Open Forum

Hi all,
I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up. 
Kristjana

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Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
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We've had some decent success with programming based on historical content, but wrapped in other types of events, like many other sites have done, I'm sure . . . film series, outdoor fairs or festivals, concerts featuring period music, food history programs (always with a tasting), etc.  Mount Vernon (right up the street from us) has a wonderful Virginia wine festival . . . mansion tours are available, but I'm sure the bulk of the crowd comes for the wine and the spectacular view of the Potomac River from the property.

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James Mackay
Director
The Lyceum
Alexandria VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 05:24 PM
From: Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Hi all,
I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up. 
Kristjana

-------------------------------------------
Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
-------------------------------------------

Hi, 

We do still have the traditional-type of programs, but we like to add twists. For example, dramatic readings of historic texts in our planetarium using the accurate historic sky as a backdrop,(and pointing out how weather or a full moon can help us better understand historic events),  or using musical performances to teach history. We hired a wonderful bluegrass group to play and tell the history of the songs and the instruments during their performance. Archeology and science lessons are a natural fit. So bringing in a "cave" for guests to create rockart or to do a pottery refit activity brings together the art of the creation, the science of the archaeology, and the history of native people. We also use food at events as a way to introduce foodways history. We worked with a caterer who was knowledgeable in foodways and preparation who could talk to guests. Making events immersive can attract people who might come for the music or food, but learn some history along the way. We are a multi-disciplinary museum so it is a bit easier for us to us use the natural interplay of science, art, natural history, and cultural history to put things into a larger context. It also helps that all the curators are excited to use the collections and create programs across disciplines. I like to say that everything has a history and work from there.

Good luck on your presentation,

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JoAnn Zeise
Curator of History
South Carolina State Museum
Columbia SC
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 05:24 PM
From: Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Hi all,
I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up. 
Kristjana

-------------------------------------------
Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
-------------------------------------------

The Milwaukee Public Museum is working on a program that will use the Twitter platform to conduct a live, real-time re-enactment of the great Milwaukee fire of 1892.  Our educator, Jacklyn Kelly, is drawing up on the experience of two other groups who have recently done this. 
1. Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area in Kansas; their #QR1863 project for the 150th anniversary of a Civil War massacre
2. The Brown vs the Board of Education historic site (National Park Service) ;their #Brown1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education project 

We are also taking on pop-up museum programs of which some will focus on local history.  There are models out there on these and we're adapting to our location.  Our educator Margaret James is working on this.

Jackie is also working on a fun "Tweets of Old Milwaukee" that will feature a "granny" figure from our iconic turn of the 20th century Milwaukee gallery "tweeting" during a time of a revamp/construction during which the gallery is closed to the public for a few months. 


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Art Montgomery
Education Manager
Milwaukee Public Museum
Milwaukee WI
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 05:24 PM
From: Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Hi all,
I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up. 
Kristjana

-------------------------------------------
Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
-------------------------------------------

a friend of mine, noreen mccann at sully plantation in northern virginia, organises and hosts authentic period teas. i know she"s had real success measured by the number and variety of questions during the event and the number of return visits from participants.

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Susan Day
Education and Communications Consultant
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Original Message:
Sent: 3/9/2015 5:24:09 PM
From: kristjaname@hotmail.com
Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Hi all, I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up.  Kristjana ------------------------------------------- Kristjana Eyjolfsson Director of Education Historical Museum at Fort Missoula Missoula MT -------------------------------------------

Here at Conner Prairie, an interactive history museum with outdoor grounds, we have been approaching STEAM across all of our interpretive programming. One way we do this is by offering thematic questions to visitors. Last year was the Year of Arts, and each month we proposed a question to visitors to provoke discussions, like "How do we use the arts to commemorate special dates and people?" or "How does nature influence art?". We've designated this year the Year of Innovation, and are asking questions like "How have innovations in textiles changed our lives?".

