Week 4: Preservation and Public History

Mike Wallace’s essay, “Preserving the Past: A History of Historical Preservation in the United States,” discusses the history and struggle historical preservation faced in America.  From the colonial era to the present, Americans have had little incentive to preserve the past, instead favoring profit over preservation.  Early forms of preservation were headed by private individuals and groups who would buy up the historic buildings, urge laws to be passed for historic districts, or used the doctrine of “adaptive reuse” to make use of historical building. (189) Wallace makes note that the preservationists continue to struggle in today’s world. 

Courtesy of American Architecture. Independence Hall, Philadelphia

Wallace’s “Preservation Revisited,” focuses on how changes in America reshaped and drastically altered the success historical preservation had seen in the 1980’s.  The changed in tax breaks that preservationists and those who preserved historical buildings and sites and the “property rights” movement, “dramatically reshaped the preservation landscape.” (224).  The rest of the essay discusses the changes to preservationist practices through three main ways.  First was to pry open the definition of historic, second called for the “economic revitalization of cities,” and third was to align with groups that were fighting for the environment and the preservation of endangered species and open spaces. (232)

Wallace goes in depth on his essays on historical preservation and clearly explains how preservationists made strides through the years even though they faced much controversy.  His editorial in his essays clearly voices his opinion on the matter of historical preservation.  He also gives his opinion about what the future may hold for historical preservationists and what mistakes he believed they made in the past.

Antoinette J. Lee’s essay “Historic Preservationists and Cultural Resources Managers: Preserving America’s Historic Places,” discusses what historical preservationists and cultural resource manager jobs entail.  Cultural research management is defined by the National Park Service as, “range of activities aimed at understanding, preserving, and providing for the enjoyment of cultural resources.” (130) A preservation historian not only does research and documentation on a site, but must also be able to provide written descriptions of physical evidence and “justify their evaluation of the historical significance of a property in ways that can move the listener” to support the properties preservation. (133) Lee also makes note of the issues that historical preservationists face, the type of education many receive, and what the future may hold for this profession.  This essay is very well written and very informative, giving the reader an understanding of what a person going into this field can expect. 

Courtesy of National Park Service. Historical Interpreters

Mark Howell’s “Interpreters and Museum Educators: Beyond the Blue Hairs,” essay discusses the job description of a museum interpreter and educator and what it takes to become a great one.  A good museum interpreter gets to know their visitors and decides what history to interpret depending on their audience.  The primary function for those in this field, is to be able to show the “interrelationships between objects, spaces, and the persons who once used them” and being able to place them in historical context. (145) Howell also discusses how difficult it can be to make a living as a historical interpreter as few museums can afford to hire a full-time interpreter, instead hiring seasonal or relying on volunteers.  Howell’s essay is very informative and he makes it interesting in how he gives examples almost like he is trying to dispel the belief that historical interpreters are all a bunch of “blue hairs.” (154)

The web readings for this week were really surprising.  The content of the letter Professor Cebula received from Patricia Pangloss was unexpected.  It is understandable that some of the history surrounding the house and its residents would be excluded to fit what the visitors want to learn or hear about.   What was really shocking was for Mrs. Pangloss to say that Professor Cebula should “stop bringing into the 21^st century all this negativism.”  To teach all parts of American history is not teaching people hate and negativism.  This is our history, we should be proud of our history, maybe not everything that occurred, but it is important that people are taught our whole history and not just the good parts that people like.  

Walt Disney: One Mans Dream

Follow in the Footsteps of Walt Disney

Courtesy of Walt Disney World

            To commemorate the 100^th anniversary of Walt Disney’s birth, the exhibit Walt Disney: One Mans Dream was created.  Through this exhibit one can “discover the man behind the mouse” and learn about his many achievements and ongoing legacy.  Visitors are shown over 400 artifacts from Walt Disney’s life including, one-of-a-kind animation art, storyboards, paintings, photos, props, models, costumes and set pieces, including:

•        Walt Disney's 2nd-grade school desk
•        Vintage Disney toys and merchandise
•        “Granny Kincaid’s Cabin,” Walt’s first attempt at a 3D miniature environment
•        “The Dancing Man,” Walt’s first animated figure and precursor to the Audio-Animatronics technology he would soon pioneer
•        The original Audio-Animatronics Abraham Lincoln figure from the 1964 New York World’s Fair
•        Mickey Mouse Club props and costumes
•        The model of Main Street, U.S.A. from Disneyland Resort
•        Jungle Cruise and Spaceship Earth models
•        Mary Poppins costumes
•        The Tree of Life model from Disney’s Animal Kingdom park
•        Peter Pan’s Flight ride vehicle models
•        The planning model for Disney's California Adventure theme park
•        Scaled replicas of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Paris Resort

            This exhibit was designed to be an interactive gallery.  Audio and film clips that contain previously unseen footage and interviews with Walt Disney, including clips of Disney talking about his creation Mickey Mouse are shown.  A short film about Walt Disney’s life and also explores the extraordinary difficulties he overcame during his life. 

