Skipping HistoryHi Jennifer, I'm confident the mission statement of your organization includes education. Presumably, that means as non-biased an education as is possible. Therefore, I would insist these teachers lead their students through the exhibit and tell whatever "history" they want. You and your staff (paid or volunteer) ought not be put in the position of editing history to suit their mission. Sincerely, Jay Heuman Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator Joslyn Art Museum 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102 342-3300 (telephone) 342-2376 (fax) "You can’t lock up art in a vault and keep it frozen for posterity. Then the artist is betrayed, history is betrayed." (Walter Persegati) -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Jen Gayman Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 11:22 am To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Skipping History I have a question to ask of the group - I'm interested to hear what others think. I had a teacher come in and inquire about tours of our exhibit for her second graders at a Christian school. Our exhibit examines man's relationship with the Chesapeake Bay over time and how that relationship as impacted on the cultural and environmental heritage of the Bay. As I showed the teacher through the exhibit, we came to our section on the tobacco economy, which of course had a huge impact on life on the Eastern Shore. The teacher indicated that she would prefer to not have that section be part of the tour, because they are a Christian school. I'm just interested to know if others have ever faced this type of request, and what their thoughts are on the notion of skipping over parts of history to suit the visitor, specifically in a docent-lend tour situation. ************************** Jennifer Gayman Heritage Coordinator Queen Anne's County, Maryland www.historicqac.org (410) 604-2100 ========================================================= 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).