As an educator in a history museum, I am faced with
the challenge of introducing visitors to the
concept of history. To many, history is often viewed as a collection of stories about
events and places involving people whose lives are distant and far removed from their own contemporary
existence.
History is viewed as something you read from books or exhibition labels, or are told
through
television movies or Sunday afternoon lectures rather than perceived as an active process
of inquiry
and discovery. Thomas Schlereth, in "Object Knowledge: Every Museum Visitor an
Interpreter,"describes how museums "let us in on how they exhibit or how they arrive at their
interpretations." It
seems that museums need to be more forthcoming and direct with our visitors by letting
them in on
our secrets of interpretation.
Two incidents relating to school group visits
illustrates visitors' perception of history and the museum experience. I remember overhearing a teacher trying to lure her students up the main
stairs to the exhibitions on the second floor. Her encouraging words rang throughout the galleries,
filling her
students with inspiration of their upcoming historical encounter. She proclaimed,
"the sooner we get
this over with, the sooner we can have some fun." The other incident relates to an
article that
appeared in a newspaper on field trip experiences and where teachers preferred to take
their students.
One teacher commented that the city's history museum didn't have a lot of things that
"beep and buzz." One can only wonder if these school groups had been to one too many history
exhibitions
where they had moved through endless galleries of objects and lengthy labels, without the
opportunity to question, analyze and interpret history for themselves.
The more formal approach to history exhibitions
leads visitors to assume that the "facts speak for
themselves" through displays and grouping of objects and through scholarly written
labels and text
panels. Visitors to these exhibitions are told the stories of history, rather than being
active participants in the analysis and interpretation of the past. Through passive involvement, visitors
willingly accept
the facts presented to them, not realizing the true engaging qualities of the historical
process. But
historians know otherwise. Edward Hallett Carr reminds us that the "facts speak only
when the
historian calls upon them." In agreement with Carr, Carl Becker asserts that it is an
illusion to believe
that the facts will "speak for themselves." How then can history museums
transform the museum
experience into one that encourages visitors to become active participants in exploring
history? The
answer lies in creating exhibitions that invite visitors to become involved in the
interpretation of the
past by allowing them to utilize analytical and interpretive skills just as a historian
would.
To understand how museums can, and are, translating
the historical process into interactive
experiences, we need to consider what is the process of "doing" history. Kieran
Egan, in
"Accumulating History," says "to be able to teach children the rules of the
game historians play we
need to know what they are and how they can be accumulated by an individual child."
Many
historians have written about the process of doing history, instructions to playing the
"game." First,
one must approach the task prepared for and receptive to new ways of thought. A. L. Rowse
also
emphasizes the need for historians to be alert and to "keep [their] eyes open."
Another important skill
is the ability to draw one's own conclusion after assessing the information collected.
Historians need
to be able to identify the diverse viewpoints presented in different perspectives and to
understand
their value in historical research. It becomes apparent that these skills are definitely
within the grasp
of any visitor.
What is it that historians do with these skills;
what is the historical process? To begin the historical
process, the historian must select a subject and search for sources. The historian then
focuses on the
facts - assembling, questioning and always returning back to them. Rowse, Lucey and other
historians
identify the critical analysis of all sources as a recurring task for historians.
Historians have to be
critical of the evidence and must always question their sources in order to determine its
relevance and
merit. The historian returns to the facts and sources because they may not be authentic,
credible and
may be filled with biases and exaggerations. Edward Hallett Carr adds interpretation and
evaluation as
two final steps in this process. As stated earlier, the historian must come to some
conclusions and do
something with the information collected, beyond recording it. Interpretation and
evaluation of the
facts and the sources allow for new insights and discoveries. The process becomes one of
identifying,
analyzing, interpreting and evaluating the sources, evidence and witnesses.
In identifying the skills of the historian and
defining the historical process, the question arises, "Is
history a game that anyone can play?" The process that Carl Becker takes Mr. Everyman
through in
Everyman His Own Historian: Essays on History and Politics further illustrates this point
through
showing how the historical process translates into a person's daily experiences. Mr.
