Millions of people visit history museums each year, and although the country’s best-known institutions attract the majority of the audience, smaller entities such as California Afro-American Museum and Oneida Historical Society also draw large crowds. The reason is simple: exhibitions offer the public a way to connect with the past that is not available in monographs or public lectures.
The exhibit medium offers unique opportunities and challenges to historians. It is a three-dimensional visual and physical representation of the research evidence and interpretive judgments that form historical arguments and meaning. It invites comparison and evaluation, encourages discussion, and enables a wide range of points of view. Consequently, a museum’s exhibits may celebrate common events, memorialize tragedies and injustices, or explore controversial issues of historical significance.
Successful exhibits reveal a window into dense and complex research that is often unfathomable to the nonexpert. At the same time, they help to create narratives that enable a deeper understanding of history and the ideas that have made it possible. They do all of this through an imaginative marriage of ideas and objects that makes historical subjects both accessible and relevant to visitors’ lives.
In order to do this, museums need to challenge the traditional approaches to historical interpretation and exhibition design, which often fall short in promoting a balanced, inclusive view of the past. They need to develop a more sophisticated interdisciplinary approach that incorporates research, education, preservation, design and production, and community engagement. They must also embrace a variety of viewpoints and make the process of historical interpretation transparent to the public.
A well-crafted history exhibit is a multifaceted work of art that takes its place alongside literary works, music, and drama. Its intellectual and artistic contribution is a critical component in the museum’s mission, which is to educate citizens about the past, promote understanding of diverse cultures, and foster an interest in our national heritage.
As the demand for exhibitions reflects new patterns of public participation, historical organizations have shifted their focus to interpreting history with a greater emphasis on local and personal connections. This trend is most evident in the growth of niche or interpretive exhibits that address specific areas of history. For example, the New-York Historical Society will present exhibits on women’s history through everyday clothing, Robert Caro and his publication of The Power Broker, and three centuries of New Yorkers and their furry friends this fall.
These new exhibits provide the opportunity for museums to make a difference in their communities by exploring the diverse interests and histories of their constituents. Rites of passage, such as birth, death, marriage and divorce, and coming of age stories, provide excellent subjects for these types of inclusive exhibits. So too do topics such as food or drink, clothing and adornment, and abstract ideas like home, freedom, faith, democracy, and social justice. Ultimately, twenty-first century museums must show that they are deserving of their tax exempt status by offering meaningful history to the people in their communities.