Thesis: Sarah Jane Knauer

Evaluation and Summary of PA Site Deaccession by PHMC

This thesis evaluated the process by which the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) deaccessedits publicly owned historical sites through the construction of the Blue-Ribbon Report in 1981 and the Blue Ribbon Committee in 1995. Through the analysis of four sites in the Commonwealth that were present in previous PHMC studies showed the evolution offactors that lead to structural deaccession in the reports, how the site/public responded, and evaluated the overall outcome of those properties. These results were then compared to the deaccession by the Federal Government, which showed variations in theprocess and outcome of historical sites. The outcome was a comprehensive evaluation of the PHMC deaccession practice of historical sites and determining whether and how policy and implementation have changed over the last 40 years.