Anne,
This is a topic that grabbed my attention, having spent years at a
museum named for a person, and constantly having people wonder what kind
of a museum it really was.  Also, I had an interesting experience with
museum names just last week.

I went to the  "X" County Historical Museum, hoping to learn a bit more
than I already do about the county I recently moved to.  I found a
rather odd scattering of topics, some with marginal or little apparent
relationship to county history (including an exhibit about a theme park
in England, because the theme was the same as that of a movie once
filmed here).  When I expressed some disappointment to the volunteer on
duty, he said, "Oh, well, if you really want to learn more about county
history, you could go to the Pioneer Memorial Museum."

Well, that museum is closed for the winter, so I can't go see what's
really in it, but I  realized at that moment that I had made an
assumption based on the name (as well as physical appearance of the
building, and knowledge that until recently it had been run by an
organization that is based on who your ancestors were), that it would
primarily be full of endless duplicative uninterpreted family
'treasures' and glorifying accounts of the local 'greats' who were
mainly 'great' because they happened to be a someone's ancestor.  (Now I
can't wait to see if I was right or wrong.)

The bottom line of this message is that your name will be how the
uninitiated will 'know' who you are, and it is from your name that
potential visitors may make a decision about whether or not it is
worthwhile to visit. Additionally, if the name sounds like something you
aren't, you set it up for people being disappointed or even feeling
duped, which isn't great PR since word of mouth can be so important.

So, while I agree that it would be great to put a little more creativity
and liveliness into the names of museums, I hope creativity doesn't move
too far away from the descriptive. I'll be interested in new ideas that
Museum-Lers come up with about this topic.

Lucy Sperlin

P.S. I remember laughing hilariously the first time I saw a new office
complex with a sign declaring it a "Dental Park."



Anne Lane wrote:
>
> Hi, folks
> We are looking for some ideas about the naming of museums. Specifically,
> our director would like to see a list of organizations with "new" types of
> names rather than the Such-and-Such Museum of Blah, Blah and Blah. (Lest
> you be offended, our museum is the Museum of York County; used to be the
> Children's Nature Museum of York County.) He is also interested in what
> organizations with multiple sites call themselves - both overall name and,
> within that context, individual institution names. You may reply to me at
> the address below. TIA,
> Anne
>
> Anne T. Lane, Collections Manger
> York County Culture & Heritage Commission
> 4621 Mount Gallant Road
> Rock Hill SC 29715
> 803-329-2121 ext 104
> [log in to unmask]

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