In response to the query about museum exhibitions that reveal interpretive
agendae and methods, let me suggest that you come on down to Richmond,
Virginia, and take a look at our exhibition "Creating History:  The
Valentine Family and Museum."  It's an exhibition about the Valentine Museum
as an example of the mania for collecting and museums of the 19th century,
and how the ways the Valentine has "created" a history of Richmond has
changed in the last hundred years.  The exhibition contains examples of
exhibitions at the Valentine over time, with labels that pick apart the
cultural and intellectual assumptions present in each one.  It also takes an
in-depth look at the ways middle-class Victorian values were enshrined in
the many small and large museums created from amateur collectors' efforts.

Farar Elliott
Director of Public Programs
Valentine Museum
Richmond, Virginia