Bringing the Museum to the People

Hear/read this morning's story on NPR's Morning Edition about SFO's (San Francisco Airport) museum program - the only U.S. airport museum accredited by the AAM (American Association of Museums.)  Great story, including discussions about the value of accreditation and the questions of audience and accessibility.

Front Page News - March 12, 1770

Tony Nauroth, a columnist with the Express Times newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, has put out a call for information on a March 12, 1770 Boston Gazette Country Journal front page article foreshadowing the Dec 16 1773 Boston Tea Party.  The newspaper clipping is now owned by Ruth Gainer of Moore Township, left to her by her late husband, Glenn, whose last request was for Ruth to find out more about the clipping, originally found by in a drawer in his grandmother's house in Elizabethtown, PA when he was in high school.  (Glenn died last July, age 90.)

Kudos to the Express Times for two different history-focused features this Sunday morning.

News: Saucon Valley Conservancy and the Heller Homestead

Congratulations to the Saucon Valley Conservancy on the nomination of the Michael and Margaret Heller House (Heller Homestead) to the National Register of Historic Places.  The property was approved for nomination by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission this month.  Next step is a final review by the National Park Service.  Read the press release here.  Also featured in this morning's Express Times.

If you are looking for something to do next Saturday, April 24th, head to Hellertown, PA in Northampton County for the 3rd Annual Saucon Valley History Day.  Tour one of three historic buildings, participate in hands-on activities, and learn about the early days of Hellertown and the Saucon Valley.

Who Pays for Historic Markers?

Ken Finkel questions the future, and credibility, of the Pennsylvania State Historic Marker program after the change in funding from public to private.  Pay to Play History?

Lecture at the AAS in Worcester, Mass

The American Antiquarian Society has announced a lecture on Uncivil Discourse.  Jim Leach (President of the NEH) and Jill Lepore (historian and author of several works including New York Burning) speaking together should be a *good* discussion.  Highly recommended if you are within easy traveling distance of  Worcester, Mass.

Also highly recommended is Annette Gordon-Reed's book The Hemings of Monticello (also mentioned in the article.) 

What is Public History?

Nicholas Sarantakes provides a very useful answer to the question What is Public History?

Jobs in History

These days a common discussion in any space - virtual or physical - inhabited by graduate students in history is the state of the job market.  Again, as in the 1970s, part of that discussion includes what historians can do other than teach at a four year institution.  Having strayed from the path of tenured professor years ago, I actively look for opportunities outside of academia, and recently, am intrigued by public highlights of such jobs. Here's a spotlight from the Washington Post on the FBI's Official Historian.

AHA - What We're Reading

I am finding the AHA's weekly blog post "What We're Reading" a very useful tool.  A compilation of good articles and resources from across the history spectrum.  When I can, I feature one or two here in more depth.  This week, I recommend scanning the list yourself as there are several very interesting items, from a new children's museum in NYC to a retrospective on Howard Zinn to a request from the National Archive.  Enjoy!
http://blog.historians.org/what-we-are-reading/979/what-were-reading-february-4-2010-edition

An Exercise

An assignment for this week was to pick a famous quote about history from a given list and write a logical argument or defense.  

The historian depends on certain realities and comforts.  Some are ephemeral and physical - the smell of a leather-bound book, the sharp contrast of black gall ink on bleached linen paper.  One is visceral and immutable - the security of an extended intellectual community, the protection of a multiple participant dialogue.  The scholar of the past can depend on one fact - no historian works in a vacuum.  Unlike the tree in the forest, doomed to an eternity of philosophical inquiry made possible by the absence of an audience, the historian by nature of her profession has, at minimum, an inherent audience of peers who first listen and then continue to question.  Historians create a record defined by those who went before and subsequently altered by those who follow.  Philip Guedalla said of our craft, “History repeats itself; historians repeat each other.”  For in our search for the grail of truth, the answer to “what really happened” is discerned by repetition, not only of inquiry, but also of interpretation.  Only by layering observations compiled from different actors and interpreted by varied observers, can we hope to approach the horizon of historical understanding.  

Additional Mission for House Museum

The Decatur House, opened as a museum in the 1960s by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is reported to have a new mission and focus: the history of the White House.  According to the New York Times, the museum will now, "support research related to White House history, store historical documents, offer expanded educational programs for children, and host lectures and other programs that explore the history of the White House and the surrounding area."  The National Center for White House History at Decatur House will be operated by the White House Historical Association.

