CAREERS IN MUSEUMS
with Cheryl Brookshear, Jim Holton, Kevin Britz, & Andy Davis
Hosted by Paula Foster
April 2001
The following Guest Speaker Discussion originally took place on WRK4US in April of the year 2001. Because WRK4US has a confidentiality policy, all names and email addresses have been altered or removed, except for the moderator's and the Guest Speakers'.
The discussion can be read in two ways- by simply scrolling down and reading the whole thing, or by clicking on the topical links below, which take you to specific places within the discussion. The discussion can also be printed out in its entirety for your reading convenience.
Special thanks to Marguerite Brown who volunteered her time to edit this discussion and prepare it for posting on the web. If you are interested in editing a future discussion, your help will be much appreciated; email Paula Foster, WRK4US List Manager, at pfchambers@sbcglobal.net
Introductions
Getting a Job in The Museums Field: Resumes, Interviews, Credentials, etc.
Working Conditions in The Museums Field: Pay, Hours, Co-Workers, Politics, etc.
Employment In Museums for The Literature Major
Historical Consulting in The Museums Field
Other Employment Opportunities in Museums: Administrative Marketing, etc.
Some Information About Cultural Resources Management Companies
Additional Resources
Conclusion
Hello Work4US subscribers,
My name is Cheryl Brookshear. I currently work at a small house museum as Curator of Education. In this position I am in charge of the educational programs (lectures, traveling trunks and scout programs) interpretation (how objects are used to present the story to the public) and volunteer management.
My daily activities involve opening the museum, greeting volunteers, giving tours if enough volunteers are not available, scheduling tours and projects. Sometimes I even end up doing building maintenance, snow shoveling, maintaining the furnace, changing light bulbs. I research and write a short article (one page) for the quarterly members newsletter and write a monthly volunteer newsletter. Volunteer recruitment and training is continuous.
My current project is completing a traveling trunk (a collection of objects sent to the classroom) for 2nd graders. This trunk focuses on Victorian daily life so I've been researching and developing classroom activities about cooking, cleaning, toys and games. Future projects include a lecture series for adults, possibly a series of weekend family activities, scout badge programs--and whatever else I can think of and implement.
I was surprised to discover how much I enjoy working with the kids who visit the museum. The research is fun. However, it is demanding to keep track of all the projects at once, and I don't always get to follow my research interests. I commonly have to drop what I am working on to give a tour, answer a volunteer's question or deal with some other problem. I am one of two staff members and there can be conflicts. In addition, there is no one my age at the museum which has made moving and settling into a new city a bit more difficult. Money is always a problem at non profits and the pay reflects that.
This isn't what I planned on when I began my academic career. Believe it or not I first considered nuclear chemistry. ;) Discovering I was a terror in the lab I completed my Bachelors with a history major, chemistry and math minors.
I had no idea what to do with a history BA, but I was fascinated by living history (museums where people try to do things as they were done in the past) and National Geographic and Nova specials on the science behind preserving buildings and frescos. After much searching, I discovered that there are degree programs in Historic Preservation which focus on these areas.
Last May I graduated with a Masters in Historic Preservation. That is a terminal degree for the field. The degree was a little different than I expected. It left me prepared for joining a governmental agency a planning or architectural firm. I did have class work in issues relating to house museums, but in the museum field I was competing with museum studies graduates and had to adapt my credentials just like a Ph.D. Going back for a Ph.D. is not tempting. I want more control over what I research and how I present it. (Writing papers is my least favorite activity.)
I was on a job hunt for either a preservation officer position or museum position for two years as I finished my thesis. I had a work study position at one house museum, interned at another and lucked out with a temporary position at the Milwaukee Art Museum while I finished my thesis.
The museum field is very crowded as there are many ways to enter the field. Museums are not a separate endeavor, rather they are a way of looking at other endeavors. Museums use Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. to fill positions. Museums use Anthropologists, Art Historians, Scientists, Historians and other experts based on the type of museum. Large museums like the Milwaukee Art Museum use an even wider variety of graduates since they have numerous departments and operate like any large business. Regardless of your field you can do something in a museum.
The most important aspect to securing a museum job is an ability to do a variety of tasks, volunteering/interning and persistence. I regularly monitored 3 lists, 4 on line job boards, joined 2 professional associations, as well as using the career placement services at school. I found my job, however, by word of mouth.
Just so people are aware, a museum is considered any institution that collects, preserves and displays objects with the intention of educating. This includes zoos, libraries, archives and museums. Argument continues on whether science centers and children's museums are included.
Another term which may help in your inquiries is public history. Paula and I discussed this and I don't know what is the accepted definition, but mine is historic research presented in some format separate from the standard academic paper, generally an exhibition or other public format. I'll try to answer questions on these related areas as well as my current position.
Cheryl
My name is Jim Holton. I live in Lakeland, Florida, a medium-sized city in central Florida about halfway between Orlando and Tampa. I am currently finishing up my own dissertation in American History from The George Washington University. I've been working as a historian for the past couple years in Florida.
Besides the usual teaching, I've gotten work as a historical consultant at the beginning of 2000. My current project is to help my county's historical museum design a permanent exhibit on African American history. I also am about to begin work on a similar project for an old turpentine mill area that the county bought in order to preserve some environmentally sensitive land.
I am an independent contractor. I highly recommend this type of work for new professionals who are looking to get one foot out of the academy. As I develop my career, I've been slowly weaning my self off of the academic life and into the field of public history. At this point in my life it is a supplement to the normal grunt-work of teaching survey courses.
I don't have a typical day since my work is part-time. The reason I recommend it to those who are interested in public history is because it gives you both freedom to work at a pace around your other obligations. Like I said, it's not a full-time job (at least I haven't made it so) but it provides reasonable work for those who can be flexible with their time. Had I not been busy on a Ph.D., I might have tried to turn in it a full-time job. But that's another discussion, I guess...
I typically work by the week. Hours vary according to the status of the project. I was hired by the museum's former curator to help bring together the threads of a planned African American history project. I meet with the museum curator to keep her apprised of the historiographical "how to's" of the exhibit. I also meet with a committee of volunteers who guide the exhibit and make recommendations about what the community might like to see. My job is to take these recommendations and make my own to the committee.
My jobs are eclectic: doing research, writing text, drumming up public relations, are a few of the big jobs. Some of the smaller jobs include working with local, i.e. "amateur" historians to incorporate little-known sources of information. For example, one man recently taught me how railroad land plat maps can tell a lot about an area's history. Since I'm working on a museum exhibit, and exhibits depend on artifacts, my duties include locating historically significant artifacts and convincing people to donate them to the museum. My first such acquisition was a homebuilt embalming table from a historically black funeral home. Don't worry, the table was cleaned and hadn't been used in four decades! In short, I help a local museum better tell the history of the area it serves.
The great things about this job are that it involves you directly with the public and with "real" history. If I had to define public history here, I'd say that it's the presentation of history meant primarily for the public at large. In other words, you're trying to "sell" history. Public history must keep in mind that people consume history for a variety of reasons: some for nostalgia, some out of academic interest, for personal enrichment, et al. Our jobs as historians is to tailor the message to reach the most groups. Some historical purists will hate the marketing comparison, but I think it works. I think public history teaches us that we can't expect there to be only one message. The public will pick up on an attempt to impose academic definitions. You've got to convince. Even controversial messages can be used effectively, if you know what constituent groups to appeal to.
