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Accessioning sensitive artifacts

  • 1.  Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-06-2017 10:14 AM

    Our museum has been offered a KKK robe and hood ca.  1950. The donor received it from a friend who believes it may have been her father's. We are a public-private partnership. Our private Board is the owner of the collection and must approve accessions. This one was controversial. Most were for it; a few very vocally against. Reasons contra: 1. Too "recent";  2. "Can't we "contextualize" the subject without this?; 3. "I can't believe you want to spend public money to preserve this" (from a public-side Trustee) 4. What are the donor's motives; couldn't this provide the KKK a platform? One Trustee thought we should create a policy allowing accessioning artifacts with reservations about their use. No decision was made at this meeting. As Director, I am against accessioning with reservations. The artifact must be used with sensitivity, but that is the staff's job.

    I would appreciate examples of accessioning with special caveats or other thoughts and insights.

     

    Steve Pike

    Steve Pike

    Director, Pink Palace Family of Museums

    3050 Central Ave.

    Memphis,TN 38120

    Phone: Office:  (901) 636-2371

                    Cell: (901) 601-7628

    Fax: (901) 636-2391

     

    Executive Assistant: Gale Viles

    Phone: (901) 636-2398

    Email: Gale.viles@memphistn.gov

     

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  • 2.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 07:05 AM

    Steve,

     

    We accession sensitive items without reservation, mainly objects relating to biomedical research using animals.  I personally find these objects difficult, as do many others, but they are a part of our organization's history. History should not be sanitized, although it can be presented sensitively.  I would answer the reasons against accessioning the robe and hood by saying:  1.)  The recent date of the hood and robe speaks even more about the persistence of racism, which we should not hide   2.)  The Klan hood and robe is the iconic symbol of the KKK-what else would you use?  3.)  If one used the argument that an historical artifact should not be preserved by public money because it's offensive, that opens a whole can of worms-who determines what's offensive for all time?  If objects are to be used for public education, even about hard subjects, shouldn't they be preserved for that reason?   4.) Unless you hire a KKK consultant to work on whatever exhibit this would be presented in, I don't see how the KKK could use it as a platform.  Your staff provides the interpretation.  

     

    Michele Lyons, Curator

    Office of NIH History and Stetten Museum

    National Institutes of Health

    Bldg. 60, Room 236

    Bethesda, MD  20814

    301-496-7695 or

    410-535-4797

    http://history.nih.gov

     

               

     




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  • 3.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 08:02 AM
    Michele spells it out very well. If it relates in any way to your local history collection then preserving the evidence of history is the right option to me. If it is not, then you would be most responsible to refer the donor to another museum like the Jim Crow Museum. Our museum had a walk in offer from a family member that knew the family history. The KKK family had no military affiliation, so our point of contact tactfully referred them to the above museum that has had the mission statement to handle it.

    To the point of spending resources on it, that is up to your professional judgement. You can emphasize to the board members the base line respect you give your artifacts on principle, and that you will not be asking for high end care. Just remind the board that they are smarter than those in the past that have tried erasing undesirable history. If you or they are not prepared to keep it to your museum's standards then there is your answer.

    ------------------------------
    Joseph Miller
    Museum Technician
    Army Heritage Museum
    Army Heritage and Education Center
    Carlisle PA
    ------------------------------

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  • 4.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 08:25 AM
    Our collection has a number of items related to the KKK. I have exhibited a hood, robe, and photo mural of a clan march in the Pittsburgh area in the 1920s. Our mission advises that we interpret human history of Western Pennsylvania. This region at one time (according to FBI) was one of the largest KKK member areas in the nation. It would be a violation of our mission to not preserve this part of history. How can a museum tell the story of Jim Crow, Civil Rights, oppression, etc., without these type of artifacts that represent that oppression, fear and terror. I have had both positive and negative reactions to the display. However it was placed in its proper context by telling the story of the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper that has tone white reporter infiltrate the clan and wrote insightful stories on their activities. The value to teach present and future generations about these organizations - some that appeared at Trumps inauguration is made more effective using actual artifacts.

    ------------------------------
    Samuel Black
    Director of African American Programs
    Senator John Heinz History Center
    Pittsburgh PA
    ------------------------------

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  • 5.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 08:45 AM
    At a previous place where I worked we were offered -- and accepted -- a KKK robe. We used it in an exhibit on the Civil War. We had to go way up the administrative line to make sure everyone was aware we were displaying it and how. (We were part of a government agency so the administrative line went to people outside the museum.)

