Small Museums, Important Collections | Virtual Summit | November 12 – 13

Wednesday, November 12

Opening Plenary: Collections and Community: The Heart and Soul of Small Museums
Noon – 1:15 p.m.

Nearly all museums large and small have physical collections, but what often sets small museum collections apart is their close ties and relevance to their contemporary communities. Small museum collections tell stories of family, adversity, and joy, often in the communities where these events took place and with the people themselves or their descendants. The personal becomes public, and artifacts, no matter how commonplace, become symbols of universal human stories.

Join us for a moderated discussion with three small museum recipients of AASLH’s Leadership in History Awards to discuss how their projects worked creatively with collections to strengthen community ties, build cultural bridges, and cement their places as essential memory-keepers. Attendees will learn to use their collections in new ways, connect personal artifacts to national histories, and discuss strategies for working with stakeholder communities.

Moderated by Bethany Hawkins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, AASLH.

Panelists:

• Kyra March, Museum Tour Coordinator, Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, Skillman, New Jersey (The Head that Wears the Crown: Black Women’s Headwear from Slavery to Freedom)
• Alexis Hickey, College Archivist and Head of Special Collections, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington (Picturing Family: Métis Life in the Walla Walla Valley)
• Sarah Hurlburt, Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington (Picturing Family: Métis Life in the Walla Walla Valley)
• Gigi Yang, Museum Services Supervisor, Louisville Historical Museum, Louisville, Colorado (Marshall Fire Story Project)

Policy Potluck
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Small museums are often driven by passion for a particular subject or collection, in some cases even beginning from a single private collection. As any organization grows, it needs a more solid foundation to successfully care for the collection and to create an institutional framework to ensure its long-term sustainability. This session will feature a discussion of the importance of developing solid written policies that directly relate to the scope and practice of collections, with breakouts providing a chance to discuss each in detail in a smaller group. You’ll be able to choose which group you want to join for discussion and brainstorming.

Policy topics will include:

• Mission, vision, and values statements
• Collections management policies and plans
• Practical aspects of collections care and storage
• Disaster preparedness and emergency response plans

The majority of this session will be in breakout sessions so attendees can share their own thoughts and concerns, and get feedback from others. Be ready to brainstorm with others and share examples of documents that work and don’t work so we can learn together.

Speakers:

• Sean Blinn, Chair of the AASLH Small Museums Committee, Bedminster, New Jersey
• Madeline Cooper, Owner, MC Conservation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Karen DePauw, Steep Rock Association, Inc., Washington, Connecticut
• Kayla Leonard, Essential Records Analyst, State Archives of North Carolina, New Bern, North Carolina

Networking Session
2:45 – 3:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 13

Plenary: Protecting Landscapes and Structures as Collections
Noon – 1:15 p.m.

For historic sites, the built environment is a fundamental part of the collection. As tangible evidence of the human impact on our world, the design, construction, maintenance, adaptation, and function of historic buildings and cultural landscapes are potent sources of information. Brucemore, a cultural center and historic site in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, preserves a 19th- and early 20th-century country estate that includes seven primary structures, as well as 26 acres of grounds designed by noted landscape architect O.C. Simonds. On August 10, 2020, an inland-hurricane called a derecho roared through eastern Iowa, causing $3 million in damage to the estate’s structures and toppling over 250 major trees – 75% of the canopy. In 45 minutes, nearly a century of growth was eliminated. Brucemore’s work restoring one of the most significant cultural landscapes in the Midwest provides lessons and cautionary tales, as the frequency and severity of extreme weather events grows.

Speaker:

• David Janssen, CEO, Brucemore, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Governing Authorities and Collections
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Governing authorities often play an outsized role at small museums. At large museums, boards often focus on oversight and fundraising. At small museums, especially those run entirely by volunteers, boards are often hands-on, deciding what to collect, creating displays, and determining standards of care, in addition to exercising their legal responsibilities as trustees. This session will help governing authorities and those who work with them understand their legal and ethical responsibilities, and to put best practices in place.

Topics will include:

• Governing authorities and their policy role
• Best practices in collections
• Professional development and education for governing authorities
• Consideration of various forms of governance models (e.g. independent 501[c]3, museum run by local government, etc.)

Breakout sessions will allow attendees to discuss single topics in more detail. You will choose which group you want to join for brainstorming and discussion.

Speakers:

• Lauren Bufferd, Director, The Parthenon, Nashville, Tennessee
• Jeremy Davis, Executive Director, Museum of North Texas History, Wichita Falls, Texas
• Kate Garrett, Director, Batavia Depot Museum, Batavia, Illinois
• Anne McCudden, Executive Director, New Mexico Historic Sites, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Jessica Meis, Museum Curator, Batavia Depot Museum, Batavia, Illinois
• Sara Phalen, Director / Curator, West Chicago City Museum / Warrenville Historical Society, West Chicago, Illinois

Networking Session
2:45 – 3:30 p.m.

Deaccessioning
3:45 – 5 p.m.

As much as collecting is important, the guidelines for what to remove from a collection, and when, are just as important. Donor restrictions, state laws, and ethical considerations exist to preserve the collection and the bounds of trust that make collecting possible. This session will discuss the concept of deaccessioning, when it is and is not acceptable, how to go about it in ways that preserve and promote stakeholder trust and understanding, and how you can clean up your shelves to make room for new stories. This session will discuss:

• Importance of having and understanding a policy
• Available resources for learning more about proper deaccessioning procedures
• Legal processes that must be followed (and how they vary state by state)

During the last 15 minutes, any attendees wanting to participate in an informal networking space can talk with each other and with presenters.

Speakers:

• Jacqui Ainlay-Conley, Director, Buffalo Bill Museum, Golden, Colorado
• Elizabeth Beaudoin, Curator of History, Longmont Museum, Longmont, Colorado
• Anna Faherty, Archivist, Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine, Lewiston, Maine

Happy Hour
7 – 8:30 p.m.

Join us for an informal and fun networking session on Zoom where we’ll problem solve with our new summit colleagues. Your mission: pack a collection object. It may sound simple, but how do you pack and ship a fragile piece of 300-year-old porcelain? A Gutenberg Bible? Or a fragile and historically important tapestry? Join your new friends in this fun challenge! There will be prizes!