As an aside note, some years ago I read a very interesting book that
explored/explained some of the typical scenarios that resulted in the
formation of a history museum. One was what the author called "the pioneer
museum". In the author's observations, when a person, or people, realize
that a generation or two of progress is about to wipe out the early history
of their community (typically the era of white settlement), they set about
collecting and preserving physical evidence of their "pioneers". So, they
call it the Pioneer Museum or put pioneer in the name. This probably is of
interest only to historians and others in the museum field, not to the
general public, but I thought it an interesting observation. Sorry I can't
remember the name of the book or author.
NP
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Ryan" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2004 3:21 PM
Subject: Re: Museum Name Changes
Dear Kathy,
Our museum went through a proposed name change about 10 years ago. Our
former director was absolutely adamant about changing the name of our
museum, going so far as to have stationary, envelopes and business cards
printed with the name: The Colorado Springs Museum.
In fairness the Pioneers Museum name is somewhat of a misnomer. There are
many museums along the Front Range with "pioneer" as part of the name and
they are usually small volunteer run one-room houses or log cabins. We are
a municipal museum of art and history with a 66,000 square foot facility
and 12 ½ full time positions. In our former director's mind the
name "pioneer" conjured up negative images.
The name change attempt led to a huge backlash in the community who have
always known us as the Pioneers Museum. The El Paso County Pioneers
Association (which is still very active) threatened to take back their
donation (from 1937) which constituted the first 3,500 objects in the
collection. The gift agreement contains language that the museum must
always be known as the Pioneers Museum.
Our former director was chastised for his intransigence on the issue and
eventually left partly because he did not get his way. Alas, for better or
worse we remain the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.
Sincerely,
Dave Ryan
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
www.cspm.org
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