It's one thing to write a Ph.D. or a book which mostly academics will read, but it's another to really commit to developing a local history which directly serves the public. My career plans never included uprooting and moving to take a job in a faraway place. I was, due to family circumstances, committed to an area and molded by career around that. Consulting work was a great way to do fulfilling work.
The not-so-great things about this job? Sometimes you'll find yourself working with individuals whose idea of history is to glorify nostalgia. Sometimes local museums have a limited clientele and may not want to stretch their thinking. Local history societies are often being museum boosters, and they may seem very conservative in how they interpret things. By conservative here I mean adhering to interpretations that don't change over time, not to particular political philosophy. There's a local museum around here which has, for some inexplicable reason, a celebrity doll collection. There's no convincing them that it's inappropriate. You want to gently challenge people's traditional understandings and get them to think about new interpretations.
How did I get into this line of work? A mentor/friend recommended me for it. I'd gotten to know some local museum people and learned more about museum work. I joined the Florida Association of Museums. I went to their convention and got to know museum curators, registrars, and historical specialists. I did some back ground reading into museum work (starting with Ellis Burcaw's "Introduction to Museum Work," THE seminal work in the museum field). In short, it was a means of adaptation in an academic milieu that discouraged (with a couple professors as exceptions) getting involved with "amateurs." I also recommend joining the National Council on Public History (www.iupui.edu/~ncph). The NCPH supports the work of public historians and publishes a fine journal, "The Public Historian."
A trained academic historian has the credentials and credibility to do effective research. That historian can use his or her training to help local museums.
Like I've said before, this job isn't for everyone. I haven't made it a full-time job but I don't think that's a bad thing. For those who are thinking about leaving the academy, or who are in the interim period between academic jobs, consulting for museums gives you some real "hands on" experience with living history. More than anything else it will awaken you to the fact that historians are not dispensers of divine wisdom. You must INTEREST the public in history.
I'm by no means an expert, but I'm glad to shed more light on my experiences through your questions.
Jim Holton
holton@gwu.edu
Hello everyone,
I am currently employed as vice president of programs at The High Desert Museum, an history/natural history institution located in Bend, Oregon.
Throughout my professional career, I have moved between academia and the museum profession, something that is possible because the two fields are closely related. I decided to try my hand at the museum field about a year after I graduated from Knox College with a history degree in the late 70s. Determined to find a way to use the degree as a teacher or other occupation, I entered the MA program at the University of Arizona, specializing in U.S. history. About a year into the program, I became intrigued with the museum field and started taking classes in museum studies in the anthropology department. At one point, I asked one of the museum studies professors what it would take to land a job in the field. He said simply: "an MA and two years of experience." I took this advice very literally and began volunteering at the Arizona Historical Society while I completed my MA. Within a year, I was hired by the Society to work on a major exhibit on mining and worked there through the completion of the project. During the year I was employed at AHS, I developed a number of important skills: carpentry, drafting (I had this in high school), exhibit design, an basic collections care. One of the things I also did on the project was historic research on Arizona mining topics, a practical application of the use of primary materials-an indispensable skill in researching museum exhibits (many local topics lack secondary sources).
I soon discovered that once one enters the museum world, employment opportunities are readily available if you are willing to work anywhere in a variety of places and institutions. My next job after the Arizona Historical Society was with the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, Oklahoma. I worked there for two years as an exhibit technician and conservator, an experience that strengthened my skills in exhibit design and collections management. I then took a position as Curator at the Stearns County Historical Society in St. Cloud, Minnesota, an organization that was looking for a museum professional who could work with architects on the design of a new facility, then build an organization. I worked there for ten years, helping to enlarge the staff to eleven (from four) and create exhibits, education, and collections programs. The museum was the first historic agency in Minnesota to be accredited by the American Association of Museums. During that period, I finished my MA thesis, taught museum studies, historical administration, and Minnesota local history at St. Cloud State and St. John's University in an adjunct capacity.
I enjoyed teaching tremendously, and in 1993, decided to return to the University of Arizona to get my Ph.D. in U. S. History. While I worked on my degree, I kept my museum credentials active (and bills paid) with contract work with a number of museums such as the San Carlos Apache Cultural Center, The Ramsey County Historical Society (St. Paul, MN) and Bronko Nagurski Museum (International Falls, MN). My dissertation topic reflected my bifurcated world. I wrote on the ways community memory was constructed in the "Old West" towns of Deadwood, Dodge City, and Tombstone through historic architecture, museums, festivals, and preservation agencies. (I'm currently working with the Univ. of Kansas Press in getting it prepared for publication). After I finished prelims, I started looking for employment and applied for two museum jobs, just to test my marketability; though I still hoped to get a full-time teaching position. I got final interviews from both and a job offer from The High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon as its director of exhibits. I took the position, and moved to Bend in 1997. A year later, I was promoted to vice president for programs to merge the education and exhibits departments, and complete the construction of two major exhibit wings. I have been there ever since.
The High Desert Museum was opened in 1982 and is unique among its peers because we have historic artifacts and living animals. We sit on 135 acres and have 110,000 square feet of building space. We have added 25,000 feet (14,000) of exhibits in the last three years. The staff is 55 of which I manage 22. I oversee the daily management of or program division: exhibits, zoological staff, interpreters, education, and artifact collections. In an average day, I conduct meetings with department managers, and other administrative duties (evaluations, budgets, contracts, inquiries, and board of trustee service). Because we receive no public funding, much of my time is spent on grants and developing other funding strategies-which entails designing programs to fit funding qualifications. Currently, I am working on the development of a new ten-year long-range plan, based on issue-based educational programs and exhibits and working with the National Park Service to create a new Paleontology Museum for the John Day Fossil Beds.
Like any job, my job has periods of great joy and great frustrations. My favorite parts of my current job are working is the local travel, creative planning, and the perpetual learning curve of new skills and subjects. I also get the satisfaction of quieting nay sayers who say history and anthropology, and liberal arts in general are worthless endeavors in the "real world." My greatest headaches are simple: the grind of administrative procedures and paperwork. What I miss most in academia is the camaraderie of fellow graduates who talk the talk, the academic calendar, the intense intellectual challenge, the research, and teaching. I'm nourishing this side of my brain by gleaning off articles from my dissertation for publication in journals, while filling in research holes and rewriting in preparation for its general publication. I will also get a chance to return to teaching as Oregon State University is establishing a branch campus in Bend next year, and has asked us to develop a museum studies program as part of its new curriculum.
I hope this has been beneficial. I will be happy to answer questions about the museum and zoo field in general and the skills I think are important in being successful in museums. I will also be happy to provide information on what we tend to look for in interviews, resumes, and general qualifications.
Kevin Britz
Vice President for Programs
The High Desert Museum
59800 South Highway 97
Bend, OR 97702-7963
541-382-4754
britz@highdesert.org
I've been asked to talk about my work as a museum curator, a position I held with the Theater Collection at the Museum of the City of New York.
