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On the job

‘History omnivore’ focuses on New England homes

“I like to discover what life was really like for the people who made the houses run,” said Jennifer Pustz.David L Ryan/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

Museum historian Jennifer Pustz calls herself a “history omnivore” because she is keenly interested in and devours anything to do with history.

Such a broad knowledge base is important for her job at Historic New England, which preserves 36 historic sites in New England, from Marrett House in Standish Maine to Watson Farm in Jamestown, R.I.

Although she needs to interpret 400 years of architecture, reaching back to the 18th century, her “sweet spot” is the history of domestic life from 1925 to 1965.

“Most historic house museums tell the stories of well-to-do families. But there are many untold stories at these homes, from tenant farmers to servants. I like to discover what life was really like for the people who made the houses run,” said Pustz.

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What’s an example of a historical question that you recently solved?

I studied the history of a hedge at Castle Tucker in Maine. This project was based on a landscaping decision we needed to make and whether the hedge should be restored, replaced, or removed. The overgrown hedge had been there for quite a while and clearly was planted later, but once it’s taken out, you can’t go back, so we don’t like to do anything without careful research and understanding. I never found the specific smoking gun for the hedge, but there was a lot of evidence about the family through early 20th century letters. In this particular case, after determining some trees and hedges were planted later than our period restoration, we ended up removing many of them.

If someone says, “History is boring,” how do you respond?

History gets a bad rap. Sure, it’s about the details and dates, but at the baseline, it’s about storytelling, and most people like hearing stories. In school you hear a lot of dates when this and this happened without engaging in the difficult stories and conflicts. History is complicated and messy; not just black and white but shades of gray. We learn a lot about ourselves today by looking to the past.

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What good historical books have you read lately?

I’ve read a couple of novels such as “The Widow’s War” and “Bound” by Sally Gunning, which take readers into the heart of Revolutionary War-era Boston. I usually have mixed feelings about historical fiction, but these books are incredible stories and I’m unable to tear myself away from them. After I finish I always want to know more. Sometimes I wish historical fiction had footnotes.

Is there a period of history that has particularly defined you?

Probably the 1930s, because that was the era that really energized me to move forward in studying history. I did a high school project about the WPA, the government funded arts project, and the artists like Jackson Pollock that it inspired. I find it very compelling that here was a time when a lot of people were struggling and yet creating all of this incredible stuff. It was just an amazing period of history and one I find myself going back to all the time.


Cindy Atoji Keene can be reached at cindy@cindyatoji.com.