While this makes logical sense, in this country the opposite is practice.
All of the federal (and some non-federal) museums are dubbed "National,"
e.g., National Museum of American Art, National Museum of American History,
etc.  Of course, the Smithsonian has just undergone a name change for many,
so maybe "national" is now up for grabs.
Anna Fariello

Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 10:53:24 -0400
From: James Schulte <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Why "National" instead of "U.S." in institution title?
Here is my guess(purely speculation), U.S. would signify a governmental
entity and sometimes museums run by governments are not well received.
National would signify a whole entire nation, plus would relate back to the
National Speedskating Assoc. ( just a thought)

----- Original Message -----
From: "garnergw" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 9:47 AM
Subject: Why "National" instead of "U.S." in institution title?
A member of my board recently brought up an interesting question. We are
in> the process of starting a new institution and are settling on a name.
Although I already have an agreement for "National Speedskating Museum and
Hall of Fame," this Board member wondered why we would use "National"
instead of"U.S." So many other institutions use "National" as well that we
wonderedwhat reason, if any, existed to explain this? I appreciate any and
all comments. Thanks in advance for you help.Sincerely,
>George Garner
> Director and Curator
> National Speedskating Museum and Hall of Fame
> (518) 587-2609 // [log in to unmask]
>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anna Fariello, Curatorial InSight, Box 505, Christiansburg VA 24068
www.curatorialinsight.com;  540-382-3946;  [log in to unmask]
Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 24061-0227
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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