I have spent a significant amount of time at four railway museums in the last three years. For museums that actually started as clubs of folks collecting as many artifacts as possible as the railroad and traction industry was transitioning in the decades after WWII, I find there are die-hard preservationist, who in the extreme may allow people to look at the renovated artifact -- and they better not touch it. I also find educators who feel an artifact has no value unless it's a learning tool. So preservationists and educators are at odds.

But the day the museum became 501(c)3 the ball game changed. The artifacts became the people's heritage and the museum's sole purpose was to use the artifacts as educational tools. Stated differently, the artifacts weren't just the members' property but rather the public was given the expectation that when they came to the museum they would be taught using their artifacts.

The preservationist may argue that without preservation there would be no teaching tools. Conversely, the educator would argue that a renovated Pullman sleeper which people can't walk through to look at the births and into the rooms has no value and there is little need for it to take up museum space.

"Oh, people can go through the car on special occasions," I have ofter heard. But when grandma and grandpa show up with a couple of grand kids and want to show the kids a room like they slept in on their honeymoon but the car is locked up, the museum has failed drastically in its 501(c)3 obligation.

When a interested teenager is standing in front of an fascinating big black machine of some sort and has no idea what the rotary snowplow is or how it worked because there is no video, web site listed for his/her smart phone, or even a simple sign -- an education opportunity lost.

That's how I see it.

The picture below is of my son and grandsons in the galley of a GN business car in the Jackson Street Roundhouse Museum, St. Paul. The Roundhouse is an excellent example of a hands-on interactive museum and the best RR museum I have found on that score. Thanks MTM -- my grand kids, son, and I loved it. We were just regular Saturday morning visitors.

Is that business car being destroyed? Slowly. Can it be rebuilt? Of course. Did it teach three generations of visitors about itself in the meantime? Obviously.

If you read the publications of the American Association for State and Local History, the American Association of Museum, and many others you will find that the curators and the educators are often at the different ends of preservation. The curator wants to keep the dress wrapped up in acid-free paper and stored away in a dark storage locker -- the educator wants to place the dress out to show what people wore at sometime or place.

It is a problem that exists not just in our museums.

I think that many railroad museums and many local historical museums never thought about what it meant (and what it means) to be a museum. They wanted to save "the passing scene" and figured that displaying it was "a museum."

How often do you see a local history museum that is a collection of photos, objects, clothing, etc. and it never tells the story of the town, why it was there, what the people did there. Does that also sound like a railroad museum?

They became a museum by coming in the back door and not the front door of full knowledge of what being a museum and a 501(c)3 actually requires. They may not take care for the objects in the best way and they may not do their education.

Various surveys have shown most people go to museums to have a good time not for the education. It is our responsibility to do our best to impart some knowledge upon these visitors by the time that they leave. And also give them a good time -- so that they will come back and that they will tell their friends to come.

This is a real issue… particularly in House museums… less so in railroad museums… but railroad museums can benefit from ongoing debate. ( I do both… I volunteer and am the curator at a small volunteer operated railroad museum… professionally I run a historic house museum for a local city)

Much of what we find around a railroad is industrial… It is not fragile. Our issues are explaining why the things we have saved are important.

In a house, we have furniture, wall papers… simply touching antique wall paper can destroy it. The first issue is preservation, the second, interpretation… while making the guest feel comfortable.

House museums and railroad museums have much in common. .Both are more often than not managed and run by volunteers. They are frequently low budget community organizations… Yes, there is the B&O, the California State and Pennsylvania State Museums with professional staffs… but there are more depot museums, or museum/tourist lines living on volunteer staff and hoping they don’t have to replace too many ties this year… the places where steam hasn’t run since the new federal rules including the 1475 day inspection went into affect… the place outside of town with a couple of ex military side rod 45 ton locos and a couple of E-L commuter cars and a caboose… The McRailroad Museum of a long ago editorial in Trains.

Among house museums we have the big guys... the Biltmore Estate, Mt Vernon and Hearst Castle… but we also have the volunteer operated house open from 1:00 to 4:00 on Saturdays… worse yet, every other Saturday... closed in the winter… classically the house is the oldest house in town, too important not to be saved by a community group dominated by “little old ladies” well meaning, but clueless… it is as much a social center as a museum.

