Panelist: Rachel Dukeman, R&R Creative

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Holzer Keynote Address: http://tinyurl.com/yazlgcz

Wallace Plenary Address: http://tinyurl.com/y9ucs4c

Book Discussion Massacre at Camp Grant: http://tinyurl.com/ye4lso4  

Panelists: Frank Milligan, President Lincoln’s Cottage; Marsha Mullin, The Hermitage; Bob Wolz, Harry S. Truman Little White House

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Session developed by the AASLH Presidential Sites and Libraries Committee.

Panelists: Elaine Rosa, Indiana Historical Society; Karin Vincent, Minnetrista

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Session developed by the AASLH Professional Development Committee.

Panelists: John Holtzapple, James K. Polk House; James Kern, Brucemore; Gerry Kaufman, Awbury Arboretum/The Francis Cope House; John Rodman, Newport Mansions

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Session developed by the AASLH Historic House Committee.

Presenters: James Kern, Brucemore; George McDaniel, Drayton Hall; Dennis Pickeral, Stenton; Sandra Smith, Villa Finale

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Panelists: James Morris, Pacers Sport and Entertainment; Brian Payne, Central Indiana Community Foundation; Tamra Zahn, Indianapolis Downtown, Inc.

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Session developed by the 2009 Annual Meeting Program Committee.

Panelists: Laura Casey, Texas Historical Commission; Jeff Harris, Indiana Historical Society; Jessica Leming, Solinet, Alex Trumball, Indiana Historical Society

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Session developed by the Field Services Alliance.

Panelists: Jackie Barton, Ohio Historical Society; Paul Levengood, Virginia Historical Society; Donna Neary, Kentucky Historical Society

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Panelists: Ronald Anzalone, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Initiatives; Hampton Tucker, National Park Service

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Panelists: Erin Mast, President Lincoln’s Cottage; Kara Edie, General Lew Wallace Study and Museum

Part of Sustainability of History Organizations track sponsored by the 1772 Foundation.

Session developed by the AASLH Professional Development Committee

Panelists: Neil Abelsma, National Museum of the Marine Corps; Myers Brown, Tennessee State Museum

Session developed by the AASLH Military History Committee.

I will be excited to compile my ideas and present it to the fundraising, membership, volunteer and  grant writing committee, which mostly consist of me but for some reason when I have it in writing it seems more like a  real goal to work on to improve our programs and organization.

Click the “play” button below to listen to this AASLH 2009 Plenary address (recorded August 28, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN):

On a more nuts-and-bolts level, tomorrow the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum will be undertaking our own 21st century enterprise with the Taste of Montgomery County.  As much as I hate to miss the last day of sessions and intriguing conversations in Indianapolis, this is the Museum’s biggest fundraiser and one of the biggest community festivals in our county, so I should probably help out.  Because the Taste dovetails with the theme of this year’s conference so well (and because, frankly, it’s just a good time), I hope that a few of the more curious museum folks hop over to Crawfordsville after the sessions to see it for yourselves.  I feel very strongly that the Taste is a good example of diversifying revenue sources, engaging the community on a popular level, and using the assets of the Museum for both immediate and long-term benefits.

Whether I see you Saturday or not, please know that I have enjoyed meeting all the new colleagues I got the opportunity to talk with, hearing about the new innovations you’re all working on, and I always look forward to seeing familiar friends.  This was my first AASLH conference experience, and I am very excited that it is the start of a trend.  I hope to see you next year!

http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1260

While I’m talking usability, another great resource is www.useit.com – featuring Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox columns.

I, along with busloads of other AASLHers, had the pleasure of spending the evening at Conner Prairie. Since there was so much to see and do, and because I absolutely love efficiency, Karen (my director) and I carefully laid out our game plan before even stepping off the bus. In case you’re curious, here’s how our evening unfolded: a quick scan of the store (just to look), a bit of “grazing” at the food station, the infamous balloon voyage to about 350’ above Hamilton County, a stroll through 1836 Prairietown, and a repeat visit to the store (to buy). We concluded the evening by participating in “Follow the North Star,” which is what I will spend the remainder of this entry unpacking. “Follow the North Star” is a highly interactive program in which participants take on the roles of fugitive slaves and interact with a variety of characters, both good and bad, along a rocky journey in hopes of freedom.