Everyman, as we
all do, begins his day remembering some things and not others. But Becker assures us that
this is not
a problem since Mr. Everyman, like any historian, initiates his own historical research.
Mr. Everyman,
who wants to pay his coal bill, turns to his first source, the entry that he ordered coal
from a Mr.
Smith, and discovers that a critical analysis of this source is necessary. Mr. Everyman
then pieces
together the bits of information collected from his calendar entry and a conversation with
Mr. Smith,
to create a picture in his mind of past events. From the picture, Mr. Everyman remembers
that Mr.
Smith turned the order over to Mr. Brown who delivered the coal.
Carl Becker says that "Mr. Everyman would be
astonished to learn that he is a historian, yet it is obvious isn't it, that he has performed all the essential operations needed in historical
research."Interactive experiences transform history exhibitions into environments that enable
visitors to become
part of the historical process. Key components to these activities are questions that
encourage visitors to rely on objects for answers. Through object-based activities, visitors are able to
identify the evidence; analyze the evidence; use the evidence; interpret the evidence to create a
story; and evaluate
the evidence in order to come to one's own conclusions. The examples that follow are
interactive experiences used by history museums in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland and Richmond,
Virginia. These interactive experiences illustrate how museums are introducing visitors to
the historical process.
Identifying
Identifying the evidence is a key step in beginning
the historical process. An exhibition label at the Valentine Riverside, in Richmond, VA, explained to visitors that a model was created from
research in "archival records, prints, photographs, insurance policies and maps."
Records, sources, evidence and witnesses are where historians find their facts, and where museum visitors can begin
the historical process. The historian begins by searching for sources. And what form do these
sources take? David Weitzman, in My Backyard History Book, tells us the possibilities are endless:
"What kinds of things go into history? Anything and everything." Interactive experiences
capture the breadth of historical evidence through the variety of objects visitors are able to touch, handle
and explore.
The National Museum of American History (NMAH) has a big wheel bike that lures visitors
down a hall into the Hands On History Room, a space filled with inviting things from the past to
capture any visitor's attention. Objects become "a hook" or "an invitation to
learn."
To draw visitors into the historical process,
museums want them to identify the evidence by taking a closer look. In So What About History?, Edmund S. Morgan explains that "historians
take a closer look to see why things are the way they are." The "Telegraph Station" in
the NMAH Hands On History Room encourages visitors to look at the evidence, in this case telegrams:
"Why should Mrs. Dugan come home? Look inside this box to find out." At the National Postal Museum, an
activity early in the exhibition directs visitors to find the evidence. A large leather pouch and
the label "What's in the mail pouch-Take a look" directs visitors in identifying the evidence,
newspapers and letters. Through the large windows, even the city itself became an artifact at the Valentine
Riverside: "Look out the window to see the area as it is today." "Take a closer look"
reduces the first phase of the
historical process to its lowest terms. Through letters, telegrams, a big wheel bicycle
and even a city itself, visitors are able to identify the evidence and take a closer look at history.
In both the more formal exhibitions and interactive
experiences, museums are showing visitors the sources, evidence, records and witnesses to the past. But, as museum professionals, we
know it is not enough to collect and preserve, nor is it enough for the visitor to look and observe.
Interactive
experiences invite visitors not only to see, look and observe, but also to touch, handle
and most importantly to examine the evidence of history. The shelves, trunks, boxes and tables in
these
interactive environments are all filled with objects inviting visitors to look, to handle
and to question.
Critical analysis of the source was earlier defined
as a recurring task in the historical process. Interactive experiences use questions to encourage visitors to carefully examine the
sources identified through analyzing its distinctive characteristics. At the National Building Museum
exhibition "Washington: Symbol and City," visitors discover that the unique traits of a
map, such as the direction of the streets, communicate a lot. Questions such as "At which two points
do the most streets come together?" and "What do you notice about the wide, diagonal
streets?" introduce visitors to the object (identify the evidence) and initiate a dialogue between visitors and the
object as they begin to analyze the source. The visitor is encouraged to take a closer look to discover
what the object has to say. As visitors enter the NMAH Hands On History Room, they are greeted by a shelf,
filled with mystery objects, labeled "What is it?" Once again, questions, called clues,
lead visitors in their
exploration and analysis of artifacts. "This is not a giant pie plate" and
"the attachments on the ends of this object are an important part of its function" are clues that connect visitors to
the objects and lead them to discover that they are looking at a gold pan or that they are holding a coral and
bells baby rattler from the 1700's.