This is a ongoing debate in house museums, led by the Association for State and Local History and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The opening volley was an editorial published in History New in Autumn 2002 which can be found at http://www.aaslh.org/images/hhouseart.pdf

At its core the article argues that house museums are simultaneously not professional enough, and too professional… not professional enough because we don’t have (museum) trained staff, are difficult to visit since volunteers dictate open hours, and that there are too many museums for the market… We too professional, taking our limited training to prevent access…(there is nothing more dangerous than the volunteer(s) who having taken a single “museum science” class start to “protect” the collection, denying access as if the potato peeler in the kitchen, purchased at an antique store is a Rembrandt painting… aka the “Rembrandt Rule”) in a house museum we keep telling you “don’t”… don’t touch, no photos, don’t breath… Don’t ever have fun…

The equivalent in a railroad museum might be operating crew who tell rules, but can’t talk about why your car or street car is important… volunteers who are there to play with trains… visitors are just a revenue source and an inconvenience. How many railroad museums have a group who dress in proper conductor’s uniforms, strut like peacocks and talk to visitors… and a second group, in coveralls… rebuilding locomotives and cars… who wouldn’t talk to a visitor on a bet…

Consider the message, and see if it applies to you and your museum... be scared.

Randy

I'd like to think that this recent article
http://businesswest.com/2011/08/right-on-track
(posted elsewhere by Sloan)
shows that we are getting the education part mostly right at the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum. The reporter seemed to have no knowledge or personal interest in railroads or trolleys when she arrived, but she knew a lot by the time she left. Granted she got more attention than the average visitor, but that was mostly so she could write it down.

My usual role at my "home" museum is in the "overalls" category, but I'm rarely too busy to answer questions from our visitors. Some of our trolleys have "Eclipse fenders", designed to scoop up unwary pedestrians. Someone will ask "Is that a 'cow-catcher'?" and I'll say "No, it's a 'people-catcher'." Then I'll mime an inattentive contemporary talker yakking on a cell phone and wandering in front of the trolley, and say, "Oops, I just got hit by a streetcar. Call you back." I can also explain that the first "crash test dummies" were used by streetcar companies to evaluate these devices. One day I was operating a Los Angeles Ry. streetcar, and a father with two daughters asked about how streetcars run. I opened a motor trap and showed them a traction motor, then I explained how the controller works, using household appliances as an example of "starting current". During special events, we sometimes set up a car over a servicing pit, provide stair railings, and label the various underfloor components. Visitors are provided with hard hats and given a mechanic's eye view of a streetcar. Maybe it's because my mother was a teacher--I look upon education as a major function of our museum

I began volunteering at the railway museum near me about 3 years ago. Before I was a volunteer, I didn't usually like to strike up conversation with other people, and was a bit shy around people I didn't know. Now, the museum has helped me discover a new passion: working with the public. Granted, it's not for everyone, and not everyone enjoys it. However, many people do enjoy it, and, just so long as you don't "talk their ear off", many visitors enjoy learning about the equipment and its history. Part of the challenge is measuring the interest of your listeners. You don't want to keep talking if your audience has lost interest. Yet, others will want to learn as much as possible.

Personally, I think history is often taught poorly. In school, we're forced to memorize numbers (dates), and assign them to events, objects, and people. There is no "number", "date", or "digit" in the word "history". However, "history" does contain the word "story". Saying "this car was built in 1912" means nothing to many people (especially kids). Saying that the car will have its 100th birthday next year adds a whole new dimension of understanding for both young and old. It gives the car a sense of its place in time. It starts to tell a story. Don't give them the date and expect them to figure out the age. Give them the age, and if they like, they'll figure out the date.

I think an analogy can be drawn between old books and old trains. They both tell a story. Sure, reprints/replicas can be made, but what use is the original if it is never read? If its story is never told? Even old books in the back of dark museum storage lockers are examined by scholars. The ancient Dead Sea Scrolls even went on public tour. So why not tell the story with just replicas? Because you lose some authenticity. Sure, anyone can read a paperback copy of Beowulf, but how much more would the story interest you if you got to read the original?