I recently completed my Ph.D. in Performance Studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Although the academics involved in the field have not been able to define just what "performance studies" is, for me, it is a cross between theatre and anthropology. The NYU department began as a theater history program, but in the late 1970s, they decided they needed to consider performance that took place outside of the proscenium arch - they examine ritual, festival, street entertainments, avant-garde performance and performance in everyday life. I got involved because I was interested in popular entertainments. I'd been a performer for years before going back to graduate school. I'd worked in improvisational theater and at Renaissance Faires rather than legitimate theatre, and this program seemed to be the right way to go.
I fell into the museum work quite by accident. The Curator at the Theatre Collection at the Museum of the City of New York contacted my adviser, Brooks McNamara, about getting some volunteers who could catalog their material on popular entertainments. I jumped at the chance to do this, and went up to the museum (it's on 104th and 5th Avenue) one afternoon a week to archive playbills, photographs, cartes de visites, broadsides and other paper goods on vaudeville, burlesque, minstrelsy, circus and nightclubs. It took me a year or so to get through everything - putting them in acid-free folders, preparing a finding guide to the collections, etc. The payoff was to get a chance to work closely with the materials. I figured archival skills might be a source of extra income for someone living on an assistant professor's salary.
I hadn't been back to the Museum for a several years and I was preparing to move back to Los Angeles, when word came to me that the folks at the Museum were looking for "that guy who worked on the Circus Collection." It turned out that the museum was putting together an exhibition on the history of the circus in New York City, and they needed someone to write the exhibition script. I actually knew very little about circus at the time, but figured this would be a good way to learn. I passed inspection - I was able to identify a window card of Jumbo as advertising a musical comedy, not a circus - and I got a contract to write the script, as a "consulting historian" on the project.
The pay was, and is, low. I pulled down perhaps $18 an hour - pretty measly given the cost of living in New York City. But other payoffs were high. I got to meet most of the circus fans and authorities in New York either in researching the project, or at the press opening for the exhibition, and befriended an elderly circus fan who likes to tell stories going to circus in the 1920 and 30s. A museum is a great place to discover people like that, since it is a much more public forum than a university. You're constantly drawing on the skills and knowledge of people in the community you live in when you work in museums, since it is a collaborative effort that requires support from others, both the paid staff of the museum, regular volunteers and experts in various fields.
I've since gone on to curate exhibitions on "Broadway in 1898," "The Astor Place Riots," and "Guys and Dolls," among other smaller topics. I've also organized educational programs ranging from panel discussions to living history events to cabaret nights. My role was a bit unusual at the Museum since I specifically worked on Theater Exhibitions and Programs, while my associate, Marty Jacobs, was in charge of the collections themselves. Marty was an old theatrical producer/director who began doing museum work on a volunteer basis when he retired and got hired on as a curator. The Museum of the City of New York is a fairly small institution. At the MCNY there are curators in charge of oil paintings, photographs, costumes and textiles, decorative objects. Each had one full-time curator. The manuscripts collection and the toy collection were in the hands of part-timers or volunteers.
A theater collection is rather unusual. The other curators had degrees in art history (the usual way into this line of work), in the history of decorative objects, or in costume and textile history and care, or photography. The curators tended to have background in preservation. There's a certain amount of flexibility that each person has to define the job in their own way. The Curator of Costumes was running a costume shop, using a lot of volunteers to repair and document the textiles in her collection. The curator of Decorative Objects is a national expert on the history of silver, and recently published a two-volume work on the museum's silver collection. I tended to approach the job from my background as a theater person - creating exhibitions as stage designs and attempting to tell the story. The different orientations were helpful and I found that my writing ability was a good asset, and I was able, in turn, to draw on the design skills of the Costume Curator.
The appeal of museum work is that it is draws on some of the skills of the academy. I have the opportunity to research and write on various topics in theatre history. The writing, thankfully, is a lot different from academic writing - a lot less analysis, a lot more story-telling. You write in bite-sized pieces, when you write an exhibition script. You're captioning pictures, really, whether those pictures are represented by paintings, photographs, an antique table, a costumed mannequin or whatever. At the same time, you're trying to tell a coherent narrative for those who read everything. Few people will actually take the time to read the entire story - wandering through marble halls isn't conducive to that. Most people graze, looking over all the sights, perhaps stopping to read a label here or there when an object catches their eye. The directors of the museum do, however, read the entire script.
I'd never been attracted to museums as a place to work. I've certainly enjoyed visiting them over the years. But as a place to work, they always seemed like dowdy places, with dowdy people inhabiting them. There's some truth in that, but I found that working at the Museum of the City of New York fed my interest in and orientation towards theatre and the performing arts. Putting together a museum exhibition was a lot like putting up a show, complete with an opening night with invited guests and press. For me, the exhibition space as a stage (or a series of stages) complete with sets, props and costumed mannequins that on some level was supposed to convey the visitor into a long-ago time. I also got very much involved in putting together programs - panel discussions, gallery talks, musical evenings and some living history. Again that drew on my background in theater and, though it took some explaining, people who lacked the performing arts background were happy to let me do it.
I haven't given up my ties to academia. I continue to teach as an adjunct at local universities, and I find its nice to have a foot in both worlds - each gives you cachet with the other. And when you get too fed up with the politics of one world you can trade it in for the other. Museum work is just as political as academic work, but different. I find that museum people have to compromise since they must work with other people.
Finding a job in a theater collection is unlikely for most people, since there are so few collections like this. But there are certainly opportunities for people in other humanities disciplines. There are historical societies or history museums in many communities, that provide employment opportunities. If you're eager to do some of this, you can propose an exhibition idea, based on either on items in their collections or from private collections, if you have contacts with collectors. You'll need to put together a formal written proposal. The exhibition or curatorial staff will assist in the logistical end. The Museum of the City of New York has recently put on two outside exhibitions -- one on the Junior Leaque, another on a Gay Activist group -- both supported financially by those organizations. There's a heavy emphasis on collaboration and partnership these days, so if you can bring two or more organizations together, you can begin to build yourself a track record in exhibitions.
You might want to consider programming end of museum work, where you
organize panels, speakers and other events that draw people into the museum. Most museums will have a paid full-time or part-time position in the programming end, and its often a good way in. If you've booked speakers into a university or assisted on an academic conference, you have the skills necessary to get involved in this end of things. This often puts you in contact with local academics, not-for-profit fundraisers and others who are concerned with issues of heritage. Programs are a good a way of upping museum attendance, getting people to visit more times a year, so museums put some energy into programming interesting and informative programs.
If you have any questions about this line of work, I will be happy to comment.
Andy Davis
GETTING A JOB IN THE MUSEUMS FIELD: RESUMES, INTERVIEWS, CREDENTIALS, ETC.
Question for Kevin: you mentioned in your introduction that you could shed some light for us on what you look for in a resume and in an interview. Please go ahead and shed that light. What types of positions do you typically do the interviewing for, and what do you look for in an applicant? What else can you tell us about the hiring process?
Paula Foster Chambers
WRK4US list manager
Good morning
I suggest that you add 'cover letter' to the request.
In today's hiring world, HR Pros and hiring managers are most likely to take a look at a great cover letter and scan resumes.