      When people enter this exhibit they are immersed in the life and world of Walt Disney.  They get a glimpse into his life and get to view many artifacts from the Disney archives that have never been seen by the public before. Through this exhibit people are able to get a glimpse into the life of Walt Disney, his dream, and the accomplishments that continue to inspire and fascinate people today.

Week 3: The History of Public History

Mike Wallace’s essay on “Boat People: Immigration History at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island” discusses the controversy surrounding the renovation and the construction of museum exhibits at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Wallace discusses how there has been much controversy between the Park Service and the American Museum of Immigration (AMI) over what the main focus of the museums should be.  The AMI wanted the main focus to be about immigration and show how immigrants are able to come to America and improve their lives through self-sacrifice and hard work.  He felt the Park Service wanted the main focus to be about the history of the statue itself and set the exhibit up so that “the objects, left to speak for themselves, tell an ambiguous story” (62).  Wallace then goes on to discuss how the Ellis Island museum is very detail oriented when discussing the various different rooms that are set up to allow the viewer to see and experience what the people who came through Ellis Island felt. 

Courtesy of Holiday Force. Statue of Liberty

Courtesy of Liberty Harbor RV. Ellis Island

           Wallace’s essay, “Progress Talk: Museums of Science, Technology, and Industry” discusses the history behind engineering and how and why industrial museums became popular in the 1920’s.  He points out that many of these museums were centered around technology and industry, but left out topics like “labor relations, pollution, foreign competition… labor and radical movements,” ect. 

In Wallace’s essay, “ Industrial Museums and the History of Deindustrialization,” he suggests some paths that public historians might consider exploring.  They “need to strive for a better connection of past, present, and future in our exhibitry,” that “exhibits should be analogous not to snapshots, but to frames from an ongoing movies;” they should be “set in a larger spatial as well as temporal context” (89).  He also argues that museums that focus on industrialization need to also put some focus on deindustrialization. 

Wallace’s essay “The Virtual Past: Media and History Museums” is about how technology has advanced so much that museums need to become a part of the technological world through electronic galleries, virtual museums, and other medias that allow a person to view a part of history or an exhibit of a museum from a computer or other device.  With the advancement of technology, museums need to adapt to be able to keep up with the changing times. 

Wallace’s essay on “Museums and Controversy” assesses how museums have dealt with controversial topics and why certain exhibits are shown while others are not.  This is not only seen in museums but other facets of everyday life, topic that are considered taboo see much objection if one suggests to make it known to the public.  Wallace argues that instead of trying to keep taboo topics hidden away, they need to be shown and become public knowledge. 

Wallace’s essay “Mickey Mouse History: Portraying the Past at Disney World” gives insight as to why Walt Disney decided to create a theme park with the main goal of throwing the patrons back into an Improved version of the past.  Disney’s park has been compared to Rockefeller’s Williamsburg and Ford’s Greenfield Village as all three “eliminate from “history” what their sponsors found inconvenient and unwelcome” (141).  Wallace discusses what kind of impact Walt Disney’s park has on its visitors and thinks, “the country at large needs to reflect upon the consequences of the corporate commodification of history” (154).

Courtesy of Blue Light Lady. Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse

Wallace’s essay “Disney’s America” looks at how the Walt Disney Company had to “reinvent the Disney theme park experience” as well as other aspects of the company to get people interested in all things Disney once again.  In 1993, Disney announced its new theme park, Disney’s America, was developed in order to solve the company’s financial problems.  The core theme of the park would be to evoke the history of the United States and was meant to be “a “serious fun” celebration of U.S. history” (164).  Shortly after Disney released the plan for Disney’s America they came under fire by historians and other groups on how Disney planned to present the past, without any of the horrors of history.

Wallace gets a bit bogged down with his descriptions and facts in many of his essays.  It seems that he sometimes loses himself in certain topics like how the museum at Ellis Island is set up.  His essays about Walt Disney were interesting because very few in today’s world would think that Disney World was designed to transport people back into the past.  Wallace makes a point to show how Americans tend to ignore parts of history that they don’t feel comfortable with.  Walt Disney and many museums only show the good parts of history while ignoring the worst parts.  Wallace also has a tendency to input editorial into his essays.

            Michael J. Devine’s “Administrators: Students of History and Practitioners of the Art of Management” examines what is takes to become a successful administrator.  Based off of Devine’s own experiences and observations, he believes there are three essential elements for successful administration.  “First, directors must know the nuts and bolts of their agencies, and possess basic skills in interpersonal communication, management, and budgeting.  Second, directors must have a sense of vision… essential that administrators of history programs know history and know it well.  Third, directors must serve as tireless, resourceful, effective principal spokespersons or advocates for that vision” (47).  Funding and governance is just a couple of the problems historians in administrator positions face.  He also discusses what types of training and qualifications are necessary for historians who seek a career as an administrator of a historical program or agency.  Devine’s essay is very straightforward but is very informative.  His experience as an administrator lends some credibility to his essay and gives some insight into the career that others who just did research may not have. 