Old stuff is not worthy of preservation simply because its old. Old stuff is worthy of preservation because it tells a story. We don't preserve new stuff because it doesn't tell a story. Why is an old, worn out steam locomotive considered worthy of preservation while a brand new GEVO isn't? Story. And not just the story of the object. It tells us a story about ourselves and our ancestors. Most artifacts, at least at train museums, were worked on, built by, and used by people.

I don't think the "museum" role can be completely filled without both preservation and education. The education tells the story, the preservation provides the book.

To close, I'd like to quote the Marysville Historical Society's homepage: http://www.marysvillehistory.org/

"A museum is not just a building full of old stuff. A museum is a record of time, a place, and its people".

Alright, my brain hurts now. Let me know what y'all think.

EDIT: I should note that when I say "museum", I am referring to historical museums. There are many other types of museums where preservation is not part of the program (glass museums, children's museums, etc.)

But when grandma and grandpa show up with a couple of grand kids and want to show the kids a room like they slept in on their honeymoon but the car is locked up, the museum has failed drastically in its 501(c)3 obligation.

While this is an interesting discussion, there is nothing in Title 26 (aka "the Internal Revenue Code", or the Treasury Regulations that amplify and clarify IRC Sec 501(c)(3) and have the force of law- that require assets to be exhibited. The only requirement for the use of assets concerns their disposition upon dissolution. The IRS is concerned with what an organization does, but not how (it employs its assets to that end)


Treasury Reg here:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2005/aprqtr/pdf/26cfr1.501%28c%29%283%29-1.pdf

There may be organizational by-laws, state charitable organization rules that require exhibition, but I doubt it, because as a practical matter-museums routinely keep things (documents) that are exhibited only periodically or not at all in order to avoid degradation that would occur from exposure to ambient air or UV light.



We don't preserve new stuff because it doesn't tell a story.

What? Development isn't a story? I'll bet if there's a computer museum out there, they have or are getting an IPad. Every business and tech journal is waxing eloquent about Steve Jobs and how he reemerged from exile to nuture Apple back from the brink to the most valuable company in the world-the IPad will be the last product launched under his tenure as CEO-and who knows how long he'll stay as chairman, with his health?

For that matter, they should get the on life support HP Touchpad, because there's a story there about the futility of launching a frontal assault on a market leader with a substitute of lesser utility but the same price.

Now of course the reason nobody goes out and gets a multimillion dollar GEVO? (hint: it has to do with the adjective Kaching!)

Okay, true, some things that are brand new are preserved. And you are right, development does tell a story. However, I think that things which are preserved before they either age or get used make up a relatively small amount of the "preserved" stuff out there. We just tend to collect the outdated, used up stuff. It also tells a development story. It's just somewhat rare that a brand new piece is preserved right off the bat (again, you're right, price DOES have something to do with that).

I suppose that you could say that art museums "preserve" items, but not in a historical sense. The art doesn't become "artifact" (though some ancient art, such as Greek and Roman statues) seem to be viewed as both nowadays.

And then you have the debate of whether "saving' or "putting something away for awhile" qualifies as preservation (and if it is, is it active or passive). For example, in one sense, and old Ford Model T rusting in a farmer's field is "preserved" (neglect has ensured that it still exists. In other words, no has bothered to scrap it). But on the other hand it is actively rusting, and no one is keeping it in good repair.

Again, my brain is hurting. But you're making me think here. That's good. :)

Probably trying to read the original runic remnants of Beowolf is giving you a headache. I think a good English translation actually tells most modern Americans the story better actually.............just as the replica Jupiter and 119 live and in person help us envision the golden spike better than just seeing the classic photo. A digital mockup on a 2 dimensional screen won't however, even in "3D." I reckon it depends on both the user friendliness of the original VS the potential visceral impact of the replica.

Now, if we could visit dark age Scandanavia.... we'd probably come right back, but really appreciate the differences between life then and there and here and now.

I'm very pleased to see the storytelling mission is gaining in understanding VS the playing with cool old metal things aspect. I'm in grave danger of starting to think hopeful thoughts about the future.

dave

From the museum article about the Shelburn Falls trolley posted above....

“A lot of kids drag their parents back. It’s much loved by hard core munchkins,”

“One little boy learned the days of the week because he wanted to anticipate when he could ride the trolley”

The project is reaching people... not railfans, not trolley foamers... people...

This is where we all need to be...

Randy