Cheers
Subscriber AB
I interview anyone looking for work in programs. At our facility, that would include zookeeping, collections management, volunteer management, interpretation, exhibits, and educational programming. I also sit on search and selection committees for other parts of the museum. At this point, I'm working on the search for the new president. What look for in an applicant, of course, depends on the position. I'll talk specifically on what I look for in a candidate based on over twenty years in the field. First, I look at cover letters for the reasons why they want the position-career move, application of background, relocation, etc. Then I carefully scrutinize vitas looking for skills: What has a candidate actually done? What were they accomplishments? I've noticed that many applicants scrimp on details here. Third, as a educational institution, I look for the level of degree and the type. Our two last hires both had M.A.s. We hired an education programs specialist with a master's in environmental education with a BS in aquatic science with about two years of experience; another had a M.A. in public history with three years of experience at a historical society and professional design firm. In both cases, academic content was very important. Both had strong backgrounds in their respective fields and since we don't have the funds to hire research curators, we have to rely on their subject knowledge in program creation. Finally, I look for intangibles. Does a candidate have a series of two-year job stints? That may indicate a personality problem or restlessness. Some words of advice for resume or vita writers. Organize your vita well and have your education listed prominently. Then detail previous experience with current first. This seems very obvious, but I can't tell you how many applicants hurt their chances with confusing and just plain bad resumes.
During interviews...by the time we bring candidates in, we've screened them thoroughly and are now trying to find their personality traits. Are they a good fit with our organizational culture? Because our work entails close collaboration, we seek out folks who can not only benefit us with their skills but are fun to work with.
Kevin Britz
My question is primarily for Cheryl. I am interested in a career that is similar to what you are currently doing. For someone who just has a BA in History and educational experience outside of the classroom, am I marketable at all? I have thought about volunteering at the AZ State Capitol Museum. I know volunteer work is always profitable, but will this help me out? Any suggestion about how I could get my foot in the door would be very helpful.
Thank you
Subscriber CD
CD,
I would think that you are marketable. Museums hire based either on credentials or experience. Your teaching background will make up for fewer credentials. Most positions will ask for 2-3 years experience. These can be obtained outside the museum field and inside. I would volunteer first or at least read Barcaw's "Introduction" which Jim suggested so you know how museums work and can speak "the language." A certificate program may be helpful, but talk to a few more people before you invest your time and money. Look at job listings at http://www.museum-employment.com or the AASLH and AAM web sites to see what museums are requesting. Volunteering is one of the most important aspects of getting your foot in the door. As a volunteer you learn about museum operations, work on projects, gain experience and skills, and most importantly meet people. Museum conferences abound. Attend as many of these as you can and talk about your projects and get to know what other museums are planning. You never know when the perfect position will open up. You will most likely have to be willing to move and a small institution would be more likely to hire someone in your position.
Good luck,
Cheryl
WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE MUSEUMS FIELD: PAY, HOURS, CO-WORKERS, POLITICS, ETC.
Hi Everyone,
Thanks so much Andy, Kevin, Jim & Cheryl for taking the time to share your experiences.
I'd like to ask a question about the overall work atmosphere in doing this kind of work.
What kind of hours to you work on average per week? is your workday / work week reasonably flexible? can you set your own hours?
What are your co-workers like? do you generally feel that there is a team atmosphere, or is there a lot of competition between different curators, programming directors, etc.?
Do your colleagues tend to come from academic backgrounds? If not, is there any animosity toward you or other types of negative impressions of you because of your academic experience?
Thanks for your time!
Subscriber EF
In my current part-time environment, my hours are pretty flexible as I'm doing research on my own. I do have scheduled meetings from time to time, and I have to be flexible. I work about 10 hours per week on the project during "average" weeks.
I came from the "ivory tower" of a graduate history program, and I find my working conditions very good. When I work with a museum staff, or with an advisory committee, I find a lot of collegiality. I just returned from the National Association of Public History conference in Ottawa. Several of us from graduate history backgrounds marveled at the attitude that people in public history are there to help and share. At purely academic conferences one often gets the impression that your own work has to be successful at the expense of others. I can't generalize too much, but I don't find that to be the case in museum consulting.
The only negative impressions might be that my graduate education doesn't necessarily make me a good teller of local history. The impression is that I'm overeducated. However, this isn't a huge handicap and can be overcome with modesty and good people skills. You can't come across as an intellectual who's come to town to educate the locals.
Jim Holton
On the question of general working conditions...I work with a large number of diverse academic and non-academic backgrounds. I am by training a historian, but I have strong interests in the environment plus a background in education, design and fabrication. I manage zookeepers, natural history educators, and an artistic staff. At another level, I work with VPs with MBAs and marketing specialties. Over the years, I've learned that to make the institution successful--and your own projects successful, you need to understand each other's viewpoint, and always be mutually supportive. Since we have to work closely together, on a daily basis, we've had to develop basic corporate manners for our own sanity. A friend of mine who served in the merchant marine once told me there is nothing worse than being on an unhappy ship, I can see that. In my experience at the High Desert Museum, I've found very little academic rivalry between subject disciplines and more between divisions. In the past we had major warfare between our education and exhibits departments. Eventually I was promoted (as a relatively new person) to VP to combine the groups and create a decent working atmosphere, which I did by forming teams, having regular group meetings, and making some concessions. Other than that, our personnel problems are the normal ones you'd find in any organization-lack of communication, turf battles, gossip, and personality disorders. Overall, I'm very pleased with our working environment and try to make it a point to learn as much from my colleagues with different training as possible.
Kevin Britz
What kind of hours to you work on average per week? is your workday / work week reasonably flexible? Can you set your own hours?
I work a full 40 hours at the house. I sometimes end up reading at home since I need the quiet to concentrate. Since I open the house, I have to be there during regular hours and I have little flexibility. This also means I sometimes have weekend hours. If the house is not open, I can use the opportunity to visit other sites or research collections.
What are your co-workers like? Do you generally feel that there is a team atmosphere, or is there a lot of competition between different curators, programming directors, etc.? Do your colleagues tend to come from academic backgrounds? If not, is there any animosity toward you or other types of negative impressions of you because of your academic experience? Thanks for your time!
The museum profession has a wide variety of people. I've seen good and bad. Overall museum professionals are team players. It's a requirement in order to get anything done. Ideas and program plans are commonly shared at conferences. As a result program ideas travel quickly and it's fairly easy to contact someone with an interesting program and ask for information about developing one adapted to your institution. Groups working on a project combine a variety of academic levels. Curators usually have an academic background, but must work with exhibit designers and developers, volunteers, and administrative staff. Most people going into the field realize that they will be working with a diverse group and enjoy that aspect.
That said I've seen large institutions where departments compete for control of projects similar to what Kevin described. There are also personality and philosophy conflicts that require your best interpersonal skills. An academic can run into a negative backlash if they try to force their expertise on a team, creating a right/their way and everyone else's wrong way. This is especially true in small historical societies where the volunteers and board have a strong feeling of ownership of their history and collection.
Cheryl
I have a question: what's the pay like in these various positions? I imagine that would vary by the type of institution (do large, big-city museums pay more than the little ones?), but I don't really know that. Would the speakers please comment on this issue? Who makes what in museum work?
