Voices of Preservation
A series about the people making a difference for historic preservation, the decorative arts, historic landscapes, and expanding awareness of stewardship.
Allie Cade is an assistant curator at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, and an accomplished musician whose interest in historic soundscapes fueled her recent Thompson Fellowship research at Edgewater. “I’m guided by the materials and spaces surrounding me, and what those things and places say about the context of everyday life,” says Cade, “and what people heard, to me, is such an important dimension—-not just as a musician, but as someone who wants to make history enriching for others.”
Alexandre Rotival is a 2025-2026 Jenrette Foundation curatorial intern where he supports the documentation and stewardship of the historic objects and furniture collections. He will begin law school in 2026, with a focus on preservation law, land use, and the regulatory and tax frameworks that support heritage conservation in an effort to make a difference for historic preservation. “In the context of the law, thinking about this moment we’re living through and immersing myself in the Jenrette Foundation’s incredible collection, the picture has grown larger for me,” he says. “The past is one thing, but we all have a part to play today.”
Bryn Cooley is a collections manager at the National Building Museum, and was part of the inaugural class of William L. Thompson Collection Fellows, whose focus on conservation and collections management blends art, science, and a lot of common sense to make sure decorative arts objects, architectural models, drawings, prints, sculptures, and paintings can be as useful today as they can be tomorrow for scholars and the public. “I think it's really important that we have an eye on the long game when it comes to object preservation,” she says.