Hi, Meg -- Perhaps there is a way to reference the controversy without specifically naming individuals who are still living and active in the city. Since there was controversy over incorporation, however, and given this is an exhibition about how the city became incorporated, the controversy should surely be represented. I'll disagree a little with Meg about neutrality being the key — it might be key, if you as curator don't feel strongly one way or the other. But if, after investigating the history, you arrive at a sympathy for one side of the controversy over the other, I see no reason why that might not influence the outcome of your curatorial effort. Your post raises an provocative question about whether curators, particularly curators at history museums, are hired to be objective and journalistic or should they, without altering or overpowering the facts, be willing to editorialize? /stephen S t e p h e n N o w l i n Vice President, Director, Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery Art Center College of Design http://www.williamsongallery.net/google From: "Jacobson, Linda A." <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 14:24:40 -0800 To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] local controversies and exhibits Hi Meg, I think the key is remaining as neutral as possible. Two years ago we presented an exhibit about the history of an African American neighborhood in town. They had been battling the town for decades over a landfill and a proposed waste transfer station in their neighborhood. The controversy worked in our favor because people were interested in hearing more about the neighborhood that had been in the news. Although we had to include discussion of the controversy as part of the neighborhood history, we were careful not to take a side. Linda Jacobson North Carolina Collection Gallery UNC-Chapel Hill From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Meg Justus Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 5:02 PM To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Subject: [MUSEUM-L] local controversies and exhibits I am an independent curator and exhibit designer who is currently researching and building an exhibit for a local historical society about the story of their city's incorporation, the drive towards which started as early as the 1930s, but was not resolved by a successful vote of incorporation (after several unsuccessful tries) until 1995. In the course of the research interviews I have conducted with the folks who were involved in the incorporation effort, both for and against, I have run up against the information that the main group working behind the scenes to prevent incorporation consisted of people who still have a great deal of clout in the city, and while people named names off the record, no one was willing to do so on-record. The publicly available printed documentation of the incorporation effort does not name names, either. I am not a journalist, nor do I have any journalistic training. I was a librarian before I started working in the museum field, and while my museum certification program (at the University of Washington) did discuss the larger realm of controversy in exhibits, local controversies like this were not mentioned. So I'm in somewhat over my head (when I took the job I didn't realize this was going to be an issue). How would you handle something like this? I have a meeting with my contact at the museum (the president of the board) later this week, and I would like to present her with several viable alternatives. She does not seem to be concerned about backlash on the Society, although I think perhaps she should be, but that may not be the point. Any thoughts? Meg Justus ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 ========================================================= 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).