What’s the story?
“If you have not got room or space for it, you should just make this room or space – even if you have to blow the roof off to do so!!”One of the most famous lines of the Declaration of Independence proclaims that “all men are created equal.” Though this may seem inclusive, the intention behind “all men” does not create space for marginalized groups, requiring many revolutions beyond the Revolutionary War for those Americans to attain equality, including the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, and the gay liberation movement. The goal of each subsequent revolution was to create space for various identities in the rigid social structures of America. In doing so, many Americans were able to preserve the memory of their communities for generations to come.
This letter, written in the beautifully scrawled hand of Mercedes de Acosta on her personal letterhead, was sent to William McCarthy, her close friend and then curator at the Rosenbach Museum and Library. Acosta playfully yet sternly chastises the curator for his reluctance to acquire a bust of her sister, Rita de Acosta Lydig, for the collections of the museum. Sculpted by Malvina Hoffman, the bust is a rather large and unwieldy piece constructed of solid marble and mounted on a wooden base, leading to McCarthy’s hesitancy due to concerns over space at the Rosenbach.
However, Acosta and McCarthy, a lesbian and a man who was thought to be queer, were not solely discussing the physical limitations of the space – Acosta suggests that the archives should expand to include a variety of art and identities rather than confine itself to a rigid structure defined by tape measures and constraints. What would it look like to view liberty in the way Acosta views the idea of space? How can we expand our ideas of what “fits” in a space, or in a society?
This interpretation was written by Severin Orr, as part of Rosenbach Museum & Library’s spring 2026 course “The Curator’s Toolkit”.
More details
theme: Unfinished Revolutionssubjects: Equality, Museums, LGBTQ+ rights
contributing repository: Rosenbach Museum & Library
submitted by: Severin Orr
Link to repository homepage