story: People, Places, & Events Through the Generations (2002), and editor of The Middler, the newsletter of the Society of Middletown (Conn.) First Settlers Descendants. In his work for a regional preservation organization, he has researched and prepared guide manuals for staff, created interpretive materials for the public, and served as a guide at numerous historic house museums. (Above right: the Coffin House, Newbury, Mass., c. 1678, in a 1940 photo from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection.)
R.W. Bacon brings to your research & interpretation project the tenacity of a hard-digging old-school news reporter, the organizational skills of an author/historian, the clear writing of a professional journalist, and the context-aware interpretation skills of an experienced public communicator.
But talk is cheap! See relevant work samples and commentary by clicking on the links in the sidebar on the right. Don't hesitate to call or e-mail with any questions. I would be happy to meet with you to discuss your project. --- R.W. Bacon.
A selection of general research resources:
History research resources:
- Library of Congress American Memory Collection
Library of Congress web site offering a vast collection of resources, text, and images.
- National Museum of American History
The web site of the Smithsonian Institution's Kenneth E. Behring Center in Washington, D.C.
Genealogy research libraries:
- New England Historic Genealogical Society
NEHGS, Boston, Mass. The name says "New England," but the research materials cover the entire U.S.
- Godfrey Memorial Library
Godfrey Memorial Library in Middletown, Conn. is national in scope, and also offers online access to premium resources via its Godfrey Scholar programs. The library holds all of the original sources of the American Genealogical and Biographical Index.
Preservation organizations:
- PreservationDirectory.com
A web site of links to preservation organizations, resources, museums, etc.
- National Trust for Historic Preservation
News, resources, & links.
- Historic New England
This regional preservation organization, formerly known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) has 36 historic houses and landscapes throughout New England, plus a stewardship program, a vast archives, and a state-of-the-art collections facility.
For those interested in the finer points
of the research & interpretation professions ...
- American Association for State and Local History
Organization for museum professionals & institutions.
- American Historical Association
Professional association for historians.
- New England Museum Association
Organization for museum professionals & institutions.