From my “human” perspective, I experienced a wide range of emotions along the way, from uncertainty of the dark surroundings and path, to fear of whom or what we might encounter, to sorrow when thinking about those whose actual experiences the program was based, to relief when we came across characters who offered advice and rest, and to anger toward those who attacked us with their words. Though I knew this was not “real,” I could not help but to be immersed in the experience, doing as I was told, trying to be as invisible as possible, and not making eye contact with anyone, lest I draw any attention to myself.

From my “museum-mind” perspective (and I am not saying that museum folk are not human!), I was extremely impressed by how seamlessly the characters along the journey were able to impart historical facts to the group while, at the same time, bringing out these deep reactions and emotions. Once I got past the initial shock of what I was hearing, seeing, and experiencing, I found myself learning a great deal about how the people of Indiana, a free state, dealt with the very real issue of slavery.

All in all, what an experience! My hope is that we, as those involved in the field of history, would strive to impact our audiences personally, emotionally, and educationally, like Conner Prairie’s “Follow the North Star” program has done and continues to do.

Now, off to the President Benjamin Harrison House and Indianapolis Children’s museum!

My experiences with visitors are that they don’t care much for statistics and quantities.  There is certainly a place for that in academic and scholarly research, but the visitors I have given tours to want the stories, and they want to see the objects and documents that illustrate the stirring tales of human history that we present in our historic sites and museums across the country.  The “who” and “what happened” are far more in the minds of visitors than “how many soldiers”.  Again, I don’t want to discount the value of quantitative history – historians with this focus contribute significantly to the field.  As far as our presentation of the stories of people in history, though…that’s what it’s all about.  Let’s not apologize for what we do, but rather work to improve how we share these fascinating stories.

Come hear what the AASLH Leadership in History Awards, among the most prestigious in the history field, can do for your institution.  Tomorrow, Friday at 8:15 AM you can learn about the nominatin process and how instittuions have leveraged the awards in their communities. Previous winners will describe how their programs benifited themselves and their communities.

Ken Turino

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The other reminder I needed is to focus on our assets and strengths rather than what’s missing in our planning – how do we get local people, businesses, cultural institutions to invest in where they are?  Wait, let me back up: what is there to invest in in the first place?  That’s the list of benefits for joining our efforts, the things that we can use to convince people to jump on the wagon we’re driving.  It’s not so much about “bringing in new businesses”, a common mantra in communities everywhere, as it is about building on the existing foundation of arts and culture, economics, and residential issues.  I’m integrating what I learned yesterday about evaluation, and asking myself about what roles the several museums in my area can play in bringing about change to make Crawfordsville the “go to” small town in Indiana.  Wagons, ho!

Ken Turino

I got a glimpse into the difficulty of crafting a good plan earlier in the day with Conny Graft, Cherie Cook, and Dale Jones discussing evaluations.  I have done evaluations of different sorts – comment cards, outcome-based, mostly for programs – and considered myself slightly knowledgeable about the subject.  I am pleased to say that I got quite an education about the process of creating an evaluation, and my new mantra for program development is now, “What do you want?”  The first step of the process that Conny has used at Colonial Williamsburg is to figure out what you want visitors to see, do, and feel when they participate in your program and exhibit.  Sounds simple, but think about it for a minute.  When visitors come into your Civil War exhibit and see the clothes you have there to try on, what do you want them to do?  Try them on, sure, but what do you want to get across?  Will they learn about the Civil War?  That clothes were different back then?  That it’s fun to play dress-up?  That your museum is a pretty cool place and they want to come back?  Any and all of these are valid and good, but the goals that we have for exhibits, interactives, programs, etc. need to dictate our presentation of them.  Evaluation needs to come in at the beginning of the process…Not so much “how did we do?” as “what do we want to do?” and then “how do we recognize when we’ve done that?”  I must admit I’m kicking myself since earlier today I printed off hundreds of visitor evaluations for the Taste of Montgomery County without asking myself most of these questions.  I can say that I can now take a more informed approach to planning and evaluating museum efforts, and I already have plans to practice on our arts event in October.  This was a particularly good day in that I came away with more questions than answers, as well as the excitement to test some new ideas. 

Below are some of the responses.

• You’re the director, but if you’re the 1^st one to work after a snowstorm, you get to shovel the sidewalk and plow the parking lot.

• It only appears you have A.D.D.

• Everyone assumes you know everything because you’re the “staff person.”

• You steal toilet tissue from other museums.

• You think that formal training should include woodworking, plumbing, and gardening.

• You’ve used the hand tools in your collection for more than just exhibits.

• You hear someone talk about what your staff needs to do and think to yourself, “I am the staff!”

