Histolircal exhibits are those whose content is based on history, science, or technology and requires more interpretive content than fine art exhibitions. Often, these exhibits require more text and use of graphics to explain objects, dioramas, charts, maps, or interactives.
Museums should provide their communities with exhibits that encourage the informed discussion of the themes, materials, and broader issues of historical significance they represent. Such discussion should be encouraged even when the exhibits celebrate common events or memorialize tragedies and injustices. Exhibits should allow visitors to understand that history is a process of interpretation and reinterpretation formed by gathering and reviewing evidence, making judgments about cause and effect, perspective, and significance.
The best museum exhibits are inclusive visual stories that enable their audiences to connect, in some way, with bigger ideas through the objects and archival materials on display. This type of storytelling can be achieved through collections related to rites of passage, such as birth and death, marriage/divorce, or coming of age; or by exploring abstract concepts, such as home, freedom, faith, or democracy.