Paula Foster Chambers
WRK4US list manager
I can speak from the High Desert Museum. At the high end of our institution - the presidency - the salary is 100,000 plus a nice benefit package (insurance, 401k) a grand total of 125, 000. Vice presidents make between 60 and 70 thousand. Middle managers such as the exhibit manager and education manager make between 38 and 45,000. Entry level positions in education are in the middle twenties. We're currently trying to upgrade the lower salary end to make them more equitable with some of our other professional positions in different divisions. Since we are an educational institution and higher degrees add value to the institution, our new compensation efforts will acknowledge that.
Kevin Britz
Starting pay for a curator at the Museum of the City of New York is roughly $40,000 a year. A consultant will usually be started at $17.00 an hour, although I try to bid my work in at around $25.00 an hour. Usually you do the work on a contract basis, when writing or curating an exhibition.
Andy Davis
In small museums the pay is correspondingly low. Many recent graduates complain that they cannot afford to work in the field, live and pay back their loans. An entry full time position can pay in the low twenties to thirties depending on the site. Benefits are also variable; usually just medical. Directors have a very wide range (sometimes the director is the only employee) from forties to a hundred depending on the museum's size and support. In very small museums it can be informative to look at a financial statement to gauge the institution's stability and ability to pay.
Cheryl
EMPLOYMENT IN MUSEUMS FOR THE LITERATURE MAJOR
Hello,
My question regards any work opportunities for literature majors. Currently I'm working on a Ph.D. in American Literature and think of my field primarily as cultural history through literature. I've visited many history museums and while many cultural forms like music, art, architecture, and fashion design have a place in them, few to none have a place for literature. Granted it's not as easy to "display" literature as other types of art, but this seems like something to be worked out in excerpts from works, brief interpretations that apply the work to the historical work, and displays that bring out the scene or place it in a context that viewers would find interesting. An obvious example, Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. I think it'd be easy to display that one. So I have two questions:
- Is there a place for literature in history museums currently (that I haven't seen) or coming about now (with some prodding)?
- If not, how might someone with strong writing and research skills and a background related to American history enter into the field of public education in museum work?
Thank you for your replies.
Subscriber GH
My question is for no one in particular, but follows the trend I have seen in the questions so far. Currently I am writing a dissertation focused on baseball literature/ecology. Likewise, I have extensive experience as an English as a Second Language instructor and documentation/technical writer.
With the end of my Ph.D. program within the range of the scopes and really no desire to join the legions of other English Ph.D.'s at MLA, I am exploring as many options as possible. I have long entertained the notion of applying for an internship or something with the Baseball Hall of Fame library and museum in Cooperstown, the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame in Kansas City, or even the Louisville Slugger Museum in Louisville, KY...however, my degrees are in English.
I consider myself reasonably articulate and creative...and love writing and research. Would museums even consider me for an internship?
Subscriber IJ
I want to echo GH and IJ. I'm finishing up my English degree with a dissertation on Dorothea Lange and Paul Taylor--a photographer and an agricultural economist who published on the Dust Bowl immigration to California. I've had to read photographic theory, ecology texts, American history and water policy. I'd like to think I've put my English skills to use in the historical field by constructing a good narrative. I know I've learned a lot about using various forms of research to tell a story. Currently, I hold a research position for a humanities institute. I'd think all of this would suit me for work in something like Andy described--a programming director, but I'd also like to curate and write. And, honestly, while I'm willing to do a lot for the job I want, I hate to think of two or three MORE years of destitute living conditions while I do volunteer work. So I am really interested in the freelance work Jim described as historical consulting. Does a person need to have a history degree to do that? Are there more listserves, more books to read that I can tackle on my own? And are there institutes, exhibitions, or even journals out there that would value my ability to write?
Subscriber KL
IJ,
A couple of angles for you and others in similar situations:
First, consider whether there is something in your dissertation that can be used as the theme for an exhibition. I know of at least one person who floated the theme of their dissertation and received funding from the NEH for a large exhibition. If you can conceive of your dissertation (or part of it) as an illustrated book, it could be used for exhibition purposes.
Second, for you and others. The museums I've dealt with really respect good writing. It must be clear and accessible. They tend to assume that people with an academic background cannot write. So if you feel confident about your writing skills, be sure to underscore that fact. Anyone with a literature background should use writing as a hook to sell yourself for this kind of work. The curators I've run into range in terms of writing ability -- those with strong background in preservation often have the worst trouble communicating to a general audience. Your audience is always a general one in museums.
One of the themes that seem clear to me is that curating may be useful as a sideline to a more traditional academic career. By doing independent curating you might work into a fulltime position with a museum. But people also do it while raising families or pursuing another line of work.
Andy Davis
KL,
My approach to curating an exhibition is from the perspective of storytelling, although I know curators who approach it primarily from the design perspective. Both work for different types of exhibitions.
One of the appealing aspects of storytelling in museum curating is that this kind of storytelling is spread across space rather than across a page. People move through the story that you are telling. I try to utilize the space to divide up the story, grouping ideas according to the layout of the room. The way the walls are laid out (or constructed), and the turns viewers make rounding the corner shape what you tell them.
The second thing to realize in telling the story, you don't have the attention of the viewer from start to finish. Few people will read all of your text. Most people glance at this and that. The objects are a big part of the narrative, and you are there contextualizing the object in a way that helps make it more meaningful for people. I try to make every label a self-contained story or bit of information that rewards the reader in some small way. It was like those advent calendars around Christmas time that reward you each day for opening the windows in the calendar.
As far as curating goes vis-a-vis programming. Once you're in the museum as a programming person (or any other position, actually), the curating opportunities open up. You learn what it takes to get a project on the boards. People from the chief financial officer of the Museum of the City of New York to the exhibition designer have all curated exhibitions. Programming is an especially good end, because it gets you in touch with the community. You discover someone with a story to tell or a collection to display through contacts with the community, and that becomes the basis of an exhibition.
Andy Davis
Having never worked for a museum, I can't speak to what degrees specifically they would be interested in hiring. But the question about literature and museums brought some ideas to mind. It's important, as some of our panelists already mentioned, to think of "museum" work broadly to include other types of educational programs. As for literature, I have visited a few places devoted to specific authors in the context of local history -- for example, Edgar Allen Poe house in Philadelphia which is an actual home that he lived and wrote in and a new John Steinbeck center in Salinas, California which is meant to celebrate a local author. The Steinbeck center is actually a quite elaborate cultural and local history center with all types of community programs and rotating exhibits. Those are just specific examples but I'm sure there are places like that all over the country and that you can market yourself with any humanities degree, History or Literature, depending on the position sought.
Subscriber MN
GH,
In addition to MN's suggestions, you can try sites dealing with a certain type of history. Using your Mark Twain example, there are most likely many sites up and down the Mississippi River interpreting nineteenth century river travel. The AAM publishes a museum directory annually which can help track museums by location and also lists areas of study. It's available at most University libraries. Literature does play a role in history museums. Curators can use it as something familiar to bring a static exhibit to life or make a connection with the visitor. It can also be a research tool. In house museums or museums dealing with a family curators do try to track the literary tastes of the family to gain more perspective. Although I admit I have not seen an exhibit based solely on literature. I don't know if Jim had responded to you or KL about other options. I know Wisconsin places some of it's historical research up for bid each year. If you go to the Wisconsin State Historical Society web page (sorry I don't have the link handy) they have a list of contracts available. Some are not for those unfamiliar with preservation regulations, but others are less regulatory.
