Scenario
A visit to a history exhibit is like stepping back in time, with one foot in the past and one foot in the present. A museum exhibit on a historical event showcases artifacts from earlier times that help us understand how society got to where we are today. Of course, these exhibits did not arrive at the museum on their own, ready for display! It is up to the historian or curator who creates the exhibit to choose artifacts that tell a story about how people experienced events at a particular time and place. Through the selection of artifacts and the writing of their descriptions, the historian makes these connections.
This project is an opportunity to create an exhibit of your own about a historical topic that interests you. You will develop a proposal to show to a historical society or cultural association for an exhibit that presents a contemporary perspective on a historical event based on your research. The proposal will explain how this topic will tie into current events and be meaningful for a contemporary audience.
Directions
Earlier in this course, you selected a historical event and a historical society or cultural association in your peer workshop discussion. You also created a collection of resources related to your historical topic. For this project, you will create a proposal for an exhibit aimed at the historical society or cultural association you chose.
Part 1: Purpose of Exhibit: Context and Background
In this section, provide the context for the exhibit by briefly describing the historical event and explaining why an exhibit about the historical event would be important today.
Describe the event as well as its historical importance. Consider the following:
What happened during this historical event?
Why is this event historically important?
Describe the impact of the event during its time period.
Explain the relationship between the organization your proposal is written for and your historical topic. Consider the following:
Why should the historical society or cultural association be interested in hosting the exhibit?
Describe a current issue that provides a contemporary context for this exhibit. Consider the following:
What is the connection between this historical event and an event or events happening today?
Analyze how the secondary sources you collected provide evidence for the topic of the exhibit. Consider the following:
What is relevant about the sources in relation to how you plan to present the exhibit
Part 2: Plan for Exhibit: Artifact Selection
In this section, describe the historical artifacts you have selected to be part of the exhibit.
Identify five historical artifacts that you will present in the exhibit. You should address each of the following:
What are the documents, objects, images, or other items you will display as artifacts at the event?
Describe each artifact based on the information you researched in secondary sources. You should address each of the following:
Give a brief summary of the subject matter of the artifact.
Who was its author or creator?
Who was its audience or user?
Explain the historical context for each artifact. You should address all of the following:
When and where was the artifact created?
Why was it created at this time and place?
What was happening in this time and place that relates to the artifact?
What specific information does the artifact provide about the event?
Explain the relationship of the historical artifacts to each other as part of the exhibit. You should address all of the following:
What similarities do the historical artifacts have with each other?
What differences do the historical artifacts have from each other?
What reasons explain these similarities and differences?
Part 3: Telling Their Story: Artifact Analysis
In this section, you will tell the story of the historical event using your selected artifacts. You will provide an analysis of the historical and contemporary relevance of the artifacts you chose using research from the secondary sources in your Collection of Sources. You will also be describing the perspective or point of view represented by the artifacts, based on the Profile of a historical figure that you completed in Module Three.
Explain the historical narrative for the artifacts you selected. You should address the following:
What would visitors to this exhibit learn about the historical event?
What characteristics of the artifacts influenced you to include them in the exhibit?
Describe how the artifacts relate to the perspectives or points of view of an individual or group directly involved in the historical event.
Describe how the artifacts relate to the perspectives or points of view of an individual or group who experienced the event but were not previously included in historical accounts of it.
Describe the impact of bias in presenting this perspective about the artifacts.
How does bias in the secondary sources influence your interpretation of the artifacts?
How does your bias influence your historical narrative about the event?
Part 4: Visitor Experience at the Exhibit: Contemporary Relevance for a Diverse Audience
In this section, you will connect your exhibit to an event or situation that is happening today.
Describe a historical narrative that connects the subject of the exhibit with contemporary life. Consider the following:
Which artifacts do you feel have the most relevance from a contemporary point of view?
How do the characteristics of the artifacts connect the subject of the exhibit with contemporary life?
Describe the relationship between this historical event and a current event.
What current events are occurring that relate to this historical event?
How are the events related to each other?
Why would a contemporary audience be interested in exploring this relationship?
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit the following:
Write your Project, a Historical Organization Exhibit Proposal, with the historical society or cultural association as your audience. Your proposal should be a Microsoft Word document of 4 to 5 pages with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Use at least five sources from the Shapiro Library that represent diverse perspectives to support your paper. Sources should be cited according to APA style.
