Hegeler-Carus Mansion Meets HAs

Though we are still very much hard at work on our exhibit (never fear!), we are still occasionally let outside for sunshine and fresh air. Yesterday, we took a class trip to La Salle, Illinois to see the Hegeler-Carus Mansion.

We had heard about the Mansion from Kelly Klobucher, the executive director, who visited us a few weeks ago and regaled us with tales of historic preservation - everything from refinished wood floors to miraculously recovered wallpaper samples.

In addition to being an opportunity for us to geek out about architecture and furniture, it also fit neatly into one of the goals of our exhibit: awareness of historic preservation and historic buildings.

The Hegeler-Carus Mansion has remained nearly untouched for the past eighty years and nearly all of the original finishing and furnishings remain from its creation 143 years ago. The mansion stands as a testament to the power of preservation rather than conservation. Instead of restoring the house to its former glory, curators and directors have chosen instead to leave most of the house as it stands, showcasing instead its surviving beauty.

In our upcoming exhibit case “A Question of History,” we answer the question “What is public history?” Part of public history is historic preservation and conservation. We will be featuring the Lincoln Home in Springfield as an example of the conservation of a historic house (that is, rooms have been made to look as they would have when the Lincolns lived there). Though we will not be mentioning the Hegeler-Carus Mansion, it too would fit perfectly in this case as an example of historic house preservation (in which the goal is keep everything as it is in perpetual stasis).

Though we must now return to the tireless work of completing our exhibit (24 days til the opening!), our visit to the Hegeler-Carus Mansion was a breath of fresh air and one will we not soon forget.