Thanks to Linda for more explanation about the goals of this new museum. It
would appear to be an economic initiative for Sullivan County, which has had
economic problems as a rural county for many years. Of course, the county
fathers/mothers might have considered providing funding for upgrading the
mission plans, strategies and programs of some of the historical societies
already in the county. Doing that would help the documentation of the
history of Sullivan County and play upon the strengths of the county. A Hall
of Fame may or may not succeed as an economic initiative and I send best
wishes to them on that ground. However, its success as an educational
enterprise for the adults and children of Sullivan County and for the people
of the state is not quite so certain.

My other objection is to Halls of Fame in general. They are almost uniformly
boring places (the only exception being the Baseball Hall of Fame and even
there the hall of plaques is really boring and certainly not as interesting
to lovers of baseball as the rest of the museum's collections) and do not
provide the kind of in-depth material that makes for meaningful educational
programs for children. What they do is to provide "facts" about famous
people's lives. Facts, I might note, that are easily available to kids and
others in the standard histories, reference books or on Internet sites. The
other problem, of course, is the selection criteria; my choices for great
Native New Yorkers, may not be yours (for instance, there are almost no
musicians listed thus far on this listserv and Native New York musicians are
numberless and very important (e.g. Copland, Bernstein, Rollins, and so
forth) and the result is quite often controversy (note the Pete Rose scandal
and the Baseball Hall of Fame). Criteria can be set, but there will always
be those whose favorites will not make it to the list and they will be
unhappy. Lastly, historians for the past half century or so have made great
progress in documenting the anonymous parts of society as well as the
institutions, and other not-so-famous parts of our communities. There has
also been considerable progress made in recent years in documenting the
history of immigration, ethnicity and new populations in the United States,
particularly Latino and some Asian populations. Halls of Fame certainly do
not fit those categories of historical research and programs.

So, all the best to the Native New Yorkers Hall of Fame. I certainly hope
that it provides a basis for jobs and economic growth to Sullivan County.

Jim Corsaro

----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda Norris" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 4:20 AM
Subject: Native New Yorkers


> First--
> Thanks to all of you who sent suggestions for inclusion in the Hall of
Fame.
> As I mentioned in the first post,   criteria have not yet been set for
> inclusion, but we'll be including all this information in a data base that
> will travel as an interactive with the initial exhibition.  It's a
wonderful
> and diverse list I've received from all of you.
>
> And second,  I think Jim Corsaro has raised an important point and David
> Palmquist helpfully explained the goals of the hall.   I wanted to weigh
in
> on what I know (as a contractor to the organization) about their hopes and
> to raise some additional concerns about chartering and the future of
> museums.
>
> The Native New Yorkers Hall of Fame was started by a group of Sullivan
> County residents who were interested in creating an institution which
would
> draw visitors to this once-vibrant, now struggling county (like much of
> upstate New York).   The establishment of new museums as economic engines
is
> much in vogue everywhere, including New York State.  I'd say the jury is
> still out on whether all of these new museums, founded with economic
impact
> in mind,  will accomplish that purpose.  Many have begun with overly
> optimistic income projections and have struggled to meet them.
>
> As most members of the list probably know,  museums and historical
> organizations in New York State are chartered by the Board of Regents.
The
> granting of a provisional charter is fairly easy, as witness by the huge
> diversity of the more than 1400 organizations in the state holding some
sort
> of charter.
>
> I agree that virtually every museum and historical society in the state is
> struggling financially and that government resources cannot even make a
dent
> in the need,  but also believe that many of those organizations have
> significant work to do to fully engage their communities in their work.
> Even with that engagement organizations struggle, without community
support
> their existence becomes problematic at best.
>
> I think the museum/history field has some serious thinking to do about the
> sustainability of organizations and how that is accomplished.  In my own
> work with museums and historical societies, I've come to believe that an
> effective plan is critical for organizations of all sizes. I'd like to see
> more organizations exploring partnership and collaborations in areas of
> staffing, collections storage and the like as an effective way of meeting
> professional standards and involving their communities. And, by the way,
if
> you're from a museum or historical society with a charter and want help
with
> planning, the Upstate Historical Alliance administers grants for planning
> and other museum advancement efforts for the New York State Council on the
> Arts.  Check UHA's website, www.upstatehistory.org for more information.
>
> It's an open question about whether the Native New Yorkers Hall of Fame
will
> succeed, with or without government resources,  but, to their credit, they
> have a strategic plan in place and their first step is this traveling
> exhibition, designed to reach out statewide to elicit interest and
support.
> At its potential best, the Hall of Fame could provide a introduction or
> gateway to the fine interpretation done by local organizations of many of
> the individuals suggested for inclusion,  and that partnerships with other
> organizations could help further engage audiences in the history of New
> York.
>
> Linda Norris