At the National Postal Museum, a stamp becomes more
than something you place on an envelope. Here, the critical analysis of the source, in this case a stamp, provides visitors with
different methods of analyzing the same object. "What Makes a Stamp a Stamp," "Collecting
Stamps" and "Fakes and
Forgeries" allow visitors to analyze their source in a variety of ways. "What
Makes a Stamp a Stamp"
introduces the different characteristics of a stamp. In "One Lick Should Make It
Stick," a weight
demonstrates how much pressure a stamp can withstand. The "Collecting Stamps"
activity also uses questions to help visitors further analyze and dissect the evidence. After learning the
definitions of
terms such as postmark and gum, questions such as "Can you find the postmarks on
these covers?" and "Which stamps have the best gum?" encourage visitors to look critically at
the sources provided. In "Fakes and Forgeries," a magnifying glass allows the visitor to look below
the surface of the
evidence. Through these and other activities, interactive experiences encourage visitors
to consider the many different characteristics of any one object. At the same time, visitors become
more critical and selective of their sources.
Sorting and grouping activities are other ways to
assist visitors in identifying the evidence and analyzing its unique characteristics. A number of activities invite visitors to create a
collection, an activity familiar to many visitors. At the NMAH Hands On History Room and the National
Postal Museum, visitors must select a theme or title for their collection and then select the
stamps that best represent that subject. Whether a visitor is looking at a map, inspecting a mystery object
or sorting
stamps into groups, museums are engaging them in the historical process. The one-on-one
encounter between the visitor and the object has been established; an informal dialogue has been
imitated through analysis of its unique appearance. Objects are more than something to look at;
they become sources of information and tools for further exploration. The rules of the game have been
established in this early stage of the historical process. The chosen game pieces or tokens become
objects. And what is accomplished through this initial stage? Museum visitors discover that they are no
longer restricted only to looking.
Analyzing
Visitors are introduced to the second phase of the
historical process through interactive experiences that encourage the use of objects. Whereas in identifying the evidence, visitors are
invited to "take a closer look," visitors are now encouraged to do something with this evidence. In
these activities, the objects are used as tools for performing different tasks, or as tools for providing
information about past events. This phase of the historical process provides visitors with opportunities to
move beyond
an object's unique characteristics to consider "what can this object do." Museum
visitors are now being challenged to take the evidence they have identified and use it to experience
history.
The "doing" of history takes on a literal
translation of the term. In the NMAH Hands On History Room, the commands "try sending it" (Telegraph Station) and "work the
machine" (More Work for
Mother) both solicit from visitors some type of physical response that requires
interaction with the
object. The doing of history is as varied and diverse as there are objects. Visitors can
try their hands
at tapping messages on a telegraph to discover the clicks and clacks of the dots and
dashes of the
morse code, or treadle a sewing machine to carefully stitch a line. In "Design Your
Own Row Houses" at the National Building Museum exhibition "Washington: Symbol and
City," visitors have the opportunity to create a row house by rotating and selecting
drawings of different windows, doors and pediments, as if making their choices from an
architect's pattern book. Whether a visitor is tapping a message in morse code or creating
their own row house, objects become more accessible to visitors on a personal level.
Other activities in the NMAH Hands On History Room
such as "The Mighty Mule", "Try Making
Rope", and "Dressing the Part: Anna and Henry Saunders, 1780-1800" lead
visitors through
step-by-step instructions to properly harness a mule for work; to create a piece of rope;
or to wear
stays in order "to shed your 20th century style to dress and move in the 18th century
style." All of
these activities connect visitors directly to objects that they must learn to manipulate,
operate or wear.
