A Thirteen-Step Program for Local History

from On Doing Local History column by Carol Kammen (Summer 2004 issue - Vol. 59, #3, pgs. 3-4)

In this new era of declining resources, increased expectations, the proliferation of smaller, more individualized organizations, and an aging membership, many historical societies face questions about their survival. Can anything save the weaker history organizations?

A number of readers have identified current problems and have made suggestions. These are certainly not the only ways to think about smaller societies but they might stimulate a helpful discussion. To start, let’s take the last question, and turn it on its side. Instead of asking if all the organizations can be saved, we might first consider if all of them should be kept going?

My opinion is that some historical societies will probably decline, as do most things. Plants die; people die; some organizations that have served their purpose will probably also dissolve. That they do so with dignity would be my concern. Their membership should not feel a sense of defeat but should be encouraged to join with others, as church members do when their individual congregations dwindle. Provisions should be made to ensure that the artifacts they collected go to a proper home and that documents be carefully placed in a regional archive. But save them all? The answer is clearly no.

The decision about what to do is a local choice that leaders and members will have to make by working together. The organization must engage in hard thinking about its purpose, means, and goals. This seems to have already started. Historical societies are changing their names, eliminating in many cases the word society as old-fashioned and elitist in tone, for something that plays on the current cultural cache such as museum or history center. The modernization of the name, however, is clearly not enough.

A thirteen-step program for the recovery or strengthening of historical societies might be a place to start. From what I hear, have learned, and observed, there are some obvious things to consider. I offer these suggestions to spur creative thinking.

1. Evaluate the institution.

Do not consider what it once was, or what it might have become, but what it actually is. What are its weaknesses and strengths? What is its role in the community? The questions should focus on historical goals and their archival support, financial resources, membership, and leadership.

2. Collaborate with partners.

Consider cooperation with other history organizations: one group does not have to do everything. There are many ways that two or more groups can join in order to create one stronger organization­–even without the total loss of individual identity. This might mean a combined membership; cooperative programs moving from one site to another; and a joint archive where each group maintains ownership of manuscript and library materials but the physical location is in one place with adequate storage, staff, and established hours. This could also mean an online inventory of the “stuff” from which all can draw. It might mean one facility or more than one, but it would concentrate and protect what has been collected. It might mean one good newsletter rather than several weak ones. After all, no one picnicked and married, visited relatives, or went to school only within one municipal unit. We moved about, and so did our history.

This strategy necessitates that we support the historical efforts of others: promote other historical programs, sites, exhibit openings, and special events. Interest in history begets interest in history.

3. Make alliances with organizations of allied interest.

There should be a network of area history organizations and local preservationists, with genealogists, business groups, and the chamber of commerce all working to promote knowledge and understanding and use of the locality. There should be strong working relationships with the public library and folks at the community college. Make common cause with the arts. Encourage the poets, dramatists, and visual artists to consider the locality in what they do. Give them a venue; display and promote their works. Hold workshops in art forms that allow members to give expression to art in support of history. Talk to the environmentalists. They too promote local understanding and protection of place. Go to their meetings; invite them to yours.

4. Modernize.

Consider the twentieth century as a field of study. Post regular hours and keep to them so that people have access to you and your collections. Use the Internet.

5. Sniff the air.

Go outside the building with programs, exhibits, and educational lessons. Be a presence at fairs, farmers’ markets, in the mall, and at the park. Work with the local media, the chamber of commerce, community improvement groups, and those involved in the business of tourism.

6. Read.

Form a history book club or several of them. Link these groups with local bookstores to get discounts for members.

7. Educate.

The responsibility of a history organization is to educate all the community. Many historical organizations take this to mean providing lessons and programs for school children. However, all school districts do not appreciate what is given. Some teachers regard a free history program as relief time, and children are not always well prepared for a program outside the teacher’s curriculum. Educational programming must go beyond an emphasis on the schools. Our audiences are of all ages and we need to see ourselves as providing community education for all the people in many different venues. It is the local historical organization that can provide knowledge about the locality by giving individuals and groups ways of seeing their own place in historical times.

8. Professionalize.

Treat your collections, volunteers, board, and staff like professionals, even if you cannot compensate them adequately. Respect their competence.

9. Listen.

Often we talk too much. Ask what interests the public and listen to their responses. Find ways of involving the public in considering their lives in a historical context. Often the audience has interesting and important things to say.

10. History first.

In an attempt to economize, be sure that you retain a historian on staff or as a consultant. Too often, grant money is allocated for the design team rather than for those who can make an exhibit, program, or publication of better quality. Design is important and many of the grants available drive us to include exhibit designers, but design will never compensate for the lack of sound historical content.

11. Leadership.

Volunteers still run most small organizations. Often one person carries a disproportionate part of the load of running the organization, writing the newsletter, and determining the programs. Some might want to do all of this, but they need to learn to share the responsibility so that the organization is not dependent upon any one individual. Members need to step forward to take on some of the tasks. In the future, these small organizations will most likely continue to be volunteer driven.

Some organizations fail to invite the younger generation to participate, to help determine the program, the emphasis, or the activities. Those people under fifty might look like youngsters, but they have energy, are young parents invested in the community, and they need to be well represented on the board and on committees. They are the future.

12. Involve the public and not just the membership.

Invite newcomers in the community to meet with you and convene at their place. That Sikh group living on the edge of town, Hispanics who have become a presence, the college students who are in and out, and the summer people all have a stake in local history. It is your job to show them that this is true; you do so to your benefit.

13. Know your public officials.

Learn who your city, county, state, and federal officials are. Be sure they know what you do, what the costs are, and the organization’s role in community culture and education. Appear before boards, testify when appropriate, invite those in political positions to events, and involve them in programming.

These are not the only steps to take, nor should any one organization attempt them all. I offer these suggestions as realistic ways to think about surviving in this new century. These suggestions are not only for the weak, of course, but they should also provoke conversation among healthy organizations. Times are changing; it is wise to think about what can be done, what should be done, and what is possible.

Keep in touch.