Overview

On an afternoon in January 1865, a roaring fire swept through the Smithsonian Institution. Dazed soldiers and worried citizens could only watch as the flames engulfed the museum's castle. Rare objects and valuable paintings were destroyed. The flames at the Smithsonian were not the first--and certainly would not be the last--disaster to upend a museum in the United States. The Museum explores the concepts of crisis as it relates to museums, and how these historic institutions have dealt with challenges ranging from depression and war to pandemic and philosophical uncertainty. With chapters exploring World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Great Depression, World War II, the 1970 Art Strike in New York City, and recent controversies in American museums, this book takes a new approach to understanding museum history. By diving deeper into the changes that emerged from these key challenges, Samuel J. Redman argues that cultural institutions can--and should--use their history to prepare for challenges and solidify their identity going forward. A captivating examination of crisis moments in US museum history from the early years of the twentieth century to the present day, The Museum offers inspiration in the resilience and longevity of America's most prized cultural institutions.

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Samuel J. Redman is associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the author of Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums and Prophets and Ghosts: The Story of Salvage Anthropology. Andrew Joseph Perez is an actor, singer, stuntman, and jack-of-all-trades based in Los Angeles. He can be heard narrating audiobooks on Audible, iTunes, and elsewhere. He's also voiced characters in Gundam SEED Destiny, Dragon Pilot, English dubs of Netflix shows like Luis Miguel and Unauthorized Living, and Taishi Ci in Dynasty Warriors 9. He's been seen on stage at Musical Theatre West, MainStreet Theatre, A Noise Within, South Coast Rep, American Stage (Florida), Tennessee Shakespeare Co, Next Act and Renaissance Theatreworks (Wisconsin), San Jose Stage, Music Circus, and others.

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