We also opened a new exhibition called Create.Connect that is a model (through an NSF grant) for developing science/history exhibits and interpretation. We worked with the Science Museum of Minnesota to integrate science activities into historic narratives within different contexts, such as a 1930s Indiana farm kitchen or 1950s Patent Office. We have developed historic characters who populate these areas and share the historic narrative while inviting visitors into the story by doing the activity. We also have "blue shirt" interpreters who do the same thing but from a third-person perspective.

These are a couple examples of how we seek to be interdisciplinary in our approach to inspiring curiosity and learning.

Good luck in your presentation.
Catherine


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Catherine Hughes PhD
Director of Interpretation
Conner Prairie Museum
Fishers IN
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 05:24 PM
From: Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Hi all,
I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up. 
Kristjana

-------------------------------------------
Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
-------------------------------------------

I work at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and we have historical enactors that wander our diorama halls or in our temporary exhibits. We have found that meeting someone "from" the past helps visitors make a more personal connection to historical content. I also recall an event I went to a while ago at the Molly Brown House called "Thirsty Thirsday." I'm pretty sure it was around Valentine's Day when I went and they gave us a tour, provided an historically inspired cocktail, had cupcakes, and then did a presentation and demo about Victorian era undergarments and gender roles. It was a bit risqué, and a lot of fun! Also, if you're interested, check out the International Museum Theatre Alliance (IMTAL). I'm one of the Board members, and we support all sorts of different museums and cultural institutions that use theatre to bring any number of subjects to life. There are some useful resources on our website. Good luck on your presentation!
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Amber Parham
Museum Educator/Performer
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Denver CO
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Original Message:
Sent: 3/10/2015 11:29:26 AM
From: hughes@connerprairie.org
Subject: RE: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Here at Conner Prairie, an interactive history museum with outdoor grounds, we have been approaching STEAM across all of our interpretive programming. One way we do this is by offering thematic questions to visitors. Last year was the Year of Arts, and each month we proposed a question to visitors to provoke discussions, like "How do we use the arts to commemorate special dates and people?" or "How does nature influence art?". We've designated this year the Year of Innovation, and are asking questions like "How have innovations in textiles changed our lives?". We also opened a new exhibition called Create.Connect that is a model (through an NSF grant) for developing science/history exhibits and interpretation. We worked with the Science Museum of Minnesota to integrate science activities into historic narratives within different contexts, such as a 1930s Indiana farm kitchen or 1950s Patent Office. We have developed historic characters who populate these areas and share the historic narrative while inviting visitors into the story by doing the activity. We also have "blue shirt" interpreters who do the same thing but from a third-person perspective. These are a couple examples of how we seek to be interdisciplinary in our approach to inspiring curiosity and learning. Good luck in your presentation. Catherine ------------------------------------------- Catherine Hughes PhD Director of Interpretation Conner Prairie Museum Fishers IN -------------------------------------------
Original Message: Sent: 03-09-2015 05:24 PM From: Kristjana Eyjolfsson Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history? Hi all, I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up.  Kristjana ------------------------------------------- Kristjana Eyjolfsson Director of Education Historical Museum at Fort Missoula Missoula MT -------------------------------------------

Thanks so much for all of your input - just the inspiration I needed!

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Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
-------------------------------------------


Original Message:
Sent: 03-09-2015 05:24 PM
From: Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Subject: Public programs that stretch the boundaries of teaching history?

Hi all,
I'm giving a presentation this weekend about innovative programming to get "non-history" people into history museums and historic places.  So, finding ways to do art, science, music etc. at a history museum (while still being relevant to the historic site).  Anybody have great examples at your museum, or maybe just at a museum you visit? Thanks for your help, I need a little inspiration to get this finished up. 
Kristjana

-------------------------------------------
Kristjana Eyjolfsson
Director of Education
Historical Museum at Fort Missoula
Missoula MT
-------------------------------------------