The historical process becomes a physical act as one performs tasks and activities that
were (and are) a part of history. By wearing stays, a visitor discovers that an 18th century lady would
have had to
bend from her hips, not her waist, and would stand in a ballet-like third position in her
heels. At "The
Story of Cotton" station, the task of operating a cotton gin is not the only activity
to experience. Next to the gin, a different experience provides visitors with alternative ways to understand
the different
stages to processing cotton. A sack filled with twenty pounds of cotton, only a fifth of
what the
average adult could pick in a day, takes visitors to the cotton fields. Through a
photograph illustrating
workers with their sacks, visitors are able to use the evidence to experience this
rigorous task as they are prompted to "try the sack on" and "pull the sack
across the floor." Visitors are reminded that they are using the evidence to
understand only a part of the experience since the sack would become heavier from more
cotton as the day wore on. Each object takes on a life of its own offering visitors new
experiences and unique opportunities.
Interactive experiences can also place objects and
visitors into specific historical contexts that further illustrate how objects were used. In the activity "Sorting the Mail by Rail"
(NMAH Hands On History
Room), visitors are able to take a railroad clerk efficiency test to discover if they are
"qualified for the job." Laminated letters, sorting mailboxes labeled with city names and a small
hourglass enable visitors to discover how many letters can be sorted in a minute, and whether or not
"you are hired" or
will need to "try again." At the Baltimore Museum of Industry, students learn
about the oyster cannery business through actually becoming workers in a simulated factory. The artifacts become
tools to assist the students in fulfilling tasks for their new positions. As skilled
laborers, some students work as canners making cardboard cans, while others work as
printers printing labels for the cans personalized with their school's name. As unskilled
laborers, the shuckers shuck, or open, actual shells and remove oysters in the form of
small clay balls; the fillers pack the clay oysters into the cans, made by the canners on
the floor above; and finally the labelers place a label on each can. Through becoming
workers in the factory, students are better able to understand the process involved in
canning oysters. Artifacts are an important part of the process in both the task being
performed and the experience provided.
Though three-dimensional objects are used by
visitors to perform a variety of tasks, two-dimensional
artifacts such as documents and letters can also be used by visitors as sources of
information. The Telegraph Station in the NMAH Hands on History Room contains an assortment of telegrams
that can
be used by visitors to answer a variety of questions: "What kind of messages did
people send? Which seemed the most important? Which are business transactions? Which are personal
messages?" Both the hand-written and coded telegram provide visitors with information that no other object
could
provide or duplicate. "Why should Mrs. Dugan come home?" can only be answered by
the telegram sent by John Dugan to Mike Sullivan on April 11, 1889; the message reveals that the cow
would not let anyone else milk her. In the "Settling the Frontier" section at the National
Postal Museum, the
physical act of sitting in an actual stagecoach and being rocked back-and-forth is not the
only way of using the evidence to understand the stagecoach. The experience of "what it was like
to be there" is further captured in letters from this period that describe the different types of people
who rode a
stagecoach. The answer (found in a letter) to the question "what new event bonds Mary
to her
mother" reveals that important news, such as the birth of a baby, became a different
type of "passenger" that traveled by stagecoach. Through using objects as tools for
performing tasks and as sources of information, visitors are beginning to make connections between objects and
specific past
events.
Interpreting
Museums frequently describe their exhibitions and
programs as those that bring history to life. The "life" in history is derived from the people of history; the struggles and
challenges they faced and the
choices and decisions they made. Interactive experiences introduce visitors to the people
of history
through engaging them in the interpretation of the evidence. Through interactive
experiences, visitors
are asking and answering the question of who: who made, owned or used this object, and on
what
occasion? Up to this point, the object has served the visitor in many ways, whether it has
been a
mystery object to identify or a tool used to make something. Now, in the interpretive
phase, objects and the stories they embody become the means through which people of the present are
introduced to
people of the past. The story takes its form through organizing and ordering all the
facts, information and data collected from questioning, identifying, analyzing and using artifacts.