• You shut off the lights, lock the doors, and bring a list of things to get for the next day including milk, coffee, and toilet paper.

• The museum director subs as a docent 1/3 of the time.

• You can chair a staff meeting at your desk.

• … A staff of one held together with volunteers (that are sometimes family members of the one paid staff)…

• You have to dust your own desk.

• You perform at least ten different functions in each workday.

• Your exhibit space can just about fit in this room.

• The bulk of your job includes “other duties as required.”

• Your professional staff is vastly outnumbered by volunteers, all of whom have been there longer than you.

• You’ve moved 50 folding chairs in the last 24 hrs.

• You have paths through your office for all your artifacts and items.

• 10 people on a tour means the room is full. 5 tours a day is a “good day.”

• You only have 1200 sq. ft. of museum space and you have to rent out the floor space for dinners/receptions, etc. to survive.

• You consider a staff of 5 a large museum.

• You are chief, cook, and bottlewasher and then they add restroom detail!

• A staff meeting consists of all four staff members turning around in their office chairs at the same time.

• Your special events tents and chairs are borrowed from the local funeral home.

What do you think are the main obstacles to decision makers agreeing to experiment with social media?

One site that I learned about today that is worth exploring is http://www.21stcenturyabe.org/
from the Rosenbach Library in Philadelphia. It is targeted to 18-25 year olds and was conceived as a 6 month site. It will no longer be interactive as of Monday, but will be archived. It is fillled with user-generated content.
Check it out!

However tonight after a mind blowing day of sessions and networking I come to you to share that the conference was more for the small museum professional than I expected but I also realize that although we have all tried very hard to define the small museum it seems as though some are smaller than small.

Although I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend I feel even more grateful to AASLH staff for making the conference so inviting and making it easy to go from one session to the next with the program guide and hospitality counter.  I have really enjoyed the opportunity to network in the exhibit hall with vendors and companies that I may have never made contact with otherwise. 

On the way myself and my two volunteers that came with me talked about what we may learn and I cannot say that we have been disappointed.  We are excited about the sessions being offered tomorrow on funding and technology.  I know in one session today one question that was posed to the small museum group was how do you train staff and volunteers and I could only think about how I will be taking this experience back as a training tool and opportunity for my staff and volunteers that were left behind to manage the museum in my absence.

Hopefully I will be able to offer more tomorrow to those following these posts for I will be more rested.   – I can say one thing although it may seem good to some to make conferences long most small museums ran by one staff member cannot afford the travel expenses or to be away from the site for preconference tours.  I was very pleased that I made the decision to come later in the week for the sessions.  I honestly feel this is an important comment for other small museums that may think if they are going to attend they should or have to come for the entire week.  I do not feel as though I have missed anything I could not have picked up on through the networking with others or just by asking.  It would have been impossible for our organization to pay the extra travel expenses especially after arriving and discovering a $30.00 parking fee per night (remember small museum).  I was very surprised by this after being invoiced by the hotel, having to get preapproval from accounting to bring a company check and am still wondering why they did not tell us of this charge during the reservation process (everything cannot be positive).  Always remember the unexpected, be prepared for the worst and hope for the best when traveling and as a small museum hope that when you are one of the smaller than small they realize that just because you are the director you could possibly be a volunteer or close to a volunteer because the salary would barely cover the parking.  Check all the details.  I just feel very fortunate that we were able to attend with the scholarship and remember if you come bring others so that you can divide and conquer to get the most out of your travel expenses.

Chair: Craig Tuminaro, Director of Museum Interpretation, Drayton Hall, Charleston, SC

Click the “play” button below to listen to this AASLH 2009 featured session (recorded August 27, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN):

Harold Holzer is one of the country’s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture in the Civil War era. A prolifi c writer and lecturer, and frequent guest on television, he serves as cochairman of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. He has authored, coauthored, and edited twenty-two books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, including The Lincoln Image, Lincoln Seen and Heard, Dear Mr. Lincoln: Letters to the President, Lincoln as I Knew Him, and Lincoln on Democracy. Holzer is vice president for communications and marketing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Click the “play” button below to listen to this AASLH 2009 Keynote address (recorded August 27, 2009 in Indianapolis, IN):

Ken Turino 

Ken Turino

Today I have been exploring the Web 2.0 sessions and have been gathering TONS of worthwhile info to take back to my institution.  I’m getting a lot of questions answered, getting inspired by the possibilities, and have a much better understanding of the complexities of Social Networking as an institution.

