AASLH

Historic preservation advocates across the country are gearing up for Preservation50, a year-long series of activities during 2016 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Please join us to learn about Preservation50’s missions, goals, and programming, and how your organization can participate. Chair: Marion Werkheiser, Managing Member, Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, Washington, D.C. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/preservation50-celebrating-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-national-historic-preservation-act/

From the buildings on our block to the quilt on our couch, we interact with history daily. Yet too often we ignore our historical landscape in favor of formal texts. In this session, we challenge this trend with techniques to help us read the objects around us. Chair: Mindy Farmer, Director, May 4 Visitors Center at Kent State University, Kent, OH. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/new-ways-to-read-old-objects/

Are you part of a coalition advocating for the creation of powerful new streams of funding that will make history more accessible, more consistent with standards, more prevalent, and more relevant? Learn about expectations and realities of sources such as lodging, sales, environmental offset taxes, and voluntary income taxes. Chair: David Grabitske, Manager of Outreach Services, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, MN. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/powerful-funding-makes-history-possible/

Noted author and local historian Carol Kammen spoke at the 2015 Leadership in History Awards banquet. Since 1995, Carol’s column, “On Doing Local History,” has appeared regularly in our magazine, History News. Her books include On Doing Local History, The Pursuit of Local History: Readings on Theory and Practice, the Encyclopedia of Local History, and Zen and the Art of Local History. In 2007, she received AASLH’s highest honor, the Award of Distinction. Carol also presented the inaugural Michael Kammen Award, named in honor of her late husband, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Cornell University’s Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture Emeritus. It is presented to a history institution with an annual budget under $250,000 that has shown outstanding effort. The 2015 winner is the Lombard Historical Society of Lombard, Illinois. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/carol-kammen-awards-banquet-speaker-2015-annual-meeting/

The 2015 Meeting of the Membership included reports from Norman Burns (Council Treasurer) and John Dichtl (President and CEO), as well as an address from Julie Rose (Council Chair) and results of 2015 Council elections. Tobi Voigt of the Detroit Historical Society issued the invitation to Detroit for AASLH’s 2016 Annual Meeting. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/2015-meeting-of-the-membership/

Sam Wineburg delivers the keynote address as the 2015 Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. Wineburg is the Margaret Jacks Professor of Education and a professor of history, by courtesy, at Stanford University, where he directs the doctoral program in history education as part of the Stanford History Education Group. His Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past (2001) won the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ Frederic W. Ness Book Award for the work that “best illuminates the goals and practices of a contemporary liberal education.” He has also received, with his collaborators, the James Harvey Robinson Prize and the William Gilbert Award from the American Historical Association. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/sam-wineburg-keynote-address-2015-annual-meeting/

The 2015 Annual Meeting Plenary was a discussion with author Wendell Berry and Kentucky State Historian Dr. James C. Klotter, moderated by KET personality Renee Shaw. Berry and Klotter discussed the importance of studying the past as a way to prepare for the future. Berry is an author and Kentucky treasure, famous for his writings on nature and ecology. Klotter received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Kentucky. He is the author, co-author, or editor of almost twenty prize-winning books, including the standard works on Kentucky used at the elementary, secondary, and college level. Shaw is the host of Connections with Renee Shaw on Kentucky Educational Television. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/wendell-berry-dr-james-c-klotter-and-renee-shaw-plenary-address-2015-aaslh-annual-meeting/

This session looks beyond traditional policies on using artifacts in historic sites, looks specifically at deaccessioning, and argues for more flexibility with collections. Participants will solve the problem of three real-life case studies. The aim is to consider the pros and cons of mass deaccessioning, and using historic objects in museums and the legal, ethical, and person considerations that go into decisions. Chair: Kenneth C. Turino, Manager of Community Engagement and Exhibitions, Historic New England, Boston, MA; Gwendolen Raley, Museum and Heritage Tourism Director, Indiana Landmarks, Morris-Butler House, Indianapolis, IN; Jay D. Vogt, Director, South Dakota State Historical Society, Pierre, SD. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/to-use-or-not-to-use-or-keep-ethical-issues-in-collections/

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Hidden Collection Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories is a project to make better known and more accessible archival collections held at small historical institutions. This session will present HCI-PSAR as a model and will share resources for those managing archives at small organizations. Chair: Jack McCarthy, Project Director, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Celia Caust-Ellenbogen, Senior Project Surveyor, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; Erica Harman, Senior Specialist, Collections and Administration, Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/archival-adventures-in-small-repositories/

This session explores the perspectives of the university, student, and small museum in examining best practices through case studies of internship programs. The session emphasizes collaboration of all parties to achieve a win-win-win result. Topics include scope, legal requirements, recruitment, funding, setting goals, career networking, and development opportunities. Chair: Robert P. Connolly, Ph.D., Director, Associate Professor, C.H. Nash Museum, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN; Patricia Harris, Graduate Student, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN; Kathleen Klehr, Executive Director, Scott County Historical Society, Shakopee, MN. Download at: http://resource.aaslh.org/view/big-impact-for-small-museums-internships-as-a-win-win-win-for-all-participants/