To get visitors to discover the stories of the
past, museums are faced with the challenge of
introducing a diverse group of visitors to the varied stories of history. Depending on the
visitor, some of these stories are familiar, while others may be obscure in content and meaning. The
process of
communicating any story is one that involves the teller of the story (a museum exhibition
for example) and a receiver (the museum visitor). The receiver of the story tends to be a
passive participant in this type of process. Interactive experiences, though, transform the
experience of learning the stories of history into an engaging activity. The artifacts used in these
activities become
the means for communicating the stories; objects become storytellers and the interpreters
of past
events. In the ``Life in a Sod House'' station in the NMAH Hands On History Room, a large
photo blow-up and a case of sod bricks are just a few of the objects that introduce visitors to
the unique story of the Crans and their sod house. Questions such as "How did the Crans build
their sod house?" and "Why is there an open space above the window?" prompt visitors to turn to
the evidence for explanations and for meaning. When organized, these pieces of information collected from
objects communicate the story of the Crans and their life in the sod house. Grasshoppers, buffalo
chips and statements by sod house pioneers become other forms of evidence that expand the story of
living in a sod house to one that explains life on the plains.
Elaine Wrisley Reed, in Helping Your Child Learn
History, discusses the dual nature of history both as a record and as a story. Two activities in the NMAH Hands On History Room illustrate
the relationship between objects as records and objects as storytellers. A sickle and a slate
in the "You Be The Historian" activity introduces visitors to the Springer family; who they were and
how they lived. These objects not only provide answers to the clues, "this was used at harvest
time" and "this was
used in school work," but also work together to create a picture and to tell the
story of the Springer
family. "Betsy's Moving Trunk" creates a similar experience in its collection of
objects. But these objects communicate a different story and introduce a new cast of characters: "Inside
the trunk are reproductions of things Betsy might have owned. Let's look inside and see what they can
tell us about her life." In this activity, a sampler and a pouch of polished stones are just a few
of the objects used
to tell us the story of a young girl who lived over two hundred years ago. The sampler was
used to perfect her skill with a needle, while the stones were an early version of jacks. Even in
the interpretive stage, analyzing the evidence is still encouraged and a recurring task
for the historian and the museum visitor, as evident in the step-by-step instructions on
how to play jacks without a little red ball.
Objects are no longer secondary to lengthy labels,
but rather become the words and the pages of the story. As evidence of a specific event, objects are able to take the visitor back in time
to discover the people involved. To understand these experiences, James Deetz believes "we have to
try to place
ourselves within the minds of the people who lived then." As storytellers, objects
enable visitors to
understand the experiences of other people through a sort of "walk in their
shoes." In the NMAH
Hands On History Room, an assortment of objects introduce visitors to Sarah Trask and
Nathan Adler
and become the guides to their stories. In "The Story of Making Shoes Without
Machines," Sarah
Trask and an assortment of artifacts become our guides, or docents, as we explore a
specific moment
in the past. A census, pattern pieces, leather, boar's bristles and Sarah's diary entries
all become translators through which Sarah tells her story and through which the visitor discovers
how a shoe
was made. But this story is not just about Sarah. It is a story filled with many
characters; each person
has a different perspective to add to the story and a different task to perform in making
the shoe.
From Micajah Pratt, the shoe boss, to Isaiah Hacker, the clicker, each person and each
object add to
the richness of the story being developed. Visitors are faced with the same challenges as
these people
when asked to "try to figure out how you would cut as many umps and quarters as
possible from this
one piece of leather."
In "Travel With the Peddler," visitors
embark on a different story and journey with Nathan Adler, an immigrant peddler, and the collection of goods in his peddler sack. Visitors are
encouraged to
"imagine what it was like to walk through the countryside" as they become
assistants to the peddler,
looking inside the sack at each stop to discover items to sell to the different customers.
Polly Arms
needs to sew her husband's shirt and make herself an apron, while the Sullivan family have
twins celebrating their seventh birthday. In the sack, one discovers sewing notions such as
darning egg, thread and thimbles, along with a variety of toys, such as a tea set, doll, jumping jack
and a rocking
horse. All of these items were objects to entice the peddler's customer and the visitor's
imagination.