Cheryl
Andy, thanks.
Your replies to both me and to IJ are heartening. The visual/textual parallels are a good way to think about where a lit major might at least try to find an entrance into this discipline. Certainly I didn't mean to suggest at all that understanding narrative theory qualified me for this specialized work; I was simply wondering if there were anything in the field for which I am currently qualified, and curating, from this perspective, offers some hope. I am wondering if historical societies, at least the larger ones with their own journals, offer valuable experience in the eyes of museum people. My research position has brought me into contact with state historical societies here on the West Coast, and I am trying to get something published in one of their publications. What, if any, type of relationship do museums generally have with historical societies? Is this a fruitful way to try and get some experience?
Subscriber KL
KL,
I didn't mean to suggest at all that understanding narrative theory qualified me for this specialized work; I was simply wondering if there were anything in the field for which I am currently qualified, and curating, from this perspective, offers some hope.
My experience in museum work is that the curating an exhibition is not all that specialized, not if you have a background in writing for a general audience. There are some differences in the way that visitors encounter your writing that I've tried to articulate here, but I found it to be fairly straightforward -- at least coming up with exhibitions scripts. There's a whole side of curatorial work that gets into preservation of photographs, fabrics and works on paper, but that can be picked up. I would say that an ability for writing accessible prose and explaining a topic is something that the museums I've dealt with are very pleased to get. The rest is just developing a track record.
I am wondering if historical societies, at least the larger ones with their own journals, offer valuable experience in the eyes of museum people. My research position has brought me into contact with state historical societies here on the west coast, and I am trying to get something published in one of their publications.
This is a direction to go in. But I'd suggest getting into these places in person . Get involved in some way -- as a volunteer perhaps.
Another angle that I found for getting an exhibition off the ground is to engage in some kind of fieldwork with artists or artisans in your area. If you are the link between a collection of objects that can be displayed or a social or ethnic group that the public would be interested in knowing more about, that would be a way in. If you can deliver something to the museum, you can float a museum exhibition. A couple of examples at the Museum of the City of New York. I worked with Nancy Groce, an experienced ethnomusicologist, who was writing a book on Songs of New York City. She came to the MCNY with a proposal for an exhibition of sheet music covers depicting New York City. She had picked up most of them herself, at flea markets and through collectors she had met during her research. The Museum greenlighted a moderately-sized exhibition, and the sheet music covers allowed us to tell the story of New York in a slightly different way. Another one that is coming up is a travelling exhibition on Arab-Americans, that is coming in from Detroit. We needed to give it a New York spin, so there was all sorts of community outreach to get materials from the Arab-American community in NYC. This starts getting into the realm of anthropology and folklore, but a "history" museum like MCNY is also dealing with the multiplicity of cultures here.
Museums are collectors and they deal often deal with other collectors. One of the roles of the curator is to make sense of these collections of stray objects, give them a narrative or a context by which the objects tell a story that is something more than just a display of someone's acquisitive abilities. That's the kind of interpretation that they need scholars for. Looking for those collectors or collections, or putting one together from various sources is a primary role of a curator. Look for these kinds of opportunities -- ones you can deliver to a museum in your area.
Often all you need to get an exhibition like this accepted is a two-to-three page description of the objects to be used and interpretive narrative for an exhibition.
What, if any, type of relationship do museums generally have with historical societies? Is this a fruitful way to try and get some experience?
Here in New York City, the Historical Society is a museum, and most historical societies include some kind of display space.
Andy Davis
HISTORICAL CONSULTING IN THE MUSEUMS FIELD
Hi --
Jim Holton mentioned a bibliography he has put together on museum/public history books. I'd be very interested to see that.
Secondly, I am interested in hearing a little more about the mechanics of transforming oneself into a consultant. I completed my PhD in American history and while teaching as an adjunct, I've gotten very interested in museums. I am currently involved in several different museum and local history projects, mostly volunteer, and I am wondering if I would look (and also feel!) more professional if I called myself a consultant. Have you officially started your own business, with whatever tax or other implications that might entail? How do you know what to charge for your services?
Thanks,
Subscriber OP
My understanding is that at minimum one needs a degree to do historical consulting. I've been building up my own bibliography of museum/public history books. I can post it in a day or so if anyone else is interested. I also recommend just getting involved with a local museum or historical society and helping out where you can. That's a good way to get your feet wet and get your name out in the open. As has been mentioned here, the National Council on Public History (http://www.iupui.edu/~ncph) is a great place to start for info.
Jim Holton
I worked as a consultant for a number of years, designing and fabricating exhibits, and doing educational planning. I got my foot in the door by accident. While I worked at the Stearns County Historical Society in Minnesota, I was approached by another community historical agency and asked if I would be interested in helping them develop new exhibits for their new facility. I got the blessing of our director who saw the opportunity to enhance the prestige of our museum plus get us some compensation that was otherwise impossible. So I enlisted fellow staff members and we created outside exhibits. After that, word got out along the museum grapevine and we suddenly found plenty of work since we were affordable. After I left the Stearns County Historical Society and went to work on my PhD at the University of Arizona, I kept my contacts alive and created some new ones with old colleagues at some of my old places of employment in Tucson. This proved very helpful; they often get calls from museums who can't afford consulting agencies or design firms and are looking for names. I ended up with as much work as I needed and picked only the projects that looked like fun such as the San Carlos Apache Cultural Center. My advice: Talk to museum professionals, or agencies like the National Park Service (who often hire free-lancers for research projects) and get your name in their network. That can help in other ways as well. I've hired two people because they dropped off resumes and had the perfect qualifications for what we needed at the time.
Kevin Britz
--- Cheryl Brookshear wrote: In small museums the pay is correspondingly low. Many recent graduates complain that they cannot afford to work.
Ditto to Cheryl's comment. That's why consulting work can be good for those with flexible time. You don't have to commit to a long-term job or career, but you definitely learn how to branch out from academic history. Of course, this doesn't mean that museum professionals don't deserve more!
Jim Holton
Question for Jim: You mentioned in an earlier posting that you found a certain book by Ellis Burkhaw to be helpful. Can you please describe this book, state its title, and explain a little bit about how it was helpful to you?
Paula Foster Chambers
WRK4US list manager
The book is Introduction to Museum Work by George Ellis Burcaw. It's published by the American Association for State and Local History. It's available from Amazon et al as well as from the AASLH.
This book is widely considered to be the introductory work. People in museum studies programs use it, and it has been revised over the years. Burcaw defines a museum (believe me, many places arrogate to themselves the title!), their historiography and missions, and provides a basic survey of career occupations. There are questions to answer in every chapter (it was designed as a textbook). I found it helpful because it lays out the museum field for novices.
I'll put together a list of other books I found helpful.
