I can't disagree with either Christopher or Colin.

Unless the object can be related by the visitor to the theme of the exhibit,
it shouldn't even be there. Moreover, I have found that the best exhibits in
history museums are those that tell stories, as exemplified by the
experience of a person or family. Visitors relate most strongly to the
experiences of REAL people doing REAL things. Rather than creating an
exhibition on the California Gold Rush, with real artifacts that real miners
used, I would far rather use these to tell the story of three or so miners
that used them and what happened to those individuals. Then you enter a new
dimension of interpretation.

This was especially so in the exhibits we developed when I was at the
Canadian War Museum, which told the stories in the context of the people who
experienced them. The finest exhibition we ever did, curated by Mark Reid,
was one called "We'll Meet Again", which explored the impact of war on
military personnel and their families. We did this by describing incidents,
some happy, others sad, from the lives of soldiers, sailors, airmen and a
nursing sister - indeed, the first Canadian nursing sister killed in action
(in W.W.I). The night before she died, she wrote her mother, telling her not
to worry, as, where they were located, they were safe as houses. The next
night, a German plane bombed the hospital and she was killed.

The letters - and the artifacts - made the stories so memorable that visitor
after visitor told us they had become so overcome emotionally that they had
to leave he exhibition to recover their composure.

That's what telling the story of people can do for you. Seeing how
successful this approach was, we used as our overall  theme for future
exhibitions "Explore the Human Face of War".

Harry

" Was none who would be foremost
    To lead such dire attack;
But those behind cried 'Forward!'
    And those before cried 'Back!'"

               -  Macaulay (1800-1859) "Lays of Ancient Rome: Horatius"


Harry Needham, M.A., CFE, etc.
President
Harry Needham Consulting Services Inc.
Training & consulting services for heritage institutions - and others!
74 Abbeyhill Drive
Kanata, Ontario K2L 1H1
Canada
email: [log in to unmask]
(Voice) +1.613.831-1068
(Fax) +1.613.831-9412
----- Original Message -----
From: Colin Macgregor Stevens <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: citations for artifacts


> Remember that in history museums, we are often talking about donors who
> actually USED the items, or members of their family may have used them. We
> are not just talking about collectors who happened to have bought an item
at
> an auction, later donated it to a museum, and had no other connection with
> the object. Christopher Dill stated - "I want to know about the object and
> how it relates to the topic of the exhibit." - No argument there, but the
> name of the donor is PART of that history, and is sometimes a very
> significant part. Saying who donated an item CAN be relevant and
interesting
> to the visitor. On the other extreme however I am not in favour of putting
> brass plaques on items just to honour Mrs. So-and-so who donated it.
>
> Bottom line - I feel it is a choice for each museum to make.
>
> Colin Macgregor Stevens,
> Curator,
> Burnaby Village Museum,
> Burnaby, British Columbia, CANADA
>
> E-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> Phone:(604) 293-6500
> FAX:  (604) 293-6525
> Museum web site:
> http://www.burnabyparksrec.org/villagemuseum/villagemuseum.html
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> > Behalf Of Christopher Dill
> > Sent: September 18, 2000 09:14
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: citations for artifacts
> >
> >
> > David said, in part, "... many people are interested in KNOWING
> > that an institution cares enough to credit even obscure donors. "
> >  How do you know that piece of information?  Or is it just an opinion?
> >
> > I usually tell donors in a history museum context that (who used
> > the object and how) is more important to the visitor than (who
> > gave it).  The pro-donor label folks may be right, though, that
> > the investment in label space and "clutter" is worth it in terms
> > of encouraging and recognizing donors.  Personally, I find my
> > self glossing right over the donors names in museum labels
> > because I honestly don't care about that - I want to know about
> > the object and how it relates to the topic of the exhibit.
> >
> > Chris Dill
>
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