Executive Director’s Update
Dear Members,
It may be cold, but we have lots of informative history news that is sure to distract you from the cold outside. Here is just a taste…
“You might think we’re held back by a lack of buildings and collections, but we look at it another way: we’re unencumbered by buildings and collections.” Historical societies and museums are defined by more than just their collections. The Old Lyme Historical Society looks to its community as a learning lab and offers services that bring people together around the lessons of history. The Society may lack physical roots but it is firmly planted in the community of Old Lyme. How do they do it? Check out the story on the Bulletin Info & Highlights page.
They tend to be a bit picky about storage, sometimes flake or fade, but nothing captures your attention like one. What is it? A photograph! No matter the size of your organization, it is a safe bet there is a box or two in your archives filled with pictures. We all face the quandary of how to handle them, store them, preserve them or just figure out what they are. Join us on Monday, June 2 for the 2008 CLHO Annual Conference at Mystic Seaport as we focus on photography. A wide range of photo related subjects will be explored and will feature two keynote speakers! A picture says a thousand words; join us as see what our historic photographic collections have to say – and how they can be used to speak to your museum visitors in the 21st Century. Check out the Calendar & Deadlines page for more details.
“Steady progress is being made toward the full restoration of the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center in Wethersfield.” We are delighted to hear restoration progress is being made after their devastating fire on October 11, 2007. The fire was a shock to us all. It demonstrated how vulnerable all our site are to disaster and importance for a Disaster Preparedness Plan. However, with adversity, comes opportunity in the form of new humidity monitoring equipment, new acoustic wall tiles, floor refinishing, and a closer bond with the museum and antique communities of Greater Hartford. Read all about their restoration journey on the Bulletin Info & Highlights page.
It’s time to get Back to Basics and get Out & About. Professional Basic’s returns for its eighth year with the theme, Back to Basics: Putting the "Fun" Back in Fundamentals. This intensive three-part series on museum practices kicks-off on March 24th with Curatorial Best Practices: The Fundamentals of Managing Your Collections and is followed by Educational Best Practices: The Fundamentals of Planning & Running Your Education Programs and finishes it off with Putting it All Together: The Fundamentals of Marketing in Small Museums, and Historic Houses. Additionally, the League is proud to continue its Out & About series on February 9 with Keeping it Fresh: The Care and Training of Docents, Guides, and Interpreter in Rockville followed by May 5 with Institutional Success Begins by Building a better Board at the Lebanon Historical Society. Please see the Calendar & Deadlines page for more information. Come and join your fellow history professionals at these half and full-day programs. Don’t be left out in the cold!
“When it comes to deciphering the meaning of Connecticut’s Native-American placenames, sometime one guess is as good as another,” write authors Jamie and Kit Eves in this issue of Tales from the Great Refuge. For those of us who live in Connecticut, we have become very familiar with the names: “Quinnebaug,” “Narragansett,” “Hammonassett,” and “Pequonnock.” It is the Algonkian (or Algonquian) language we have to thank for all those tongue twisters. We have become so accustomed to the Native-American names that we do not think twice about them. Maybe we should. This ancient language derived its placenames from the landscape and or nearby resources. Do you know the Native-American etymology of your hometown? Check out the story on Bulletin Info & Highlights page, it might hold the clue.
Best wishes for 2008!
Priscilla Brendler
Executive Director |
