This is such a wonderful thread. I think it has made many of us look back at
why we got into this field to begin with.

I don't recall a specific childhood museum experience, although we went quite
a bit, but I do remember goint to the Field in Chicago and the Indianapolis
Children's Museum and spending most of my time trying to figure out what was
behind all the locked doors. I have decided too that because of my short
attention span, the museum field is perfect for me.

As an adult, I would have to say my most unforgettable museum experience would
have to be the POW museum at the National Historic Site, Andersonville, GA.
The entire experience takes your breath away. It's not just the museum which
addresses American POW's in all wars with innovative, dramatic exhibits, lots
of audio/visual and oral history, but also the site of Andersonville Prison
itself and the cemetary. Stunning experience. I have been twice and intend to
go back again. I experience something new each time.

Finally, everyone should experience small, local museums. They are the places
where you will find stuffed deer behinds among other treasures.

Teresa M. Goforth
Executive Director
Courthouse Square Association
Charlotte, MI



> > I too was
going to resist but the memories were too powerful.  My first
> memory of a museum as a child was being pulled through the natural history
> museum at the University of Michigan by my older brother -- he was
> probably 12 and suffering the usual fascination with dinasaurs.  On one of
> our forays, we found a curator working on one of the exhibits.  When Dick
> engaged him in conversation, he was invited back into the nether regions
> to see some new finds that had just been brought in.  Little sister got
> left behind and wandered happily around.  The guards who later reunited us
> were not so happy with the situation nor was our grandmother when we were
> late for dinner, but it was a wonderful introduction to museums for me.
>
> As an adult, my most powerful experience in an exhibit came at the
> military museum at Cantigny in Wheaton, IL.  I came to the entrance of the
> exhibit (a dark recreation of a bombed out village in World War I France)
> and I could not go into it by myself!  I waited until three other women
> came in to tour and I walked through with them.   I went in as a pacifist
> and was a more confirmed one when I emerged.  All the more surprising
> because I expected to feel defensive.  My husband, who does not share my
> views, went through the exhibit later and was equally moved by it.  I
> still haven't figured out how the two of us, with such disparate attitudes
> on war, could both respond so strongly to the exhibit.
>
>
> --
> Mary Turner, Coordinator
> Illinois Association of Museums
> Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
> 1 Old State Capitol Plaza
> Springfield, IL 62701
> 217/524-7080
> [log in to unmask]
>
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