Dear colleagues:
Back in the day when I was employed in the museum industry 1983-1996, I never hesitated to write my strongest arguments to governments supporting heritage institutions, local, regional, & national politicians as well as the heritage organisations of which I was a member, local press, & any other target that should have a better awareness of the important issues in our field.
Essentially, I recommend never giving up providing the strongest possible arguments in public aimed at changing wrong-headed ideas in the heritage institutions we are governed by & belong to..
Who better to persuade the 'powers that be' than the volunteers & paid workers in the field to create, strongly recommend, & implement the necessary directions in our industry.
My motto is 'never give up' & I recommend against passivity in the face of irresponsible directions.
No baseball batter ever got a hit without stepping into the batter's box.
We have to 'keep our eyes on the ball' & take some strong responsible swings. We need lots of 'small ball' hits & to keep at it as best we can.
Even though I am retired from the field I continue to persuade by writing, whether to politicians, museum organisations, & any others I can influence. Recall there is power in numbers.
Respectfully yours
Paul C. Thistle
For the record, Paul C. Thistle is a descendant of white settlers in southwestern Ontario, Canada that is located in the traditional territory of the Attiwonderonk (Neutral), Anishinabewaki
ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, and Haudenosaunee peoples (
www.native-land.ca/ ).
I am tremendously blessed to have been raised and retired here due to the generosity of Indigenous peoples who share their homelands with me. I believe that a reconcili-action response from white settlers in Canada remains pathetically long overdue.
More than 'acknowledgement' is required.
I personally am engaged in advocating for museums to attend to Indigenous concerns about how heritage organisations address the difficulties identified in the Moved to Action report of the Canadian Museums Association (2023) rb.gy/gd2qfp .
Original Message:
Sent: 5/12/2025 12:54:00 PM
From: Rachel Alschuler
Subject: How have you been calming agency?
Dear All
In this time of upheaval in this country and in museums as a result. How have you been copping ? I was in LA for the conference and saw the wall with the questions and responses to that upheaval. Looking forward to responses.
Thanks,
Rachel
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Rachel Alschuler
Museum Education/ Visitor Experience
San Francisco CA
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