Hi,

I have been on this list for about a year and appreciating all the
discussions and references.
So many of you have professional pursuits as well as personal pursuits in
the field of New York State history.  Perhaps someone can comment on my
questions?

In a nutshell, in order not to waste the lists time,  my question is this.
Local history in the Western New York region has been a hobby of mine for
about 16 years and I am currently considering a career change, I am an
Elementary Education teacher, finishing my masters degree in Elementary
Education in the spring of 2000, but having taught for 11 years already. I
would like to work in a museum setting in some capacity, but I am wondering
if such a setting could hold a viable future for me considering my
background.  Perhaps some of you out there could comment for me on this?  To
flesh out my background a little bit more, I have a BA in Philosophy and I
am also an artist, working in the medium of watercolor and photography as
well.  My interests in local history include many areas, but I have had a
special interest in Pre-History in Western New York, and the Pan-American
Exposition of 1901 era as well.

As I near the completion of my masters degree in education, I wonder if
perhaps if the education field in some our our institutions would be
interested in my abilities?  I really do not know, I have the impression the
compeition would be quite stiff for such positions. I am not inquiring about
job openings here, as that would be inappropriate, I am merely wondering if
any of you have thoughts about how reasonable it is for someone with my
background, to have any hope of trying to work in a museum setting.

In conclusion, I would love to hear from others on this list who have an
interest in pre-history in Western New York.  I am planning on writing a
book on this topic in the near future, but most of my work will need to wait
until the spring.

Thanks for your time and advice.
Susan Grant
Niagara Falls, N.Y.
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