Chapter 2 - History is as History Does: The Evolution of a Mission-Driven Museum

In Ruth Abram’s article, “History is as History Does: The Evolution of a Mission-Driven Museum” she uses examples from the implementation and continued growth of the Tenement Museum in Manhattan as a way to stress that an institution’s actions are far more important than any other aspect of that museum.

The Tenement Museum uses its building at 97 Orchard Street and the apartments housed within, along with its artifacts, to tell the stories of the entire area’s history and people. It is their firm belief that artifacts should support the stories they are trying to tell, rather than the other way around. They not only look at what the history of the building is, but rather “What this history can do to help improve the world.” They believe that history informs us about what we do and do not want to do. This museum tries to use history as a tool to help shape the future.

In trying to accommodate the wide diversity of their visitors, the Tenement Museum sees it necessary for institutions to employ people of varying socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, gender, and histories. They have found that the majority of senior staff members in museums are of European origin. This is because minorities, working class, and immigrant individuals aren’t seeking professions in museums. To alleviate this problem they are working in collaboration with universities to train children in these under exposed groups to study the field. In essence, seeing as there isn’t a plethora of diverse candidates to choose from, they are creating their own.


Questions to contemplate:

• I’m curious to know how many of our blog followers work at an institution that is currently trying to redefine its mission? Does your current or redefined mission focus on the visitor at all? What challenges do you face in trying to incorporate your institution’s mission into all aspects of your particular work?
• For those of you who don’t find giving tours as part of your job, how would you feel if your institution mandated that you begin leading tours? Is there any part of your job that you think would give you an advantage in giving tours? Do you think this would give you a better understanding of your institution’s visitors and their needs?
  
• The following question is in reference to Liz Sevcenko, the vice president for programs at the Tenement Museum (see page 25 of the book). If an individual doesn’t have a personal past or perspective similar to Liz’s, can they learn to insert a “usable past” into their museum’s programming? Can this concept be taught to museum studies majors or incoming museum staff members?