Many of the staff who work here at the National Museum of American History are “museum advocates” (AKA fans). Not only do we love visiting museums, but we believe in their power; for many of us, museum work becomes a life-long career. But there are plenty of museum advocates in the world who work outside of museums, can’t afford museum memberships, or don’t get to walk into a museum 5 days a week. They just love museums and try to get them into their lives and into the lives of the people around them.
Researchers have recently discovered that most people who grow up to be museum advocates had an important museum experience around the age of 7. Some of my colleagues heard this news with smiling nods, remembering their own experience that forever changed them into museum advocates. Unlike them, I drew a blank.
The author (at age 8) and her sister in front of the First Ladies exhibition in 1993.
As a kid, we went to tons of museums and zoos. But what was The Experience that changed me? Maybe it was the gopher tunnels at the Bronx Zoo that I could actually climb around in. Perhaps it was the historic barracks at Trenton that I visited in fifth grade. Or maybe, just maybe, it was a family trip to the First Ladies exhibition at the museum for which I now work. To this day, I continue to love the way historical clothing (like the fancy gowns in the First Ladies collection) brings history down to human-scale and immediately makes the stories of the past seem more relatable to my own times and life.
I hope what we do at the museum inspires some of our little visitors to become museum advocates. Maybe it will be seeing how a cotton gin works before they’re old enough to know there’s another definition for “gin.” Maybe it will be tinkering in Invention at Play. Or, maybe their parents will download one of my OurStory activities and spark a love of museums somewhere entirely outside of our museum in Washington, D.C.
In closing, I ask you: Are you a museum advocate? (If you’re reading this blog, I bet the chances are good.) Do you remember The Experience that made you into one? Tell us how YOU are encouraging kids to be museum advocates.
Jenny Wei is an education specialist at the National Museum of American History and is willing to put awful photos of herself on the Internet to spark conversation.
I don't know if I was 7, but it had to have been pretty close to that age. It was Gettysburg. My mom was a big history buff and though she died when I was 13, she instilled a love of history in me. I've been to many historic places and museums, but somehow I still find myself in Gettysburg once a year at least. I still find it magical and love the new visitors center. In fact, I'm considering a career change to the Museum Design industry!
Posted by: Peter Culos | July 31, 2010 at 03:43 PM
As a 4th grade student, I took a class field trip to the Meux Home in Fresno, California. That experience was one of the most transformative experiences of my early educational career, as I can recall the docent explaining that the home's furnishings belonged to the original owners and were real artifacts from the past. This reality made history come alive for me and modified my understanding of the past and of historical study. I later worked as a docent at another museum, studied history in college, and became a college professor. Docents can never do too much to emphasize the personal and authentic aspects of history. Thank you for all you do!
Posted by: Eric Marvin | January 01, 2010 at 07:38 PM
I know my museum education began younger than 7, but I most vividly remember my first visit to Colonial Williamsburg around that age. From that moment on I fell in love with the colonial era and the American fight for independence. Countless museum visits and trips to historical sites since then influenced what I wanted to do with my future. Now I'm in college in DC studying history and public history with the hope that one day I can walk through the halls of the NMAH and help a little girl like myself fall in love with American history the same way I did.
Posted by: Amanda Peacock | November 18, 2009 at 09:10 PM
Thanks for sharing such a great story!
I was wondering about why seven was the magic age, myself. I suppose younger than that, you don't necessarily have a strong sense of your environment and your large-scale chronology hasnt necessarily developed until this point (which is important because museums often present visitors with stories like Abraham Lincoln was born 200 years ago, but his story can teach us things today.).
My main question was why it is less likely to happen when you're older. Any thoughts? Is it becoming more socially aware and realizing that not everyone thinks museums are cool?
Posted by: Jenny Wei | November 06, 2009 at 08:59 AM
Museums were regular stops on our family vacations. My most memorable museum moment was getting a special introduction to a Longfellow descendant at Longfellow's house in Cambridge when I visited as a third grader. It always stuck with me so this theory rings true to me - it must be a particularly impressionable age. I've certainly remained a fan of museums to this day.
Posted by: Elizabeth Bolton | November 05, 2009 at 08:10 PM
I think my experience was simply a love of history and where else but in a museum can you see history? I remember visiting the 45th Infantry Museum (a great little museum) in Oklahoma City a number of times when I was little. But I also remember going from Oklahoma to Oakland in '76 and we visited many museums and national landmarks along the way and THAT'S what probably put me over the top. Since then I've been blessed enough to visit the Smithsonian museums, USHMM, museums at military bases across the U.S. and museums in Europe and in Egypt and museums are to me what candy stores are to kids. Just gimme more! Oh, and a note to whoever: One of the BEST museums in the world (in my humble opinion) is the Deutsches Museum in Munich, GE. I LOVE the mining exhibit there. WOW!
Posted by: Eric | November 03, 2009 at 05:05 PM
We always teased my father about his 50 cent tours of Washington, DC. One of the few pictures I have of me with his father is in front of your museum. So I can imagine where it came from. But now my brother and I tease each other about our own versions of Dad's 50 cent tours. Mine includes a night time drive by. My brother's has included the botanical gardens. We think because he always enjoyed their trains. I also enjoy featuring the cherry blossoms and the monuments. Now that I drive through and around dc every day it still doesn't get old!
Posted by: Lisa Wilson | November 03, 2009 at 11:32 AM
A trip to Boston at the age of 6, walking along the Freedom Trail and visiting all the historic sites lead me to a love of history (especially Colonial & Revolutionary American history) that I've never lost.
Posted by: Liam | November 02, 2009 at 09:32 AM
I'm sure we went to plenty of museums earlier, but what really sticks out in my mind was the trip to Splendid China theme park. Less thrilling than educational, it was a great example of how having history and landmarks physically present before you can make a huge impact. There's nothing like actually being there. The 75 acres with only 1/10 scale structures also impressed upon me just how *much* there was to know.
At the time, I just wished I was riding the teacups, but it really did make an impression.
Posted by: Elise Wei | November 01, 2009 at 11:02 AM