Handler and Gable begin their book, The New History in an Old Museum, by stating that “the basic intention of [their] research project was to study the production and consumption of museum messages in relation to the institutional context” (Handler & Gable 10). They primarily explore the corporate structure of Colonial Williamsburg, the social history changes on the ground, as well as the frontline staff and their opinions of the museum and its executives. The authors argue that the goal of the museum is to teach the public their history and explore social changes, however Colonial Williamsburg is failing in their attempts.
The majority of the book focuses on the idea of truth and what that means at Colonial Williamsburg. Handler and Gable note that “in the culture of Colonial Williamsburg, talk about facts displaces talk about what particular histories mean” (Handler & Gable 93). Additionally, Handler and Gable structure their argument by focusing on the behind-the-scenes of Colonial Williamsburg. The authors use Colonial Williamsburg as an example to examine “ethnographic
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The way that Colonial Williamsburg runs affects every aspect of the museum, from the way that the hotels operate all the way to the frontline museum staff that interpret the history to the public. Handler & Gable assert that Colonial Williamsburg is run as a for-profit corporation and its ultimate mission of interpreting colonial history is not being met. As the corporate culture that hasn’t changed for decades, the authors boldly claim that Colonial Williamsburg is to afraid to teach truth out of fear that they are not absolutely correct as that may injure their
Colonial Williamsburg influences much of our present day culture, “how we learn from the past”. Yet the town’s, so small, but holds many critical buildings such as the Colonial Williamsburg Capital. It deserves a commemorative coin. It is a three in one building like no other main building in Colonial Williamsburg. The uses of the building were to hold court, House of Burgesses, and the upper House of Burgesses.
Bruton Parish is now part of the longest living museum. It is the first and only church in Colonial Williamsburg and was where citizens worshipped. Some people still use the church and donate money to the Bruton Parish. Today humanity studies the past beliefs and culture by artifacts, but being in the Bruton Parish is seeing the history live. Like the motto “That the future may learn from the past,” this generation has and the upcoming one will.
As time has progressed on, in a little town in eastern West Virginia, it is as though time has taken a halt. In Elkins West Virginia nestled in the mountain tops a small community on a hill does its best to preserve history the best way it possibly could by holding one of oldest buildings in town on its foundation. It is a showing of a time long before, it truly is something to be celebrated. History, a true design of focus on the Campus of Davis and Elkins
“Whatever is new, Is bad”: Historical Perspectives on the Colonial Revival in Progressive Era America
Rockefeller and Dr. Goodwin saw an opportunity to ensure that the courageous ideals of the patriots who helped create the American democratic system live on for future generations.” Currently, the history of the Williamsburg settlement is America’s largest and most famous living-history
A historian’s job is to shine a spotlight on the past in a manner that presents a whole and proper picture that includes all facets. The accurate narratives will not appeal to everyone all the time, which is an issue that will not be overcome. History is frequently a messy ordeal, not often a heroic tale of patriotism. It is the responsibility of a historian to tell the tale as it actually happened, be it the ruthlessness of Columbus, the horrors of colonialism, or the atrocities committed during the world wars. One outcome of a historian’s presentation is leaving it up to the audience to draw their own conclusion from the information
The museum sought to strengthen its capacity in order to promote awareness, understanding and appreciation of Shinnecock history and culture through the development of broad-based long term strategic plans encompassing goal setting, budgeting, marketing, development and board engagement. This plan included raising additional funds and sponsorship opportunities; it was aided by the hiring of three development and strategic consultants to assist in the development of a 5-year strategic plan. By following this plan, the Museum Board and staff hoped to better reach the organization’s goals, improve budgeting techniques and to implement a dynamic marketing and fundraising campaign in order to strengthen and diversify the Board of Directors.
Securing an internship with the State Historic Preservation Office, a bureau within the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission, is perhaps one of the finest organizations for a graduate student to spend their summer. With a myriad of learning opportunities available, each student is given the ability to cultivate their knowledge through unanticipated avenues, creating a continually stimulating workplace. My experience at the State Historic Preservation Office is significantly advancing my future career due to the guidance and skills I receive, along with the professional relationships I acquire. Gaining insight into the inner workings of government organization’s relationship with the public, applying my newly acquired skills with the CRGIS and GeoMedia systems, strengthening my networking abilities to benefit my future career, and recognizing how varying bureaus work together, strengthens my aptitude as a professional historian. Likewise, working to meet my goals that I set forth in my internship application allows me to tailor my learning experience in order to gain insight into PHMC’s fundamentals, as well as how they help to inform the public, and where a historian can fit into this government agency.
