Defining Memory

by Levin, Amy K.; Kyvig, David; Christopher, Tami; Connor, James; d'Oney, J Daniel; Embry, Jessie; Gable, Eric; Gomoll, Lucian; Handler, Richard; Langford, Donna; Levin, Amy; Nelson, Mauri L.; Patterson, Stuart; Perry, Heather; Price, Jay; Rhode, Michael; Sa

• ISBN13: 9780759110502
• ISBN10: 0759110506
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-03-06
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Defining Memory uses case studies of exhibits from around the country to examine how local museums, defined as museums whose collections are local in scope or whose audiences are primarily local, have both shaped and been shaped by evolving community values and sense of history. Levin and her contributors argue that these small institutions play a key role in defining America's self-identity and should be studied as seriously as more national institutions like the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Foreword	p. 1
Frameworks	p. 7
Why Local Museums Matter	p. 9
Local History, "Old Things to Look At," and a Sculptor's Vision: Exploring Local Museums through Curriculum Theory	p. 27
The Rebirth of a Nation	p. 43
Public History, Private Memory: Notes from the Ethnography of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, U.S.A	p. 47
The House of the Seven Gables: A House Museum's Adaptation to Changing Societal Expectations since 1910	p. 63
Louisiana's Old State Capitol Museum: Castle on the Mississippi	p. 77
Nostalgia as Epistemology	p. 93
The Small Town We Never Were: Old Cowtown Museum Faces an Urban Past	p. 97
"The Dream Then and Now": Democratic Nostalgia and the Living Museum at Arthurdale, West Virginia	p. 109
History Lessons: Selling the John Dillinger Museum	p. 127
Museums at Risk: Changing Publics	p. 143
The Politics of Prehistory: Conflict and Resolution at Dickson Mounds Museum	p. 147
"Such is Our Heritage": Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museums	p. 161
"A Repository for Bottled Monsters and Medical Curiosities": The Evolution of the Army Medical Museum	p. 177
Challenging the Major Museum	p. 197
Objects of Dis/Order: Articulating Curiosities and Engaging People at the Freakatorium	p. 201
Cities, Museums, and City Museums	p. 217
No Business Like Show Business	p. 231
Business as Usual: Can Museums Be Bought?	p. 235
Conclusion: Museums and the American Imagination	p. 253
Selected Bibliography	p. 265
Index	p. 269
About the Contributors	p. 285
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