Realigning the Museum with Historical Research

During the 21st century, the Trent House has once again undergone significant changes - this time in its interior decor and furnishing and in its interpretation of the Trent household and of the other people who lived on the property and in the house that Trent once owned. 

The period when the house was originally restored in the 1930s was at the end of a period that began in 1876 with the celebration of the nation's 100th anniversary and continued into the 20th century. This was a period in which industrialization and immigration had changed the country's economic and social profile. Many Americans who saw themselves as the descendants and protectors of the country's founding culture looked to preserve images of that idealized past. The "colonial revival" movement influenced architecture and interior design, both in new construction and in preservation of colonial era buildings like the Trent House. 

The photographs below illustrate how this movement affected the way the house was furnished and decorated. Visitors to the Trent House can view the rooms as they look today and compare them to these photographs and others from the 20th century interpretation.

1949

1970s

1970s

Paint analysis and historical research ​has updated how the interior decor appears today. The interior walls were plastered over oak plank and lath and then whitewashed. Window sashes and most hardware were imported. Wood paneling and trim were finished with a yellow/white semi-gloss oil, with baseboards and baseboard height accents on trim and doors painted in gloss black made of lamp black and linseed oil.

​​The interior of the House is furnished with period-appropriate antique and reproduction items, based on the probate inventory conducted in 1726 after Trent’s death.​

Updated Interpretation of the Trent Household

While the probate inventory documents that William Trent had eleven enslaved people at the time of his death, earlier interpretation focused on Trent himself and to some extent his second wife Mary Coddington Trent. At the same time that the interior of the house was being redecorated and refurnished in the early 2000s, research was commissioned to understand what the six enslaved people who likely worked and lived in the house with the Trent family would have worn and used in their daily activities as well as what their probable positions in the household would have been. The report based on this research by Martha Katz-Hyman can be viewed or downloaded here.

Based on that earlier and ongoing research, tours of the Trent House now give visitors glimpses of what life in the house would have been like during Trent's tenure there, using mannequins, posters, and other items on display. Mannequins in period-appropriate costumes represent Yaff and Joan carrying out their duties and those for William, Mary, and their son William are shown in their bedrooms. Tables with replicas of food items and explanatory posters are on display in the east parlor illustrating a typical meal of the elite of Trent's time, in the basement kitchen where Joan prepares meals over an open hearth, and in the adjacent storeroom in which items representing rations that were typically provided to enslaved workers are displayed. Reproduction items of daily use are placed in each room to illustrate such activities as dressing, shaving, playing, and entertaining. Posters suggest questions for visitors to consider about daily life and societal norms of the time.