Jim Holton
Jim, thanks for the Burcaw information. Now I have another question. Would you be able, for the convenience of subscribers, to lay out a clear, step-by-step plan that people who are currently full-time grad students or faculty members can follow to get themselves started as freelance museum consultants like yourself? I'm thinking, like, "Step 1: identify what skills you might offer to a local museum. Step 2: [whatever]" and so on. Would that be possible?
Paula Foster Chambers
WRK4US list manager
In re: how to become a consultant. I'm still not sure myself. I fell into this line of work through serendipity. However, I recommend the following: Get involved with local history societies and museums. Volunteer to help edit publications and to give lectures to local audiences. This will help you gear your message to a lay audience and out of conference-paper habit. Know the state and local museum field. Research and contribute to a historiography that aims at that audience. It'll help you hone your more practical skills. Start out doing contract work for smaller exhibits, or parts of exhibits. Then the bigger stuff will come.
And remember this paradigm: academic history is like a place of worship where you have to follow strict guidelines and ritual. Museum history is like a camp meeting where anyone can participate. What it lacks in orthodoxy it makes up for in spirited worship!
Jim Holton
OTHER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN MUSEUMS: ADMINISTRATION, MARKETING, ETC.
I know all of us on the panel are mainly curatorial or educational, but I want to point out that there are other options in the museum field.
Larger museums have additional needs. Registrars keep track of all the artifacts and sometimes must do research about them. They are also responsible for handling incoming and outgoing loans. This can require a knowledge about copyright laws, import and export, foreign cultures if you can combine any of the above or even one you may want to consider this option.
Exhibits and programs also require evaluation. Many techniques exist. Those with an education background (Administration?) statistics and psychology / cognitive science work in this area. Consulting firms also engage in this process.
Conservators often have knowledge about chemistry, physics, material science and the artifacts they are treating.
Don't forget PR, marketing, membership recruitment, customer service (related to education, but on a daily basis) and web development (often educational and interactive). Not all of these may be a match for Ph.D. candidates, but offer other (paid) ways into the museum field in addition to volunteering. Please note that these types of positions are only available at large museums which generally have set ways of doing things and are not always flexible. In addition, fewer large museums exist. Nearly every county has a historical society, but it takes a good size city to have a large museum.
Cheryl
Hello all,
Thanks, Cheryl, for giving a brief overview of the "business" end of the museum, and Paula for asking about pay! I'm getting the sense that in smaller institutions, people generally end up wearing more hats--working on administration/bureaucratic stuff as well as curatorial/exhibit stuff-than in larger places, yes?
I have two questions (or subjects) that any of the speakers could answer:
1) Is it difficult to get into the administrative end of museum work, compared to curatorial work? (Here I suppose I'm referring more to larger museums.) Are there, for example, plenty of folks with for-profit business backgrounds or training working those jobs who wouldn't try for the first-hand exhibit work? Do you find much division or tension between the people who handle the business end of the museum and those who run the programming and exhibits? (I know this could vary from place to place, of course.)
2) How large a role does fund-raising play in your work?
Thanks,
Subscriber ST
My institution has a staff of 55 with a programs staff of 20. Our operations and development divisions generally have more corporate backgrounds: accounting, business, data management, retail, etc. Surprising, many also have BAs in art and biology. And for those of you wondering about English degrees, I suddenly realized that our acting president, grant officer, director of planned giving, and Interpretive Programs Manager, all have English lit. degrees. As to the question, I think many of them came to the profession because of the educational atmosphere and working environment but don't have much interest in the exhibit work. There can be tension between the groups, specifically during exhibit production time when some staff are working 60 hours per week and others are working the usual 9-5.
For the second question, fund raising makes up around 40 to 50% of my time. This means writing grants, working with agencies, or getting potential donors excited about the museum. (A development person actually makes the ask-I just cheer lead, show drawings, or conduct tours).
Kevin Britz
Thanks, Kevin, for such a quick answer! Your fund raising response also helps me see the differences between out-and-out development (doing the asking, especially with individuals), and the kind of work that helps sustain institutional support or solidify relationships with donors. (Admittedly my phrasing here reveals my preference.)
Do you like the kind of fund raising you do?
Subscriber ST
Actually, I like the fund-raising part that I do. I've found that when writing grants, you usually design the programs as you go along. For example, we just received a planning grant from NEH. As our curator of western history and I wrote it, we began looking at our original ideas from different angles and developed some new perspectives we wouldn't have anyway. On the donor level, I've come to admire good development people and the personal and strategic skills they possess with potential donors.
I often give presentations to our board, members and other community groups to get them excited over new programs and exhibits.
I've found that my classroom experience has been extremely helpful in this regard
Kevin Britz
I'd say it is definitely easier to get into the administrative side of a large museum. As I was finishing my thesis, I signed up with a temporary agency. With my background in mind they immediately called when the Milwaukee Art Museum called. I was a basic assistant in the Communications department. Certainly not what I intended doing with my education, but it paid. From there I knew where the other job openings were as soon as they became available. It was fairly common for people to move from department to department to suit their interests (and pay increases).
Many people came from the for profit world. I can think of reporters, marketing executives and those who ran their own businesses along with many of the professions Kevin mentioned.
All the departments had to work together to create an exhibit and its corresponding programs. Difficulties often occur when one department is depending on information from another to complete their work or they have differing views about what the exhibition emphasis should be. (PR wants one image for its recognition, curatorial another for its scholastic importance.)
Regardless of the department development does play a role. In a small Museum where each employee plays many roles whatever you plan you find funding for. Larger museums get the division Kevin talked about and while the Development department gets the brunt, every other department is impacted.
Cheryl
I recall some days ago seeing someone talk about museum evaluation. I have a degree in Environmental Psychology and an interest in this field. I even took a course in it. Beyond that, I have a good background doing evaluation research in non-museum settings. I'm wondering how large the panelists estimate this field to be and what their thoughts are on the best ways to go about entering it-- target museums for salaried jobs? look for freelance work (is this possible without a track record evaluating museums)? or try to hook up with a firm that does evaluation?
I live in New York City where every one, even the guy at the corner Bodega, already has a PhD or is otherwise over qualified for what they do.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Subscriber UV
I think that UV's question re museum evaluation relates to my own question. When I was in Australia recently the National War Museum was advertising a position described as an Audience Advocate. As an almost-finished PhD in English literature with an interest in theatre, audiences and reception theory, I was intrigued by the idea of an advocate for visitors to a museum. The job description entailed soliciting and evaluating the responses of visitors to the museum to such things as the exhibition itself; ideas for future exhibitions; general suggestions; audiences' own interests; physical and spatial dynamics etc. all of which, I imagine, would be useful for future planning.
Is this a rather unique job? Do museums and even theatres perhaps, hire people to monitor audiences' opinions and speak on their behalf? I would certainly be interested in something like this.
Thanks,
Subscriber QR
There has been some talk about photography. I have had quite a bit of experience in that field. Is there much demand for a photographer in the museum field? I know that photographic preservation is important. Is there anything more than that though?
Thank you,
Subscriber CD
In my experience there is not much room for someone to act solely as a photographer in a museum. Marketing departments will use photographers to photograph events for future promotional use. Generally these are freelance photographers brought in for the event. Registrars photograph each object that enters the museum for documentary/security purposes. This process is undergoing rapid change as museums move these records to the computer. I can't think of many more options besides preservation and conservation.