    We did accept the robe with one restriction -- even though I and the Collections Committee were very much against restrictions. The robe was donated by a woman who had found it after her husband's death and believes his family may have been involved. We agreed to never display the family name with the robe. I will say that the family was not from anywhere near our museum. She had moved to the area after her husband's death.

    The exhibit had an area called "Reflection" that included GAR things and some other post-war artifacts. There was a corner that was like an attic scene. The robe was displayed in a trunk in the attic (where the robe had been found). During the 2 years I was there with that exhibit, the only public comments we got were along the line: "I'm glad that you're acknowledging that side of history and not trying to ignore it."

    Hope this helps.


    ------------------------------
    Linda Endersby
    Registrar/Collections Mgr
    Museum of Art & Archaeology, University of Missouri - Columbia
    Columbia MO
    ------------------------------

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  • 6.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 10:34 AM
    History msueums cannot just acquire things that reflect a pleasant past.  

    ------------------------------
    Steven Miller
    Executive Director
    Boscobel House and Gardens
    Garrison NY
    ------------------------------

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  • 7.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 10:40 AM
    Jim Crow Museum: Home
    Ferris remove preview
    Jim Crow Museum: Home
    Tour the Jim Crow museum with founder and curator, Dr. David Pilgrim. Dr. Pilgrim discusses some of the major themes of the Jim Crow Museum. Jim Crow was not just a character or a set of "laws", it was a system that built upon itself to create and sustain a society with a racial hierarchy.
    View this on Ferris >

    Steve,
    I've worked at a couple of museums that have KKK items in the collection. I can say that in both institutions, including my current one, there are KKK items from the 1950s and 1960s in the permanent collection. Some donors have chosen that their family's name is not connected with the item, i.e. in any exhibit labeling or information public in our online database, so that information is restricted to our eyes only as it were. I can understand completely the response of the board asking why monies should be spent to preserve such and object, but the reality is that this object, even though it is a symbol of hate, has a very real part of our national and local historical narratives. Particularly in the present, seeing again the rise of conversations about current hate groups one could argue that it is even more relevant, unfortunately, than it may have been 5 or 10 years ago. 

    As to if the donor's motives are to provide the KKK a platform, that answer lies in the hands of the museum, and any education interpretation done surrounding the object. If the intent is to use the robe to educate people about hate or hate groups or to do an analysis of past versus present, whatever the future goal may be, then the way the donor may receive the interpretation of the object, or truly any visitor or community member may interpret the object's inclusion in the museum's collection, is out of all of all of our hands regardless. Accessioning with reservations regarding use or display generally mean that people want their item to be on display all the time and immediately, but that doesn't sound like what's going on here. I think that reservations regarding family ties, as I've dealt with in the past, are understandable, particularly if they are still members of the community and are ashamed of that family member's past. 

    In the end, if the board is truly interested in the education of the public, our history includes chapters that are dark, and most would like to forget or gloss over, but the reality is that these dark chapters have shaped our present and are currently shaping much of our present political dialogue nationally. These objects show historical realities in a visceral way, and as long as they are interpreted in a way that aligns with the mission of your institution, then they are serving the public as education tools for building empathy, understanding and respect for people, in my opinion. 

    If you're looking for other places to seek out advice, the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State Univeristy ( Jim Crow Museum: Home

    Ferris remove preview
    Jim Crow Museum: Home
    Tour the Jim Crow museum with founder and curator, Dr. David Pilgrim. Dr. Pilgrim discusses some of the major themes of the Jim Crow Museum. Jim Crow was not just a character or a set of "laws", it was a system that built upon itself to create and sustain a society with a racial hierarchy.
    View this on Ferris >

    is a great place to look for resources. Their museum collection is comprised solely of racist memorabilia, spanning the decades from those forced into slavery up to caricatures of Barack Obama. David Pilgrim is the curator and museum founder and I think he could be a great resource for you. 
    Hope that helps!
    Regina



    ------------------------------
    Regina Gorham
    Collections Manager
    Kalamazoo Valley Museum
    Kalamazoo MI
    ------------------------------

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  • 8.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 11:51 AM
    Because I agree with the other comments, I just wanted to chime in to share a story about seeing a KKK robe in a museum as a child. Perhaps you can use it to convince your board members of the importance of preserving difficult history.

