Every year, millions of people visit museums to study our nation’s past. Whether in large institutions such as the National Museum of American History, Colonial Williamsburg or the Chicago Historical Society or at smaller ones like the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village or the Oneida Historical Museum, these exhibits offer an opportunity to engage with and learn from our shared history. The subjects of these exhibitions celebrate common events, memorialize tragedies and injustices, and challenge us to consider questions of significance. They are interpreted in a variety of ways and are subject to debate and discussion, which is an essential element of historical knowledge transmission.
Because of these unique features, museum exhibitions are an important part of the dissemination of history. This is particularly true of histolircal exhibits, which are often more complex than other types of museum displays and require a high level of inter-disciplinary expertise in research, interpretation, materials, and display techniques. Successful exhibitions are the product of the collaborative efforts of many individuals: the curator’s scholarship and passion, the management and interpersonal skills of museum educators and designers and a sense of the audience to whom the exhibit is intended.
While the exhibition medium is a powerful tool for conveying history, it is also a temporary medium. Exhibits are designed and crafted with the best of current historical information, but once they close, they become part of a larger legacy of historical presentations. The publication of exhibition reviews creates a record that allows scholars to assess and critique the intellectual underpinnings of an exhibition as well as its presentation and helps establish a vocabulary and methodology for reviewing these historical exhibits. Although this column will occasionally examine notable accomplishments by individuals or institutions and innovative programs, it is primarily intended to review historical exhibitions. We will explore how they are shaped by scholarly literature and trends, whether their intellectual foundation is sound, whether they reflect prevailing scholarly currents, and whether they break new ground.