Amanda Roper is a public historian who has spent her career working to preserve historic places and share traditionally underrepresented stories from America's past. She has been Director of the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Sr. Manager of Public Programs & Interpretation at Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House, both in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2018, Amanda was recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on their list of 40 Under 40: People Saving Places for her significant impact on historic preservation and her contributions to the public's understanding of why places matter.

Amanda is currently researching and writing a book about the history of women in preservation. She is a 2025-2026 Research Fellow at the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. And, she also has been listening to Historically Thinking for a surprisingly long time–or so she claims.

For Further Investigation

Amanda Roper – Official Website
Lee-Fendall House Museum & Garden
Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House
McLeod Plantation Historic Site
Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor
National Trust for Historic Preservation – 40 Under 40
George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon
Society for American Archivists – Women’s History Resources
National Association for Interpretation
Richard Moe, "Are There Too Many House Museums?"
"Resource or burden? Historic house museums confront the 21st century"
"Historic House Museums: 'A quirky, dusty, and endangered American institution"?
Amanda Roper, "There is No Such Thing as Too Many Historic House Museums"

Scott Casper's book, Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon

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