I have talked before about house museums as products of the political climates within which they are born.  (See Patricia West's Domesticating History: The Political Origins of American's House Museums.)  What drove Decatur's new mission? A political understanding that only part of the story was being shared? A desire to prove that lessons were learned from the discussions and controversies surrounding the revisioning of the Liberty Bell Center?  The intent to share with the public research compiled over the last several decades that represents a shift in how history is viewed and portrayed?

I am interested to see (not only on the museum's web site but also in the NYT) the emphasis on the museum's intention to interpret the lives of all who lived in Decatur House, free and slave.  Is this new or just newly talked about?  The original mission of the Decatur House Museum was to "educate the public about American cultural and social history as it relates to the House, its location, architecture, preservation, and its occupants and their stories,"  according to this document.  However, the museum summary also makes reference to discussions of who lived in the house and how space was used, demonstrating that urban slave life was being discussed at the Decatur as early as 2000.  Perhaps the "new" aspect at the Decatur is simply the public announcement of good history already being presented.

In addition to the links presented above, visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation's page on the Decatur House for more information, including images.

Reviews of West's book can be found here and here.

Historic Bethlehem Event

Looking for a fun evening in late January? The Historic Bethlehem Partnership is hosting a Winterfest and Beer Pairings on Sunday, January 24th from 4-7 p.m. at the Hotel Bethlehem.  Smithsonian Institution speaker Warren Perry will speak on the repeal of Prohibition.  

Can Scrensavers be an Engagement Tool?

A child of this digital age, my laptop is more than a tool, its a physical space where I work, play, think, relax.  I could pretend that this post was triggered because thinking about the spaces we inhabit is of interest to me.  Truthfully, I've been a junkie for pretty pictures and cool animation ever since the first flying toasters chased toast.  Luckily, that penchant can lead to deeper thoughts.


Today's early-morning-pre-coffee rumination was, "Hmm.  Christmas is over.  Need new screen saver that doesn't have presents and garlands in it. Wonder if there are history ones?" A simple search led to the cheesy screen saver sites of which a smart user is leery.   A few more minutes and I had found that PBS creates screen savers for some of its programming.  Those with a historical bent include: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Ken Burn's The Civil War, Lewis and Clark, Tesla, and Theodore Roosevelt.  (For more, go to the PBS search page and put "screensaver" into the search box.) 


What about museums? Colleges and Universities discovered years ago that wall papers and screen savers featuring their campuses could draw alumni to an institution's website.  Surely museums have learned the same thing?  Along with this thought, however, came the question of resources.  How affordable/feasible is it to make a screen saver, even if you already have digitized images? Fast on the heels of THAT question...what about image policies and digital copyright? 


First, is the material available? Absolutely.  The Smithsonian's online exhibit, America by Air, has a page of images and objects.  The New York Historical Society online library has a digital collection, also.  (Check out Brooklyn Revealed for an example of a great history website.)  So pictures exist and are already online.  


The question of copyright from a user point of view boils down to "read the rules."  Some museums give you access to images and don't mind if you download for individual use, such as loading into a screensaver slideshow.  Others do mind.  Find, read, and follow the photography or images policy.  From an institutional viewpoint, have a policy.  Having spent last fall investigating museum policies, one of the mechanisms I found most useful as a user was the FAQ page offered within some policies.  A FAQ page allows the museum to answer specific questions such as "May I download an image to as a screen saver or wall paper on my personal computer?"


If the images are there, why then aren't there screen savers for download? I cannot be the first person to think of this.  Must be concern for resources.  While I can get my way around my laptop, I am not a power-user and definitely not a programmer.  However, my initial unscientific research suggests that creating an actual screen saver is much more than throwing some digital images together.  A screensaver is an application, one that must be specific to a platform i.e. PC or Mac, and one that would have to be written for each set of pictures.  Hmm.  Ok.  So where does that leave me as a user and as a professional?


Personally, depending on the institution's policy and my willingness to invest the time, I could download individual images into a folder, point my screensaver to the folder, and create a slideshow.  How can institutions benefit from the public's desire for images without spending significant resources?  My initial thought, based on half an hour of work and two cups of coffee, is this.  If your institution has digital images and a clear image-use policy, on a page where you offer individual images, also offer an option to download the entire set.  This allows me as an end use to have the entire set in a few key strokes instead of repeating the download process for each image.  


Where does this leave me this morning? Still with Christmas Trees flashing on the laptop screen when I stop to think a bit.  But also with the idea in the back of my head to be aware of collections of images I find while surfing history sites and the awareness to be thoughtful of how I professionally present images on web sites.  Now...what else can I find out there?