Wollaston writes in her article “Negotiating the Marketplace: The Role(s) of Holocaust Museums Today” that “Holocaust museums are simultaneously tourist attractions and memorial sites” (66). This is especially true of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe since it is one of Berlin’s biggest tourist attractions. However, the site is also dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust and it can become difficult to separate the memorial’s two very different identities. As a result of this, tensions can exist between those visiting as tourists and those visiting as mourners. Wollaston notes that “the presence of tourists may seem out of place, even offensive, to those paying their respects at a shrine or cemetery” (66). This is certainly true, and the Information Center can try to diffuse some of the tension by “drawing attention to the multifaceted character of the site and appealing to visitors to behave appropriately” (Wollaston 66). For example, the Information Center’s exhibits remind visitors of the atrocities for which the monument overhead is memorializing and that the abstract stelae are not just fun things to climb all
If preservation efforts are to serve people, they need to capture the vast diversity of heritage, experience, and communities that makes up the American experience. Ideally, everyone should be able to find their story. However in the past, “[m]inority participation in heritage programs has been limited, and the picture of American history presented by officially designated sites understates the diversity of the nation’s actual history” (Kaufman 1). This occurred for multiple reasons, including intentional exclusion and that history can uncomfortable topics, and injustices.
Part of a project that was carried out by the National Park Service in the nineties of the twentieth century, the Hampton’s archive conducted different interviews with a number of people who were related to someone who worked or lived at a certain point in the Hampton. Moreover, only two of the eleven interviews were with relatives of people who were once enslaved in the Hampton. These two interviewees were for women whom a descendant of freed people; Sarah Henrietta Howard, and Dorothy Norris Corner. When Sarah Henrietta Howard talked about her grandfather, Charles Hall Brown how was a slave of the Ridgely’s she kept mentioning that her grandfather never talked about the time when he was a slave. Moreover, Sarah Howard believes that her grandfather’s silence is mainly due to the shame he felt from the fact that he was an illegitimate child of a slave owner.
I aspire to help others experience the childlike joy which I felt when first visiting the Royal BC Museum and I intend to achieve my goal by becoming a museum curator. I have chosen to focus my career path on museums because, as my childhood experience demonstrates, they are the ideal venue to encourage a lifelong love of learning. The process of learning in a museum is not passive, instead visitors are encouraged to seek our information for themselves. Not only is this activity enjoyable for the visitor, it also exemplifies the idea that we should be engaged in our own education and curious about the subject matter. Additionally, museums are a unique educational experience because their objects offer visitors a concrete connection to what they are learning about. Viewing
Exhibitions or educational curriculum on the gay civil rights struggles seemed nonexistent. I want my experiences and education to give to a more complete understanding and affirming representation of diverse groups in the halls of America’s museums. To that end, I interned with the Associate Director for Operations at the National Portrait Gallery. Trained as a visual artist, I never imagined myself contributing dialogue on the transformation of a national museum like the National Portrait Gallery, facing a remarkable (and uncertain) era of hyper-accelerated change. This year, I worked to develop content for the museum’s five year Strategic Plan, in accordance with the 2010-2015 Smithsonian Institution Plan. I’ve led focus groups with cross-sections of staff at all levels to aid in forming a consensus on the new direction of the museum, as well as to stimulate conversation across all departments. The staff’s enthusiasm for technological innovation, inclusiveness, and far-reaching access to underserved audiences is encouraging.
In the Fall semester of my sophomore year I accepted the position of Public Programs Intern at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston Massachusetts where I served as a liaison between administrative objectives and public interest. As an employee in the Department of Member and Visitor Services, my colleagues and I worked to identify the demographic of our intended audience in order to attract members of the
Colonial Revival in America from 1985 to Briann G. Greenfield’s Out of the Attic: Antiques in