Re: Ethnic Museums Sometimes, regional history museums, though not exclusively ethnic in mission, sponsor and house special ethnic programs. My institution, the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, is a case in point. Our Italian American Program is dedicated to documenting the Italian American experience in western Pennsylvania and involves active collecting (artifacts, photographs, oral histories), public programming (exhibits, lectures, culinary displays, music performances) and outreach to area benevolent societies. Our past exhibits and extant collections primarily reflect the New World experiences of assimilation and ethnic perseverance. Our audience is primarily the area's Italian Americans although some of our programs (oral history and genealogy workshops) attract non-Italian Americans. Program volunteers and student interns are always descendents of Italian Americans. International partnerships, of course, are always a possibility for immigration museums. On of our proposed exhibit projects involves contrasting the experiences of those who stayed behind with those who emigrated. For more information about this program, as well as links to fifteen or so additional ethnic/immigrant museums, feel free to visit our website at www.wpaitalians.com. Best, Nicholas P. Ciotola Curator, Italian American Collection Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center 1212 Smallman Street Pittsburgh, PA 15217 ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. 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).