Click the “play” button below to listen to this welcome message:

Click the “play” button below to listen to this welcome message:

This message was heard by participants during the Day 1 Opening Tour and Orientation.

On the surface, this challenge could mean honing our “Web 2.0” tools and keeping up with the plethora of social networking sites, which have certainly been popular. Digging a bit deeper, though, it could be manifested in thinking radically about each of our institutions and about how we can engage our communities in active and productive dialogues—not simply to teach about past events and figures, but to cultivate an understanding of the significance of history in our lives and the potential that we all possess to be shapers of the future.

In what ways are we, as history professionals, “making history a 21^st-century enterprise?” Please share your thoughts!

For all this cool stuff that we saw throughout the day, the chatter between people was the most valuable.  Our conversation after lunch about collaboration really highlighted the things that people are interested in, and clearly museums are living up to the standard of being centers for community engagement.  Collaborations with schools came up several times, indicating that most of us are looking for new and different ways to educate the next generation of learners even while we all – museums and schools alike – feel a financial squeeze.  Fundraising was another recurrent theme of discussion, especially since both the General Lew Wallace Study and Lane Place need restoration work on their roofs.  I also talked with a group from Texas who work at a historic site owned by their city, as the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum is, and I caught a sense of invigoration as they planned out which initiative they wanted to put to their city council first.

I am now thoroughly convinced that these field trips and evening events are well worth a bit of extra cost because of that added value.  How much easier is it to be brilliant when you’re surrounded by cool stuff and smart people from all over the country?

Next stop: Lane Place.  This antebellum mansion has 90% of the original collections, something that greatly impressed the group.  One thing I really liked was the strategic placement of reproductions that could be handled and examined closely, like Johanna Lane’s 19th century calling cards and an enlargement of a photograph from Lincoln’s funerary tour.  We had lunch on the grounds in a gazebo, catered locally by The Juniper Spoon, which uses entirely locally grown produce and meats in their food.  I didn’t realize I liked chicken salad until lunch today…

After walking the block to the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum, we started with a conversation about collaboration.  That’s the main focus of the field trip, and several of the participants are impressed by the level of collaboration between historic organizations.  In a way, it’s a survival strategy: what community of 15,000 could support 4 museums within walking distance if we all competed against one another?  Pooling resources for programs, reaching out the schools, and the county-wide Heritage Alliance were all examples of collaboration on the local level.  This seems to be a good showcase of small museums doing a lot with what they have.  Is it the Smithsonian campus?  No.  But it still looks darn good so far.

Best to all presenters, and welcome to all the new faces!

Two years ago, at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta, historian David Blight shared his thoughts and research on the topic of memory vs. history, a critical subtext in the commemoration (history) vs. celebration (memory) discussion. You can download Blight’s talk here.

Multiple discussions at the 2007 meeting on the upcoming Civil War Sesquicentennial resulted in an article by Beth Hager [Download id not defined] noting four recommendations for commemorating the War’s 150th anniversary:

1)       Emphasize 150 years of history, not the 150th anniversary of four years of war.

2)      History organizations should make themselves available as centers for open discourse about the war and its legacy.

3)      The field should make stronger efforts to provide evidence about the causes and effects of the Civil War by sharing primary sources with the public.

4)      It is important to respect, hear, and engage all groups.

We continued this discussion with two sessions in 2008 (both available for audio download) and will again be holding a session a session this year in Indianapolis on CW150 plans in Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia.

The Civil War and Hawaiian statehood are just two of countless examples of commemoration history organizations face. What is important, I believe, is that we always follow point number four in the recommendations, “Respect, Hear, and Engage all groups.”

I first encountered the difference in these two concepts as the Orange County Regional History Center, the museum I worked for in Central Florida, was heading up planning for events around the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board decision. In taking the idea to a forum with the African American community, attendees almost unanimously called for use of the word commemoration rather than celebration. They said this honored both the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement in the community, while not overlooking the unintended consequences of its gains. That idea has stuck with me ever since.

As our 2009 Annual Meeting theme states, we have an awesome responsibility as keepers of the historical record. In some regards, that responsibility is none more important than in times of significant anniversaries. Commemorations offer us a very unique opportunity to present a shared past to the community. They are times when sensibilities are most heightened and people are paying closer attention to history.

How is your organization handling these anniversaries and commemoration opportunities? What struggles have you had in sharing all sides of history at a time when many would prefer just to celebrate?

Bob

See you in a couple days! 

Ken

See you in Indy!