ABSTRACT
Historic sites of the long eighteenth century in the United States, studied from the period 2008–2018, have an ongoing issue with interpreting the lived experience of individuals within their narratives. While the social history turn did cause historic sites to incorporate more diverse and ancillary voices, such as women and people of color, these individuals became a supporting cast to a white, male, heteronormative narrative. In the period under consideration, interpretation at historic sites improved in the area of African-American voices, but did not show significant advancement in the interpretation of women, children, Native Americas, or laboring or impoverished individuals. The sites within the study, Colonial Williamsburg, Middleton Place Plantation, the Freedom Trail, and Independence National Historical Park, among others, have shown growth in some areas and stagnation in others. Eighteenth-century sites overall seemed more comfortable discussing “people” as a general moniker rather than “persons” as three-dimensional individuals inhabiting a knowable past. This is not consistent with the historiography of the period and does little to assist visitors in experiencing a relevant and relatable eighteenth century at American historic sites.