The journey into the past is one that visitors do not have to take alone, but are guided
by the stories of the people who took the same journey many years ago. History is no
longer distant and remote when the people of the past are sharing with visitors their
choices and challenges, their innermost thoughts and feelings.
Elaine Wrisley Reed further asserts that "your
child is born into history. She has no memory of it, yet she finds herself in the middle of a story that began before she became one of the
characters. She also wants to have a place in it." If we look at history as Elaine Wrisley Reed does, each
person's life
becomes a chapter in this on-going story. Although countless chapters have already
occurred before our own lives began, each chapter, or each individual, provides a special link between the
past and the present. To secure and understand our own place in history and in time, we turn to the
stories of those who came before us for explanations and meaning. The time-line of dates used to
illustrate the progression of history is now transformed into a story-line illustrating the diverse
characters and tales of the past. Interactive experiences communicate these stories and take visitors on
journeys into the past to meet the diverse cast of characters. Historical understanding then can be seen as
"finding one's place" in the story of history. This understanding or knowledge of history draws upon
the close
affinity of the past to the present, and the present to the past.
Evaluating
How then can the interactive experience become a
link between the past and the present? The fourth and final phase of the historical process provides such a link between the past and the
present. At this point, both the historian and the museum visitor are ready and able to apply their skills
in judgment to evaluate the evidence. The main objective of these interactive experiences is to draw
one's own conclusions. "What do you think" provides a perfect entry for visitors into this
stage as they are called upon to make connections and to express opinions. Whereas in the interpretive phase the
perspective of the person of the past is of primary importance, now, in the evaluation stage, the
focus shifts to the viewpoints and perspectives of the visitor. Connections can be made on a number of levels
through
the visitor's critical assessment of the experience and discoveries made.
In this phase, interactive experiences invite
visitors to make connections between the past and the present. After following the peddler on his route in the NMAH Hands On History Room, this
journey into the past ends by bringing the visitor back to the present by asking: "Are there
things in Nathan's pack you'd like to buy? What items can you find that are still used today? Can you find
some things that are rarely used anymore?" After analyzing objects in the "You Be The
Historian" section to discover who the Springers were, the final task left for the museum visitor, and for the
true historian, is to "come to some conclusions." This final task encourages visitors to draw
parallels between the
evidence that tells the story of the Springer family and the evidence that would tell
their own stories:
"Think of the evidence you are leaving behind every day. What would historians in the
next century learn about you and your family if they found your house exactly the way you left
it?" Though the visitor's story is quite different from that of the Springer family, a different
collection of objects could tell and document that story. The continuous nature of history is apparent through the
links between the past, the present and even the future.
In making these connections, visitors are
challenged and encouraged to think in new ways. Just as historians express their thoughts and draw conclusions after identifying, analyzing and
interpreting
the evidence, so can museum visitors. In the "Daily Life on a Rice Plantation"
section of the NMAH Hands On History Room, visitors are asked to "Use your imagination. What purpose
could you find for this unusually shaped gourd? What other uses can you think of?" Visitors now must
interact with the object in new ways and on more personal levels. The focus now shifts back to the
present and to the visitor's thoughts, feelings and reactions to the objects and to the museum
experience. At the National Building Museum, the final section of "Washington: Symbol and City"
acknowledges the value of judgment and evaluation as a final step in the historical process. In the final
section,
"Pennsylvania Avenue Today: Balancing Symbol and City," visitors are challenged
to consider: "How will you balance the symbolism of the avenue with the needs of the city's services?"
Visitors must evaluate and rank their priorities from the selections provided: ceremonial route, a place
to sit and talk, a place for government offices, a place to invest and make money and a place where
people live. Whether it is a gourd or a city street, the connection to the past is made through the
visitor's personal response to it.
The evaluation phase of the historical process
empowers visitors to draw upon the knowledge and information collected from identifying, analyzing, using and interpreting the evidence.
