We're thinking about the same issues here in Cleveland. Our Executive
Director attended that workshop, I believe, and we're off to visit John
Herbst in Pittsburgh next week.

For some institutions, the term may be purely semantic. But I think that what
the term "center" is meant to convey is that the institution does a variety
of things besides and beyond what the public may perceive to be traditional
history museum exhibits. A center would necessarily have a research library,
special research programs, a publication series, etc. Not that many museums
do not already have those. More imporantly, though, is the idea that the
institution is a focus, or "center" for community-based projects about the
history of that particular area. For instance, we've bantered about the idea
of a "Cleveland History Center" here.

What's happening, I suspect, is that a number of established institutions,
and newer ones, are grappling with the roles that a history museum should
play in the cultural life of the community in which they are located. While
name changes and titles are ultimately incidental to the change, naming
things is an important human way of approaching them...especially when we're
trying to conceptualize change.

Just some thoughts. Hope they help.

Ed Pershey
Curator of Urban & Industrial History
Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland