Historians today all too often have to play the role of the “bad guy” while trying to keep public history accurate. It seems as if publishing any type of article or exhibit will lead to some type of disagreement and debacle with politicians, veterans, families involved in that particular subject, then eventually the general public as a whole. This was seen in 1994 though 1995 during the Enola Gay controversy between the National Air and Space Museum, their director and curators when politicians, and former World War II veterans and their families disagreed with the plans for an exhibit on the Enola Gay. Because of the disagreement and the museum being unable to find a “happy medium,” the exhibit was canceled and replaced with a much smaller one. This act outraged many historians who felt that the Smithsonian Institution had forfeited the right to educate and inform an audience consisting of millions of tourists worldwide about a defining experience that helped shape this century.1…
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza was nothing short of an amazing experience. It provides an abundant amount of interesting information about John F. Kennedy and goes into a lot deeper depth than just the day of the shooting. I have always loved going to museums and finding out interesting things about the past, and it is even a bigger thrill when you are actually at the place where history happened. The Sixth Floor Museum provides information about JFK's early life, family, campaign runs, and shooting. Most of the museum is just on one floor of the building, yet it fits so much information and diagrams in it. It is also well organized and makes you follow a path that shows all of JFK's historical moments in chronological order and not just giving out information at random moments. The museum also shows the window that Lee Harvey Oswald peered out of to snipe down the president with the boxes where he propped his rifle. In addition, there are voice recordings playing from when the event took place to give you a closer experience. Even after fifty years since the shooting, it is still a haunting site see as you can almost picture the event happening right in front of you. And just incase you cant picture the event at first by looking out the window, the museum provides and helpful glass cased diagram of the buildings and roads showing exactly where in Elm St JFK was shot and where the shots were coming from. I felt the information given was unbiased and appeals to all people for it gives straight facts about what happened during JFK's presidency and the day of the shooting. Even for the people who do not believe it was Oswald, the museum also provides a whole bulletin board filled with conspiracy theories making sure that nothing is ruled out.…
I was fortunate enough to go to the museum of tolerance, where there are three exhibits the Anne Frank, the Holocaust, and the Tolerance exhibit. Anne Frank always had hope that she would survive the war, unfortunately she didn't, but I was that hope that kept her going those two years in hiding. The holocaust exhibit helped me understand that people should ever again be treated like that, they were dehumanized pretty much treated like animals. One more less known victims of the Holocaust is Noach Szejniuk, fortunately he did survive the…
Parallel Journeys was a book that I bought several years ago while attending the Belfer II Conference at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. At the time, I was in the process of trying to develop a syllabus for a Holocaust Literature elective course at my high school; and, after speaking with many Mandel Fellows, I decided to purchase certain books (at their recommendations) to review as possible inclusions for my course. As we know, time tends to be something precious and fleeting, and this particular book remained on my shelf as a "want to read." Eventually, I read Parallel Journeys, reviewed the book for the Mandel Fellowship Program, and now offer my perspective as a rural North Carolina high school teacher.…
I did feel that the artifacts, although interesting and important, were very repetitive, not to say that they are not helpful, but I would have liked to see a wider variety of artifacts. The Strengths I noticed in the exhibit were the information included with each piece of item. I felt like this was very useful in understanding, who, what, when, where, why, and what happened to them after the fact of the war. The new piece of information that I acquired, was that at one point in the War, Germany attempted mass genocide on Turkey, I had never heard this piece of information and it makes sense to me now that they had one of the higher death tolls than the other nations involved. I agree with the way the museum is set up for this exhibit. There is plenty of primary sources and information given throughout the exhibit that anyone could learn something new walking through…
The quote, “They [monuments dedicated to homosexual injustice] make people consider the past, and encourage greater understanding of sexual diversity and the dignity of gay men and women” (pg 99), is compelling because homosexuality is now accepted and universal. The fact that the struggles endured by homosexuals during the Holocaust were not recognized for years is appalling considering how much the world analyzed the mistreatment of the Jewish community.…
The museum of tolerance in Los Angeles, California educates people about the holocaust. Anne Frank was a little girl who was known mostly because of her diary. Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam while world war ll occurred. Anne Frank was the main character from the museum. Anne and her family were hiding for two years, but then got caught because someone told on them. They never found out who told on them. Then, they came to get Anne and her family. Anne and her family got sent to different camps and were treated horribly. Learning about the holocaust helped me understand that this may never happen…
Presentation is everything. People often over look something because the first impression they experience is lack luster. The Sutliff museum is full of timeless treasures, offering a wonderful insight to 19th century history and the underground railroad. Unfortunately, the current promotional material does not do the museum justice. It appears out date and doesn't grab the attention of an audience. I’d like to rebrand the promotional material for The Sutliff Museum so that it reflects an updated, fresh design that draws people to the museum. My intent is to design two brochures, an information flyer, and update the website layout.…
Six million Jews were killed by the Nazi administration and their collaborator is what I already know about the Holocaust before visited it last Thursday. The History of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum located on 100 Raoul Wallenberg PI SW, Washington, DC 20024, as I got the address from their website. I got lost, however, the experience was totally worth it. Their hour that day was 10a.m until 5:15p.m. The only place that required ticket is Permanent Exhibit, other than that the museum open for everyone and there is no fee to enter. I thought visiting during the weekday would help with the crow but it still so crowed. The elevator is always full. There is no parking spot. These two things are probably the reasons why I gave it…
As I walked through the Blacks in Wax Museum I was both upset and happy by what I saw. Going into the slave ship and seeing the slaves being branded like livestock and shackled one on top of the other really brought to life the struggle that the slaves had to endure. I don’t understand how the white people can think of the slaves as less than human, and at the same time want to rape the women. The Lynching Exhibit opened my eyes to how cruel people can really be. What hit home was the story of pregnant Mary Turner and her husband. They hung both she and her husband and proceeded to cut off his genitalia. When they returned and found that Mary’s baby was not dead they cut it out of her stomach. They then took two cats that were feeding on the…
Los Angeles is a busy city that has a lot of great places to visit. For example, restaurants, little places to shop and most important educational places like the Museum of Tolerance. I chose the museum of tolerance to write my new assignment for my class because the name fascinated me and it is a place where I can go with my family. This museum gives examples of tolerance to its visitors by the setups it has inside. The museum is located on the west side of Los Angeles on Pico Boulevard. To enter this museum is not easy, they have checked by security two times before you go inside the building. They check you at the entrance of the parking lot and again after you pay for your tickets…
Earned Revenue *Earned revenue* is *revenue* created by the business operations of the facility. Sources that contribute to museums’ earned revenue include admissions, gift shops, food and beverage sales, memberships, facility rentals, and fees for research services. Essentially, any product or service that is offered by the museum and generates income is considered earned income. *Unearned revenue* is money that is not generated by the business operations of the facility, but is provided by others. The main sources of unearned revenue are fundraising and grants. Fundraising to increase unearned revenue includes both internal and external activities. Internal activities include such actions as special events, garage sales, and auctions. External activities include tactics such as soliciting sponsorships and developing partnerships, plus such activities as establishing foundations and/or ‘friends of’ societies. Grants are the other type of unearned revenue. Grants are funds given to tax-exempt non-profit organizations or local governments by foundations, corporations, governments, businesses and individual donors. {draw:rect} 0 © British Columbia Museums Association, 2007 Suite 204, 26 Bastion Square, Victoria, B.C. V8W 1H9 www.museumsassn.bc.ca BCMA / Best Practices Modules Page 5. *In order for a museum* to remain financially viable, increasing earned revenues should be a fundamental part of the budget planning process. With government funding decreasing, generating increased earned revenue will likely be the tactic chosen by museum boards of directors and their finance committees. The following list offers some ideas and suggestions for increasing earned revenues: Instituting or raising an admission fee is a realistic option for increasing earned revenue. Prior to any implementation of an admission fee, it is key that market research takes place to set a price point fee structure. If a product or service has enough interest to…
When I went to Washington, DC in 8th grade, I got to talk to a Holocaust survivor. I got to hear everything he went through. I even saw the number tattoo with which he was identified while being a prisoner. While listening to him, it sparked interest in me to learn more about the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a tragic event that started in 1933, during which Nazis occupied Poland and took Jews to concentration camps.(“Holocaust”)…
To educate millions of people about the dangers of hatred and the importance of preventing genocide, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was founded in Washington D.C. in1993. It is ironic how the museum is located among monuments and museums that symbolize freedom on the National Mall. The “Holocaust which occurred elsewhere but which is of universal significance” (Ruffins) was responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews in Europe. The mission of the museum is “is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). The memory of the Holocaust is a mix of sad emotions and the way the main exhibition is presented to the visitors makes them feel like they were one of the victims. The architect James Ingo…
Museums are essential for sustaining the world’s biological and cultural diversity. Yet they can do more without undermining their commitment to thorough and rigorous science. For example, they can increase the accessibility of their collections. The advent of new information technologies allows natural history museums to digitize collections and to make associated scientific data accessible to wide audiences. These technologies enable the sharing of data with countries that have provided collection material, thereby closing the digital divide. Database and imaging technologies can also transform enormous collections into innovative tools for identification in the field.…