    My second-grade class took a field trip to History Colorado, in its former iteration, in 1996 or 7. I already had a bent for history, but didn't have a very good conception of time, being six or so years old. I honestly remember nothing from the field trip, except for a KKK robe and hood displayed toward the end of the part we visited. I knew what it was all about and it absolutely shook me to be so close to this material evidence of something so evil. What horrified my six-year-old self the most was how recent it was and how prevalent it had been in my state in the 1920s. To a second-grader the 1920s might as well be ancient Egypt (what I was really into back then!). If I had not seen the hood in person, I would not have understood just how recent this past really was. It sparked conversations at home about the civil rights era and my mind was blown that this was something my parents lived through and not just something that happened "in the past." I understood the relevance of history to today so much better from having seen that KKK outfit in a museum when I was 6. 

    ------------------------------
    Kelsey Brow
    Curator
    King Manor Museum
    Jamaica, NY
    ------------------------------

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  • 9.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 12:04 PM

    You should reach out to the Indiana State Museum, I visited several years ago and they did a fantastic job (at the time?) of using KKK materials in a sensitive manner in order to discuss this not-so-great piece of state history - I was very impressed.

    -Jenny



    ------------------------------
    Jenny Benjamin
    Director
    Museum of Vision
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

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  • 10.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 01:36 PM
    You may wish to contact the Oakland Museum to discuss your situation and any issues they have had.  They own a KKK robe and hood, donated many years ago, I believe, and used locally.  It was on display  in "All Power to the People: The Black Panthers at 50," a powerful exhibition that closed only a few weeks ago, which is where I saw it.  The robe and hood were used in the introductory gallery to explain the social, historical, and political context that ultimately gave rise to the Panthers.  For me, seeing it was a visceral experience.  I had had no idea that the KKK was ever active in California and now I will never forget it. It was much more powerful to see the regalia itself than a photograph of someone wearing it. 

    ------------------------------
    Melissa Leventon
    Principal
    [Curatrix Group]
    San Francisco CA
    ------------------------------

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  • 11.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-07-2017 05:47 PM

    As a kid, I vividly remember turning a corner in the National Museum of American History and coming face-to-face with a KKK robe. I was young, but old enough to know that the KKK was bad. I had read about it the KKK, seen historical videos, talked about it. Nothing compared to actually seeing the artifact in person. It drove home for me that this was a real thing, not some theoretical intangible concept. People actually used it as a tool to spread hate. It brought home to me the reality of the struggles of the generations before and sticks with me today to remind me that the fight still continues. As someone else said, the purpose of a museum isn't just to be bright and cheery; history is filled with good and bad. This is an excellent opportunity for your museum to prompt real discussion. I personally would have no problems with my tax money (the public trustee argument) preserving it. It's not like you are encouraging people to join the KKK, you are preserving it as an artifact to showcase a time in history that we desperately need to learn from.

     

    Sean Mobley | Docent Services Specialist
    The Museum of Flight
    9404 East Marginal Way S
    Seattle, WA 98108
    Work: +1 (206) 768-7151
    www.museumofflight.org




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  • 12.  RE: Accessioning sensitive artifacts

    Posted 03-08-2017 09:36 AM
    Hi Steve:

    I realize you've gotten a lot of responses already, but I'm going to throw my two cents in.  I think we as history museums have a duty to preserve the story of the areas that we serve, even if that story is at times uncomfortable.

    My museum is about 40 miles north of the Dakota Access Pipeline protest site and we have been very active in collecting from the protests.  We've collected from all sides--government agencies, law enforcement, counter protest groups, as well as the protestors themselves and tribal governments.  We have artifacts from the protest ranging from protest signs to lexan riot shields.  This incident is admittedly different from KKK activities, but there was a bit of hesitation to collect what we collected, and to make our efforts public, because people on both sides of the issue have very strong feelings about it.  Ultimately we did move forward with our collecting efforts and made it very public that we were doing so.

    Not that you need to make a public announcement that you're collecting this item, if that's what you decide to do.  We have assembled an incredible historical resource for one of the most significant events that has happened here in recent memory, and it's one that I'm proud of.  It doesn't provide a platform for any one group--it tells the story of a very important (and ongoing) event in our state's history.  If the KKK was a part of the story of the area that you're serving and the item fits in with your mission, then collect it, even if it is unpleasant or controversial.

    I hope you find a solution that works well for you.

    ------------------------------
    Geoffrey Woodcox
    Assistant Curator of Collections
    State Historical Society of North Dakota
    Bismarck ND
    ------------------------------

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