I find your story very sad.  I cannot accept that any museum is "darn
good" if it is held in thrall to unprofessional and petty, unqualified
tyrants.  I work in similar circumstances (I gather it has been even
worse), but enough of the board genuinely seems interested in improving
standards and professionalizing the site's management, that I
(sometimes) am optomistic that (maybe not in my tenure) they will
prevail over the old holdouts.  No location names, obviously.

Carolyn Breedlove

Belinda Nickles wrote:

> David,
>
> First let me stress that what happened to me was an
> isolated incident. I still believe that board members
> who also volunteer can be an enormous asset to a
> museum.
>
> As for filing for an appeal, when I was fired it was
> so unexpected that I was speechless-a postion I don't
> find myself in very often. Following my dismissal, I
> did consider appealing.  No matter how corny this
> might sound, I still felt a loyalty to the museum and
> especially my staff.  I felt that if the appeal became
> lengthy it might have extended low morale among my
> staff, resulted in people taking sides, and hurt the
> museum if the news became public. Despite my problems,
> the museum was and is a darn good one.
>
> In addition, I didn't feel that being reinstated
> would have solved the problem with the volunteers. Yes,
> they probably think they ran me off, but staying wasn't
> going to make me any more effective in contoling their
> distructive actions.  There is another curator there
> now and maybe she is having better luck with them
> than I had.  They have also just got a new director
> who may not be so intimidated by board members.
>
> In retrospect, an appeal might have been helpful in
> securing another museum position.  I don't lie about
> being fired, although I try to explain the circumstances
> without bad-mouthing anyone.  Despite my commitment,
> qualifications, and accomplishments, in two years I
> have seldom got farther in an interview than my
> dismissal from that museum.  The longer I am out of
> the museum field, the more unlikely it seems that I
> will ever get back in.  The decision not to appeal may
> not have been the right one for me, but I still think
> I did the best thing for my former staff and the museum.
>
> Belinda