Dear Bennett:

Yes, it is, but it is a lot of fun as well.  I find it more informative 
than many other topic on this listserve, but that is just me.

Sincerely,
Hugh


On May 4, 2005, at 4:38 PM, Bennett Siegel wrote:

> This is quite a lot of research to be asking the museum community to 
> do,
> Professor Hugh Genoways.  Perhaps some volumes on the history of 
> museums sit
> in the U of Nebraska library.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
> Behalf
> Of Hugh Genoways
> Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 1:44 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Questions
>
> Dear Colleagues
>
> Questions about History of Museums
>
> We all have heard of Peale's museum in Philadelphia, the Charleston
> Museum, Silliman's mineralogy collection at Yale, Academy of Natural
> Sciences of Philadelphia, and a little later P. T Barnum's and Moses
> Kimball's proprietary museums in New York and Boston, but I have some
> questions about the early history of other museums and types of museums
> in the United States.
>
> What was the first art museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating art museum in the U. S. that is still
> open?
>
> What was the first history museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating history museum in the U. S. that is still
> open?
>
> What was the first state historical society in the U. S.?
>
> What was the first historic house museum in the U. S.?  (Not the oldest
> house that is now a museum, but the first to be operated as a museum)
>
> What is the longest operating historic house museum in the U. S. that
> is still open?
>
> What was the first specialty museum in the U. S.?  What was its
> specialty?
>
> What is the longest operating specialty museum in the U. S. that is
> still open?  What was its specialty?
>
> What was the first sports museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating sport museum in the U. S. that is still
> open?
>
> What was the first living history museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating living history museum in the U. S. that
> is still open?
>
> What was the first botanical garden in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating botanical garden in the U. S. that is
> still open?
>
> What was the first arboretum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating arboretum in the U. S. that is still 
> open?
>
> What was the first zoological garden in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating zoological garden in the U. S. that is
> still open?
>
> What was the first anthropology/archaeology museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating anthropology/archaeology museum in the U.
> S. that is still open?
>
> What was the first military museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating military museum in the U. S. that is
> still open?
>
> What was the first "hall of fame" museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating "hall of fame" museum in the U. S. that
> is still open?
>
> What was the first college/university museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating college/university museum in the U. S.
> that is still open?
>
> What was the first mineralogy museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating mineralogy museum in the U. S. that is
> still open?
>
> What was the first natural history museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating natural history museum in the U. S. that
> is still open?
>
> What was the first transportation museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating transportation museum in the U. S. that
> is still open?
>
> What was the first medical museum in the U. S.?
>
> What is the longest operating medical museum in the U. S. that is still
> open?
>
> I am not certain what the person with the most correct answers will
> receive, but it definitely will be something special!
>
> Actually, I ask these questions because I don't know the answers to
> most of them.  It seems surprising to me that a profession that is so
> much involved with history doesn't know much about its own history.  Or
> maybe I am the one that doesn't know these things.
>
> Sincerely,
> Hugh
>
>
> Hugh H. Genoways
> Professor
> W436 Nebraska Hall
> University of Nebraska-Lincoln
> Lincoln, NE 68588-0514
>
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> =========================================================
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>
Hugh H. Genoways
Professor
W436 Nebraska Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-0514

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