Interpreting Anniversaries and Milestones at Museums and Historic Sites

Interpreting Anniversaries and Milestones at Museums and Historic Sites is an invaluable resource for a wide range of cultural organizations that are attempting to plan an historical anniversary celebration or commemoration, including museums, churches, cities, libraries, colleges, arts organizations, science centers, historical societies, and historic house museums.

As you plan a milestone anniversary for your institution, learn from what others have already accomplished in their own communities. What worked? What didn’t work? And why?
The book begins with an examination of why people are drawn to celebrating and commemorating anniversaries in their own lives and in their communities, as well as the institutional benefits of planning this type of programming.
The rest of the book features case studies of specific institutions that have planned and executed an anniversary celebration or commemoration. In-depth interviews with key staff members involved in the planning process at each organization provide the reader with ideas that can be adapted to their own celebrations, as well as pit-falls to avoid, funding opportunities, marketing plans, and visitor response.

Chapters are organized by the type of anniversary activity:
·Signature Events
·Programs and Tours
·Fundraising Campaigns
·Exhibitions, Books and Documentaries
·Audience Outreach and Community Involvement
·Preservation
·Partnerships
·Commemorative Products and Souvenirs
A wide range of sizes and types of organizations are represented from across the country and around the world, including the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, The Andy Warhol Museum, The Imperial War Museum, Mackinac State Historic Parks, Woodrow Wilson House, the National Corvette Museum, Stan Hywet, Cincinnati Preservation Society, the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, the City of South Bend, and much more. Plans can be scaled up or down, depending on your institution’s resources.

Kimberly Kenney graduated summa cum laude from Wells College in Aurora, NY with a major in American history and minor in creative writing, where she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her Master of Arts degree in History Museum Studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Kim became Curator of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in October 2001. She was part of the planning team that developed the 100th anniversary programming for the McKinley National Memorial in 2007. She serves as editor of the Museums website at BellaOnline.com, where she has authored several ebooks, and is a member of the MuseLab Advisory Council at Kent State University. She has appeared on The Daily Show, First Ladies: Influence & Images, and Mysteries at the Museum. Her program “The 1918 Influenza Pandemic” was featured on C-SPAN’s series American History TV. Kim has served as the Region 5 representative for the National Digital Newspaper Project in Ohio, a field reviewer for the Museums for America grant program through the Institute for Museum and Library Services, and a grant reviewer for The History Fund. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Mount Union and teaches online museum studies courses through the Northern States Conservation Center. She was awarded the Oakley Certificate of Merit from The Association of Gravestone Studies for her interpretive projects at West Lawn Cemetery and the Jane Weston Chapman Award from the University of Mount Union for her dedication to women’s history programming.