Matt,
 
History museums serve to convey context from one generation to another,
something that is usually lost in the "display case and label" world of
many exhibits and presentations.  Why have science museums  been so
successful with their hands-on approach? Because , when the exhibits are
done correctly, students can see what it is like to fly a space shuttle,
learn kinetic principles and a host of other things.
 
 
We are designing a new regional history museum, and what our audience tells
us is that they want history placed in a meaningful context. Forget names,
dates and artifacts displayed as art objects or holy relics. They want to
know wht it would have have been like to be a young 19 year old crew member
on a B-17, or an immigrant stepping off a steamer from Italy, or a cowboy
on the range in 1840s Florida (yes, Florida, not Texas), or a soldier in
the Seminole Wars. The artifacts illustrate, but they want a mix of
interactive learning experiences, live performances in the galleries,
relicas to handle, etc.
 
Some years ago, while working at a museum in Texas, I happened upon a
history lecture taught by a professor with no knowledge of material
culture. He was lecturing about the massive buffalo hunts of the 1870s, and
how "easy" it was to kill thousands with the Sharps and Remington buffalo
rifles.  "'Scuse me,"  I said after his class, "but have you ever seen or
tried to fire a buffalo rifle?" When he admitted that he had not I took him
to the collections area of the university museum, gave him a set of gloves,
and handed him a 16-pound Sharps. I then had him shoulder it as he had
lamely demonstrated with a pointer in class and said "hold that pose." As
you can imagine, he held it about 20 seconds before his arm gave out. I
then instructed him on how they were fired prone or with a rest, and told
him how the barrels heated almost red hot and foulked with black powder.
Needless to say, in addition to the tragedy of the great kills, he gained
an idea of how hard, dirty and mechanical the work was. He invited me into
the classroom to correct what he had told his students.
 
Without personal experience history is merely names and events.  But to
hold a bag an immigrant arrived with bearing all his or her possessions, or
to demonstrate a 16th century astrolable (navigational instrument) and then
a global positioning transponder - that is why we stay in this underpaid 80
hour a week  field!
 
There is abook I would highly recommend by a former NPS officer, Freeman
Tilden called Interpreting our Heritage.  For me it is a bible. In short,
classes teach, museums offer the opportunity to experience and learn. IF WE
do our jobs correctly.
 
Best of results.
 
Byron A. Johnson
[log in to unmask]
Tampa Bay History Center