I too was going to resist but the memories were too powerful. My first memory of a museum as a child was being pulled through the natural history museum at the University of Michigan by my older brother -- he was probably 12 and suffering the usual fascination with dinasaurs. On one of our forays, we found a curator working on one of the exhibits. When Dick engaged him in conversation, he was invited back into the nether regions to see some new finds that had just been brought in. Little sister got left behind and wandered happily around. The guards who later reunited us were not so happy with the situation nor was our grandmother when we were late for dinner, but it was a wonderful introduction to museums for me. As an adult, my most powerful experience in an exhibit came at the military museum at Cantigny in Wheaton, IL. I came to the entrance of the exhibit (a dark recreation of a bombed out village in World War I France) and I could not go into it by myself! I waited until three other women came in to tour and I walked through with them. I went in as a pacifist and was a more confirmed one when I emerged. All the more surprising because I expected to feel defensive. My husband, who does not share my views, went through the exhibit later and was equally moved by it. I still haven't figured out how the two of us, with such disparate attitudes on war, could both respond so strongly to the exhibit. -- Mary Turner, Coordinator Illinois Association of Museums Illinois Historic Preservation Agency 1 Old State Capitol Plaza Springfield, IL 62701 217/524-7080 [log in to unmask] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).