Cheryl
The Museum of the City of New York regularly employs two outside photographers to photograph collections objects for various purposes. One is in the museum every week or two, principally shooting copy negatives of photographs in the Museum's large photograph collection. The Rights and Reproductions Department maintains a large file of 4"x5" negatives which interested researchers can use. There's an additional charge for the reproductions if the museum does not already have a negative available. The photographer arrives with his own camera and lighting equipment, and utilizes a copy stand that the museum owns.
Rights and Reproductions is an important source of funds for the museum, and there are two full-time people involved in filling the orders and keeping track of things. I don't know if this is equally true with other museums.
In addition, there are times when a collection object needs to be photographed for reproduction in a book or journal. This, of course, requires more complicated lighting. It is usually a different photographer who specializes in this.
There's also a couple of outside photographers whose work is displayed in exhibitions from time to time. One is closely connected with CityLore, an organization aimed at preserving NYC urban folk traditions. This photographer has had photos on subway graffiti. Another photographer had a nice show on the abandoned buildings on Ellis Island.
Documenting the buildings in NYC and overlooked life and social groups is a way of getting a photo exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York.
Andy Davis
This is what I thought. Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Subscriber CD
Since photography came up. . .I'll just offer a bit of knowledge. The Southern Media Archive at the University of Mississippi is a non-print archive, which is part of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, although housed in the University's Library. I know there are many such archives around the country (they are just starting one at Duke), of materials from alternative media, some of which relate to or are complementary to literature. For example, Dorothea Lange photographed as part of the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s, and archives and state historical groups have taken these photographs from the Library of Congress and reissued them, in annotated and CD form, for a given location (the SMA recently did this for those made of the State of Mississippi).
Such projects are quasi-academic, although their curators might be hired as staff, which positions often don't require the PhD. I surmise there might be many such museums/archives attached to or affiliated with universities but which have their own, nonacademic agendas. Sorry, though-- I have no idea where such jobs might be listed.
Subscriber WX
WX, the CSSC is a great example of the kind of work I'm wondering about, and many on the list may not know that the NEH is currently planning ten such centers, all located regionally, based on that model. Since part of each regional humanities center's mission will be preservation and archiving, it might offer opportunities for some of us whose degrees aren't right for the kind of work that really interests us (mainly lit majors, it seems!) I wonder if anyone knows more about the contracted type of research Cheryl mentioned at Wisconsin. That, too, seems like a possible avenue for putting a lit major to work.
Subscriber KL
I thought about this some more last night and while it doesn't exactly follow the assigned topic I'll describe it further. State and federal governments are required to do "historical impact studies" just like environmental impact studies. They are called section 106 reviews. These are either handled internally or contracted out to Cultural Resource Management companies. Many are archeological in nature some are historical. History PhDs with a knowledge of researching local history and architecture can often find positions in this field.
The other portion of this process is mitigation. If a historical/archeological site must become a road, radio tower, new improved bridge etc. Some type of mitigation occurs. This can be an exhibit, signs, community education, measured drawings or documentary narrative. This process is also internal or contracted.
Check with your State Historic Preservation Office or the National Trust to locate who is responsible in your state.
Cheryl
SOME INFORMATION ABOUT CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES
Good question, UV. And I have one for Cheryl (asking now since today is the last day). Cheryl, you mentioned "cultural resource management companies" a while back. What are these companies set up to do, and do you think there might be a role for humanities PhDs in this type of company?
Paula Foster Chambers
WRK4US list manager
Cultural Resource Companies are generally research oriented, and definitely a good place for some humanities PhDs. Most of the companies focus on researching and documenting archeological sites. A few work on researching historical sites.
Research is generally contracted by state, federal or local entities (and is sometimes conducted by these entities) and conducted to discover what should happen to the site and what should be done to preserve the information provided by the site. These sites are often threatened by road construction and on the historical side can include the road, bridges, nearby houses, gravesites and many more man made creations.
Their other business is preparing National and State Register Nominations (this listing may provide tax credits and protection depending on the locality.) Listings require site descriptions, historic background and context along with photographs, maps and governmental forms. Listings can be for numerous buildings and large areas or for small lots and single buildings
Often companies are looking for historians, archeologists, and architectural historians because they need to do research quickly. Some companies use writers with a good editing backgrounds and technical writers to help with the many reports they generate. Graphics backgrounds can be helpful for documenting the sites.
Cultural resource management when used in preservation circles refers to a wide range of activities surrounding architectural and historical resources. Issues range from how many people can have access to a site without endangering it? When do you conduct an archeological dig? How do you protect these places from natural disasters? The National Park Service deals with these questions most frequently and publishes a magazine about these issues at http://www.cr.nps.gov/crm/index.htm
The contract firms I've encountered in the Midwest have been research based and have not addressed the visitation and disaster issues.
Cheryl
http://www.acra-crm.org/index.html
You might also want to look at some of the links to individual companies on the page.
Subscriber YZ
I have just joined this list, so please forgive me if I repeat earlier advice. KL -- and anyone else interested in this area -- should visit the website of the National Council on Public History. This is one of the vital professional organizations for anyone interested in history museums (together with the AAM and the American Association for State and Local History). Given current trends in history museums, I think you'll find that the ability to construct a narrative is not enough.
Subscriber BB
I am a volunteer docent at a wonderful 300-year-old farmhouse that is maintained by the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities. As others have said, the house and artifacts "tell a story" - about architecture, culture, and local and national history.
I thought I would share their Web site with all of you who are interested. They are a small organization and rely heavily on volunteers, but their site gives a good sense of the many kinds of programs and opportunities there are for people to get involved with the field.
In the Hudson Valley of NY, Historic Hudson Valley ( http://www.hudsonvalley.org ) plays a similar role. They have an "employment opportunities" button on their site! I took a quick look and there are openings in development, PR, and school programs, as well as for tour guides (looks like they pay guides, which is unusual).
Two similar, but larger, organizations based in New England are:
Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities: http://www.spnea.org & The Trustees of Reservations http://www.thetrustees.org
Finally, on a national level there is the National Trust for Historic Preservation: http://www.nthp.org and the National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov , who are responsible for the National Register of Historic Places (look under "links to the past").
Best ,
Subscriber DD
Well, our discussion of "Careers in Museums " has drawn to a close. Andy Davis, Kevin Britz, Cheryl Brookshear and Jim Holton have all done a great job of sharing their experiences and answering our questions. They put a lot of time and effort into this discussion, in order to open the Museum field to us and help us learn a bit about it. Let's hear big round of virtual applause for our four Guest Speakers. <applause ensues>
Thanks as well to those who asked questions. Good questions are an important part of any successful discussion. Thank you for daring to inquire. <applause again>
The next discussion has not been set in stone yet, but it will take place during the month of May, early June at the latest. The topic and dates will be announced as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, until then, the floor is now officially open for free and supportive discussion of nonacademic career paths for people with graduate education in the Humanities. It's your list.
Paula Foster Chambers
WRK4US list manager
foster.242@osu.edu