            In Roy H. Tryon’s essay “Archivists and Records Managers,” he explains what archivists and record managers do and how they are different from one another.  According to Tryon, “archivists are concerned with noncurrent records and record managers with current ones” (57).  He goes on to describe how these two jobs are different from each other, how they work together, and the different education required for each position.  Tryon’s essay give the reader insight into and archivist and record managers job and it helps that Tryon is an archivist and record manager so he has first hand experience with both jobs. 

            Jannelle Warren-Findley’s essay on “Contract Historians and Consultants” explains how one would become a historian in private practice and how to determine what professional skills that you’ve attained to aid in you work as a contract historian or consultant.  Having once had a private practice as a historian, Warren-Findley knows first hand what it takes to be successful in this career and gives the reader information that will be useful for someone who chose this career path.
            Candace Falk’s “Documentary Editors: Not as Boring as it Sounds” explains what a documentary editor does, they preserve “history by presenting the full texts, allowing the reader to experience the immediacy of the authentic voice” (88).  Falk was a documentary editor herself and discusses her own work in the field, creating the Emma Goldman collection.

            Daniel Greer’s essay “Editors and Publishers: Making Books for Readers” illustrates what an editors job entails.  Since Greer works as an editor, he has first hand knowledge on how a manuscript is chosen to be published and the long process it goes through before it goes to print.  Greer gives examples of how an editor determines whether a manuscript has the potential to become a great novel and lays out the process a book and editor go through before the final product is produced.

            Disney’s America theme park was the dream project of Michael Eisner back in 1993.  Eisner wanted it to be a park that was centered on the history of the United States.  The different themed areas would allow guests to go back in time to the Civil War, visit an American Indian village, travel through Ellis Island, visit an old-time farm, or even walk through an American factory town.  In many of these areas rides would have been constructed to add to the experience.  This project never left the drawing board but many aspects can be seen in Disneyland, CA.  Maybe in another era Disney’s America theme park could become a reality, if one was willing to change the aspects that people took issue with. 

Courtesy of Disney Drawing Board. Disney's America Concept Art

Week 2: Museums and the Origins of Public History

Mike Wallace wrote Mickey Mouse History and Other Essays on American Memory, to  “examine the way Americans have grappled with the preservation and presentation of history in public settings”(xii).  Wallace makes note that Americans do not hold the same relationship to the past that people from other countries have.  For most Americans the discovering their ancestors, the history of their communities, or stories of great events in American History is what greatly interests them.  Not every one has the same view or opinion about history and there have been a few conflicts over collective memory.  Planned museum exhibits have come under fire, for example the National Air and Space Museum’s 1994-95 proposed Enola Gay exhibit.  But is does not stop at just conflicts, as Wallace points out, dictators like Stalin “police the past as well as the present, suppressing some memories, embellishing others.” (xi). 

Wallace’s first essay Visiting the Past: History Museums in the United States, discusses how the very first “museum” Washington’s house at Mount Vernon was preserved and how museums first came into being in the United States.  During the mid 1800’s, Americans were not interested in preserving sites of historic value because the monetary value outweighed the price is would cost to preserve the buildings.  Several groups were formed and they would construct shrines and monuments, some of these groups were: Sons of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.  Henry Ford, like many others, believed that history had no business in the present and people should live in the now, later on he created the first museum villages in Sudbury, Massachusetts.  Wallace notes that the first museums seen in America voiced the opinion of those who developed them, and left out parts of history that they or the public would not like.  This is a very interesting essay and gives insight into how Americans viewed museums in the 19^th and 20 century. 

Wallace’s second essay Razor Ribbons, History Museums, and Civic Salvation, discusses different types of museums in different areas and what they emphasize as important history.  Many of the urban museums put more focus on the history of the surrounding areas.  Museums are also changing how they display the history or artifacts.  Wallace himself proposed an exhibit that is not based on objects but on architecture, construction, developers, housing as well as other things.  This essay is not as straightforward as the last one, where some knowledge of the areas he discusses would help to understand why they design their museums the way they do. 

Patricia Mooney-Melvin’s Professional Historians and the Challenges of Redifinition, discusses how the history profession expanded from academic to the study of Public History and what that entails.  Melvin’s essay is very informative but dry and makes it hard to focus on all the facts that are presented.  One interesting fact is that professional historians paid less attention to individuals who worked in historical organizations, archives, the federal government, as independent historians, or the general public who read history books or visited historical sites.  Finally public history broke free and became its own respected profession although the definition of what public history is and what a public historian does is still greatly debated. 

Constance B Schulz’s Becoming a Public Historian discusses how a person becomes a public historian today.  Schulz discusses how one entered the public history field in the early years before the creation of public history programs.  The programs were split into three categories of study: archives and information management, cultural resources management, and applied research.  Schulz essay is very interesting and gives much information about the differences between academic history and public history. 

Museum Sells Pieces of Its Past, Reviving a Debate article by Robin Pogrebin, discusses how the Philadelphia History Museum sold numerous artifacts to provide funding for a $5.8 million renovation of their 1826 building.  There was much controversy about museums like this one selling historic artifacts to fund museum projects.  Pogrebin hits the mark when discussing why people are against this move and how the transactions are not closely recorded. 

Courtesy of The Philidelphia History Museum, taxidermied Philly