Skipping HistoryHi Jennifer,

I'm confident the mission statement of your organization includes
education.  Presumably, that means as non-biased an education as is
possible.  Therefore, I would insist these teachers lead their students
through the exhibit and tell whatever "history" they want.

You and your staff (paid or volunteer) ought not be put in the position
of editing history to suit their mission.

Sincerely,

Jay Heuman
Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
Joslyn Art Museum
2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
342-3300 (telephone)   342-2376 (fax)

"You can’t lock up art in a vault and keep it frozen for posterity. Then
the artist is betrayed, history is betrayed."
(Walter Persegati)



  -----Original Message-----
  From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Jen Gayman
  Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 11:22 am
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Subject: Skipping History


  I have a question to ask of the group - I'm interested to hear what
others think.  I had a teacher come in and inquire about tours of our
exhibit for her second graders at a Christian school.  Our exhibit
examines man's relationship with the Chesapeake Bay over time and how
that relationship as impacted on the cultural and environmental heritage
of the Bay.  As I showed the teacher through the exhibit, we came to our
section on the tobacco economy, which of course had a huge impact on
life on the Eastern Shore.  The teacher indicated that she would prefer
to not have that section be part of the tour, because they are a
Christian school.  I'm just interested to know if others have ever faced
this type of request, and what their thoughts are on the notion of
skipping over parts of history to suit the visitor, specifically in a
docent-lend tour situation.

  **************************
  Jennifer Gayman
  Heritage Coordinator
  Queen Anne's County, Maryland
  www.historicqac.org
  (410) 604-2100

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