ABSTRACT
There is more to a historic building at a living history site than just the structure itself. Martha B. Katz-Hyman and Michael L. Woodcock combined their extensive experience in historic furnishing to share how to develop a plan to populate a building with furniture and objects that can make it come alive. These are techniques that can be used for almost any type of historic structure, from simple farmhouses and trade shops to slave quarters and gentry homes. For most historic sites, the probate inventory is the "Bible" of any restoration or refurnishing effort. Probate inventories list the items present in the house (or other space) belonging to the deceased, give a short description, sometimes cryptic, sometimes helpful and give some idea of the relative values of objects. Personal and business account books are another source of useful information for furnishing projects.
