Learning from Living Examples

Open air museums and historic houses are important in American culture because they teach us about the lifestyles of our forefathers, while also celebrating the past. “By their nature, most open-air museums are national or regional in focus, presenting aspects of native culture drawn from a single country or district.” (Chappell). Open air museums and house museums are here for the education of the present society. They are meant to educate us on the cultures and lifestyles of peoples from the past, whether regional, national, or foreign.

I am a big proponent of learning from the past. I firmly believe in the study of history so as not to repeat the mistakes made by our forefathers. I am also a proponent of sustainability in all forms of design, including architecture. From the slideshow, “Lost Grand Avenue,” shown at the Pabst Mansion by John Eastburg, Senior Historian and Director of Development, we were shown that much, in fact, most, of the original architecture from the area was gone, torn down. What remains is the Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion. This building is the sole survivor of a generation. The stories that can be linked to the history of the Pabst Mansion, and Grand Avenue, or what is now Wisconsin Avenue, are immense. From old pictures of the area, we can learn many things about our city and its past inhabitants. We can learn about the economy of the area, the incomes of the citizens, as well as their occupations and personal and recreational interests; we can learn about their family histories, their paths to America. We can also track the development of an area, or the trends in architecture and style over time. What were the uses of these buildings, and why were they made with the materials chosen? Some of the skill, craft, and materials that went into a lot of these buildings is not found often in present architecture or design. But there were hard and fast reasons why certain things were used. Certain woods were used because they were prevalent in an area, or affordable, or fashionable, but they were always durable, because that is the way things were built in that era. The same cannot always be said anymore. By maintaining buildings such as the Pabst Mansion, we can learn invaluable lessons on craftsmanship, construction, design and style, the culture of the times; we can also observe, through the layout and conservation of the Pabst Mansion specifically, how this family lived, and who they might have been. What was important to these people? What rooms were most used? They seemed to spend a lot of time in the music room, which was also less formal than a lot of the other rooms in the house. Maybe that means they enjoyed relaxing together, but were not especially materialistic, tied to fashion for fashion's sake. The youngest daughter (portrait shown above) had the best room in the house, does that mean she was favored? The structure built for the World's Fair was brought back to Milwaukee and added to the house as a private chapel; this could not only display the magnitude of the family's accomplishments, but also the pride they had in their work, and the reverence and attention they paid to it. The servant's kitchen was thoughtfully decorated, as seen in the picture above depicting the detailed and hand-painted tile work in the kitchen – did that mean the Pabst family valued their employees? The Captain's office furniture can tell us how he spent some of his time, as well as how the German phrases on the ceiling can tell us things about the man as a person (wood panels shown above). By maintaining this house in the style of livability, as closely as can be gathered by these historians, we are able to learn much about the time, the area, the family, architecture, fashion, and style.

Chappell, Edward A. "Open-Air Museums: Architectural History for the Masses." Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 58.3 (1999): 334-41. University of California Press. Society of Architectural Historians, Sept. 1999. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. .