I have done much the same...and read through 15 years of meeting minutes  and 
correspondence this past Fall. I do find interesting tidbits and much useful  
information. Any goals, etc., that were not attained for the museum though, I 
 take great care to find out why they were never realized. Often there is a 
very  good reason for this. Ultimately, your museum's mission statement 
reflects what  your predecessors wanted the museum to be.
 
One thing I found while reading - was that the organization that  established 
the museum I work in also supported other related  organizations...mainly 
environmental causes. They volunteered and also raised  funds/donated monies. I 
know the only reason that they ceased doing this is  because they are elderly 
and most are, as a group unable to continue with these  efforts.
 
Knowing this - I'd like to continue with these charitable efforts.  These 
activities are reflected in their mission statement.
 
And I regularly talk to the few CCC alumni still around who had  established 
the museum and I have learned much about the history of the museum.  Much of 
what I read about in the minutes and other correspondence...I had  already 
learned of from speaking with the alumni...but there were other details  I found 
in records that were important for me to know.
 
What would be great - is if I had the time to extract these details from  the 
records and have a booklet available for training and interpretation, etc.,  
for future generations. Especially for those that do not have the benefit of  
speaking with the museum's founders.
 
I do include some of the history of our museum during tours and it does add  
more meaning. People do want to know who started the museum and how the  
collections were acquired, etc.
 
As far as shaping the future of our museums - so long as it doesn't deviate  
from the mission of the museum...yes this is something we can do. If we were 
to  deviate from the mission, we'd have to amend our statement.
 
BTW I've been to your museum a couple of times and each time I've dreamed  
about being able to play on the court there!
 
Pam
 
In a message dated 6/7/2006 11:45:51 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

A question popped into my head the  other day while undertaking my hour 
commute to  work. 
Has anyone ever conducted oral  histories for museum staff? I know for 
myself, I spend hours sifting through  boxes of documents from previous Museum 
Directors, Curators, etc, and while I  can get a sense of what they are working on, 
I can’t get the ideas and  thoughts of what they wanted the Museum to be.  
In addition to that, aren’t we, as  museum folk, helping to create and shape 
that history that we are also trying  to preserve? We’ve also got funny 
anecdotes about things that have  happened… 
Thoughts? 
Timothy Wade  Jr. 
International Tennis Hall of Fame  Incorporated 
194  Bellevue Avenue 
Newport,  RI 02840 
Tel: 401-849-3990  x108 
Fax:  401-851-7920 
Email: [log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])  





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