Whether row houses or records, objects tie us to the past while grounding us in the present. Whether fossils from the 1860s or a swing skirt from the 1960s, objects are individual and personal, but they are also collective expressions of time and place. Objects tell stories. In my writing, my teaching, and my work in museums, I use things and the stories they tell as catalysts for exploring the big histories and big ideas that shape who we are today.

Mabel Rosenheck is a writer, lecturer, and public historian. She is currently the Director of Education and Exhibition Planning at LancasterHistory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

See writing and CV for more on my work. Contact me at rosenheck@gmail.com or mabel.rosenheck@lancasterhistory.org.