Professor Steven Lubar came out to talk to the Students and Staff of Temple University about the state of libraries, museums and other public institutions this past week.  He started by giving us some prepared statements where he stated museums will be changing in the next 20 years.  Professor Lubar believed this to be so because of the breakdown of the titles of people working within the museum.  He mentioned Curators, Educators and the Exhibit Designer.  (When asked about Archivist, he did not put much weight to their work.)  Professor Lubar is a strong proponent of the Digital Age of Storage.  He does stress that digital is just one new tool in the museum to help reach people as the museum turns from Objects and Knowledge to Audience and Social Spaces.  He also believes that people are co-creating digital history with Web 2.0. 

            Professor Lubar’s views are not too far off base to be dismissed.  Certainly, there has been a significant shift in the way knowledge is gained and accessed by today’s generation.  Most college students would rather access information from the internet while sitting in their room in their pajamas.  When a subject is given to them that they are not familiar with, most turn to Wikipedia to learn about the topic.  Museums are moving some of their collections online in the hopes that those that see it will feel compelled to visit the museums.  Seeing an image online is different from seeing it in person and that hope has museums taking a chance on the digital collections. 

This tactic has me pondering the following question, who owns the rights to that photo?  When the image in placed on the information superhighway, it is open to anyone with an IP address.  Anyone with internet access has an IP address.  The museum may hold the artifact in house, but can others capture the image?

An Archived World of Medicine

According to our reading, Stephen Greenblat defines wonder as “the power of the displayed object to stop the viewer in his or her tracks, to convey an arresting sense of uniqueness, to evoke an exalted attention.”  He must have left the Mutter Museum when he developed that definition.

The Mutter was filled with archive records of medical oddities that were fascinating.  To believe that this was once an education center for physicians that was used to display rare cases.  Some of the displays allowed me to wonder if they were for education or just for show.  The collection of skulls did not teach me something as much as the tour guide telling us how they came into possession.  Perhaps it is my level and type of education that did not allow me to learn something new because many of the display cases were written for a practicing physician.   

The way items were displayed allows visitors to see the way in which they were stored for later review.  Using embalming methods once thought to be a good preservative now known to be toxic, the condition of the displays allowed for observation by visiting physicians.  They ability of the early collectors and by Dr. Mutter himself (since many of the displays came from his private collection), shows the care put into the archiving process. 

The archiving process is perhaps more important at the Mutter because most of the displays are living tissue.  Unlike the Besty Ross house, or the Franklin Institute, displays there would last years without extensive care.  One room in the Besty Ross house is walled off by glass without the benefit of a vacuum to keep air out preserving the wood and other materials.  That is okay because the items on display are not really archived as it can be replaced by similar items without the knowledge of visitors.  The Mutter does not have the same option because their items are still used by people to do research.

Overall, the Mutter is an interesting museum that those with weak constitutions should avoid but those that enjoy things close to morbid would be entertained.  The ability to take pictures was not allowed, which helps to keep the mystique, as word of mouth is the only means to describe the experience.  The web site is purposely devoid of pictures so that everyone has to experience the place for himself or herself. 

How America Is Viewed By Others

Studying America via literature and the News Media can have a negative effect on those within the borders of America and can make America look like the big bully in the playground trying to take someone’s toy.  Many of the comments written by the students from the UK who are studying our way of life would be fascinated to learn that what you see on the telly is not what you experience in person.  For example, watching the BBC has you think that every British citizen drinks nothing but tea but on a recent trip to London, I was able to walk to most any neighborhood and not only see a Starbucks, there was a line inside.  When I entered Starbucks and stood in line, most of the orders were for coffee and some hot chocolate, very few orders of tea. 

America is not perfect and we use the media to keep us in line.  The freedom of press is so important in America, it can drive you insane by trying to avoid it.  However, you must not let all your news comes from one source and especially a biased source such as Fox News.  While I do watch Fox, I dilute it with equal amounts of MSNBC and CNN.  When I want to learn how others view America, I watch or read BBC news because it does not lean left or right.  Just straight news that gives an unvarnished view of America. 

Hollywood does not represent America but is reflective of what is going on in America.  Directors like Oliver Stone and Michael Moore are one side of the spectrum while Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood are strong opposition.  Movies (and books) like “To Kill a Mockingbird” held a mirror to our views and it did show in the cinema at the right time.  Unlike “Malcolm X”, which did not reflect the current standings of African Americans but did appear at a time where tensions were high in race relationships with news story of the Rodney King beating and the OJ Simpson trial. 

Shows on television do not reflect America as well.  The majority of shows are not reflective of everyday citizens and the reason for that is the middle class and below want to reflect on the troubles that money can buy.  Watching “Gossip Girl” and “The OC” allows us to see people who did not really worry about money but deal with the treachery of each other.  While the everyday citizen is concerned with earning enough to pay bills and keep a job, it is a guilty pleasure to watch a family backstabbing each other to inherit millions.

As for being a World Superpower, that is a role that we relish and hate.  We relish it because it shows that people understand that what we are trying to do is for the best for the world, not just for us.  We hate it for the fact that people think we are using it to push little countries around.  President Bush did just that to Iraq.  None of the reasons that led us to remove Saddam from power were true.  Still today, he is going around saying that while the reasons were flawed, it was still for the good of the world because we have spread democracy.  I think the cost was too high to pay.  I miss every single American soldier, sailor and airman who lost their life to follow a cause that was led with lies.  Nevertheless, as a world power, we have to go forth and do those tough things that others are too afraid to do.

Fortunately, we have a strong ally in the UK.  Brave people who know that the tough jobs need to be done.  I think they are just as brave as any American is and I gladly stand beside them if they should ever call for help.

Museum or Historical Site?

Eastern State Penitentiary, one of America’s most famous prisons, resembles an American Castle when approached from the outside. With 30 foot walls and iron gates, one is filled with the feeling of visiting royalty rather than a prison.  Even after passing through the gates, it does not feel like a prison until you enter the first cellblock.  All thoughts of royalty escape as you see a row of small doors on either side with decrepit conditions inside each dark cell.

Opened in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) operated for over 142 year before shutting down and left to rot in 1971.  Saved from demolition and opened to the public as a historical site in 1994, ESP has found a new kind of success.  As our tour guide Nick said, it is the new “Scared Straight.”  As Henning wrote, “Even where the museum appears unintelligible to visitors, it can still work to habituate them to certain kinds of modern experience.”  This experience would be to stay out of prison because the conditions are not suited to someone who enjoys their freedom.  ESP was designed to offer the experience of a solipsistic lifestyle. 

As such, it is not a museum but a historical site because it is not asking the visitor to take in the beauty of design but the advancements in building designs that are used for the time when each prisoner has flushing toilets and heat when the President uses a piss pot in the White House.  The first of its kind and copied by many others, it is a model of what works and what does not.