Diane and Stephen
 I guess I always have been amused at the wide spread use by christians of the
xmas tree which has a decidedly non-xtian origin.  Interpreting that might
help.

Greg Koos
McLean County Historical Society
Diane Gutenkauf wrote:

>  Stephen Brand <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >The discussions about diversity and feeling the temperature starting to
> get cooler in the north >makes me suggest a conversation that I believe is
> very important, but sensitive, in our industry.
> >
> >I have had lots of trouble with this issue.  Since I don't celebrate
> Christmas, I have always felt a >struggle with how we can make our holiday
> environments more welcoming for everyone.  I believe >this is a big
> challenge for both mission and market driven reasons.
>
> <snip>
>
> I think you've touched on a topic near and dear to the hearts of history
> museum curators everywhere. My personal experience, however, has been that
> only my non-Christian colleagues understand the scope of the problem of
> presenting Christian holiday decorations in our non-religious institutions.
> In fact, at one institution, my high level of discomfort over using our
> (completely) tax supported budget to buy Christmas trees almost cost me my
> job. I suppose it didn't help matters when I pointed out to the director
> that celebrating a military victory (Chanukah) in the guise of pandering to
> "other" holiday celebrations wasn't appropriate either.
>
> The only solutions that I have found to be fairly workable involve turning
> the decorating into an opportunity to do one of 2 things:
>
> 1) involve community groups. You've already pointed out the shortcomings of
> this method. Not every community group celebrates Christmas.
>
> 2) find some interpretive theme for the decorations and focus on that
> theme. I worked for a museum housed in a Victorian mansion. The museum was
> NOT an historic house but we used late Victorian style ornamentations
> (peanut drops) and put up lots of interpretive signs in a (misguided?)
> attempt to pretend that the decorations were really an exhibit.
>
> Eventually, I learned to keep my mouth shut as it was obvious that the
> decorating was one of those projects loved by the Board and Administration
> and it strengthened my resolve to find more appropriate activities when I
> (as we say in Chicago) get elected king.
>
> Diane Gutenkauf
> Museum Consultant
> [log in to unmask]