Since the questions and activities in this stage rely on a more personal response, the fear of not
knowing the right answer is eliminated. Connections between the past and the present are as varied and
diverse as there are museum visitors. Each visitor is capable of questioning and challenging the
meaning and significance of the stories they have learned. An activity at the National Building Museum
on the sculpture of the Capitol building allows visitors to make their own associations with this
historic structure. After the visitor identifies the evidence through images of the sculpture,
analyzes the
evidence through discovering what these figures symbolize and interprets the evidence
through selecting the name of the sculpture (Progress of Civilization,) the final activity is to
evaluate the evidence in relationship to the visitor's own perspective: "Does this sculpture still
represent the America you want portrayed to the world?" Through evaluating the evidence, visitors
are able to rethink the past and take a fresh look at the present. What occurs in this phase is
similar to the process of creative thinking Alan R. Gartenhaus describes in Minds in Motion: Using
Museums to Expand Creative Thinking. Many of the characteristics Gartenhaus associates with creative
thought
are similar to the skills of a historian and to the skills interactive experiences are
encouraging visitors to use: divergent thinking, open-mindedness to new ways of thinking and moving towards new
understandings and change. Evaluation of the evidence encourages visitors to think in new
ways and to move beyond accepting the stories of history as isolated events and bits of
information. Instead, the life of history is achieved through people and through the connections made between
the past and the present, and the present and the past.
Through identifying, analyzing, interpreting and
evaluating the evidence, museum visitors participate in the historical process. Objects and interactive experiences offer countless
possibilities and endless discoveries for each visitor. Just as no one object tells the whole story, no one activity
can illustrate the entire process. Interactive experiences provide entry into the historical process at
different points. While one visitor may begin by using the evidence, another may begin by discovering the
story it has to tell. In either case, the process of doing history engages museum visitors on a variety
of levels. In creating exhibitions, museums need to continue to ask themselves what type of experience
do we want to provide visitors, like that group of reluctant students. How do we want them and
other visitors to perceive history? Do we want to let them play our game? Through interactive
experiences, visitors become active participants in the interpretation of the past. Museums need to
continue to
challenge themselves to create exhibitions that engage visitors in historical inquiry.
Only then will history truly come to life and the past and the present will no longer seem so far removed
from one another.
(D. Lynn McRainey is Associate Educator for School Programs at the Chicago
Historical Society. This report is based on Ms. McRainey's four month Fellowship in Museum
Practice at the National Museum of American History, under the sponsorship of Nancy McCoy,
director of the NMAH Division of Education.)
Interpreting History Through Interactive Experiences
Reading List:
Becker, Carl L. Everyman His Own Historian: Essays on History
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Falk, John H. and Lynn D. Derking. The Museum Experience. Washington, D.C.: Whalesback
Books, 1992.
Gagnon, Paul and the Bradley Commission on History in Schools, eds. Historical Literacy:
The Case for History in American Education. New York: The Macmillan Publishing Company,
1989.
Marsh, Caryl. "The Discovery Room: How It All Began." The Journal of Museum
Education, Vol. 12, No. 2 (1987), pp. 3-5.
Pitman-Gelles, Bonnie. Museums, Magic and Children: Youth Education in Museums.
Washington, D.C.: Association of Science-Technology Centers, 1981.
Schlereth, Thomas J. Artifacts and the American Past. Nashville, Tennessee: American
Association for State and Local History, 1980.
Schlereth, Thomas J., ed. Material Culture Studies in America. Nashville, Tennessee:
American Association for State and Local History, 1982.
Smithsonian Institution. Snakes, Snails, and History Tails: Building Discovery Rooms and
Learning Labs at the Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.: Office of Education,
National Zoological Park; Education Division of the Department of Public Programs,
National Museum of American History; and Office of Education, National Museum of Natural
History, 1991.
CALLOUTS
"Is history a game that anyone can play?"
"Questions, called clues, lead visitors in their exploration and analysis of
artifacts."
"Museum visitors are now being challenged to take the evidence...and use it to
experience history."
or:
"Museum visitors are now being challenged to ... experience history."
"Objects...become the words and the pages of the story."
"The connection to the past is made through the visitor's personal response to
it."
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