>
>     A patron is trying to track down articles on the subject of gender
> representation in museum exhibits.
 
 
There is actually a small body of literature  on Gender Issues in
Museology as well some individuals working on th aspects of the topic.
 
Individuals are Gaby Porter, Museum of Science and Industry,
Manchester. As well there is a group that has been operating for over
ten years in Britain called WHAM, Women, Heritage and Museums which
has conferences, seminars and puts out a newsletter.
 
You can read some of Gaby's work in "The Museum Time Machine", ed.
Robert Lumley (Routledge, 1988) "Putting your house in order:
representations of women and domestic life".
 
In Australia, there is an active woman, Dr. Margaret Anderson   who has
written some.
 She is at the History Dept., Monash University, Clayton, Victopria.
 (I have her address and Fax.)
 
In Canada, we have Sharon Reilly, Curator of History, Manitoba Museum
of Man and Nature, Tina Bates, Curator, Canadian Museum of Civilization,
Kerridwen Harvey, Canadian Heritage Information Network, Felibcity
Pope, Toronto Museum of Health. Another is Linda Dale a consultant in
Ottawa who was involved, I believe, in an exhibit at the National
Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, "Women of Invention:
Individuals who Changed our Lives."
 
Although it has taken some decades, it should not be surprising to
discover that many Museum Studies student, who are between 70 and 95%
women, are interested in the subject of Gender as are many of the male students.
 
One of our  graduates, Manda Vranic, wrote on "The Image of Women at
 Historic Sites" several years ago for her final research paper.
OB
Another grad. Kerridwen Harvey's final research examined the research
and exhibition of contemporary women's issues in the museum. She is
now employed at the Canadian Heritage Information Network.
 
Meanwhile Kerridwen has also published an article in MUSE, the Canadian Museums
Assoc. periodical, "Looking for Women in the Museum: Has Women's
Studies Really "Come a Long Way"?, Muse, Vol. XI, No.4 (Winter 1994),
pp. 28-31.
 
Other itesm:
 
Barbara Melosh, "Speaking of Women: Museums'Representations of Women's
History," History Museums in the United States: A Critical Assessment,
Warren Leon and Roy Rosenzweig, ed. Univ. of Illinois Press, Urbana,
1989, pp. 200-3.
 
 
Museum, UNESCO, No.171.
 
Museum News, Vol.69, No.4,, 1990.
 
Interpreting Women's History for the Public: A Collection of Papers
Delivered at the Annual Meetings of the American Association of
Museums and the American Association for State and Local History,
Women's Heritage Museum, Palo Alto, CA, 1988.
 
In July, the Canadian Museums Assoc. meets for its annual in St.
John's Newfoundland and we are working to form a women's group of some
sort yet to be determined.
 
Hope this helps in some way.
 
Lynne Teather, Prof.,
Museum Studies Program,
University of Toronto,
Ontario, CANADA
M5S 1A1