Green History: Reframing Our Past to Save the Planet

History museums sometimes struggle to communicate history's relevance to visitors. By reframing historic interpretation through the lens of environmental sustainability and by developing issue-based exhibits to bridge past and present, Accokeek Foundation (which runs the National Colonial Farm)...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of museum education Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 185 - 191
Main Author Jones, Andrea K.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 02.07.2016
Subjects
Colonial history
Conservation (Environment)
Environmental Education
environmental science
history museum
interdisciplinary museum education
Museums
participatory museum
relevancy
School Community Programs
Sustainability
Teaching Methods
United States History
Maryland
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Summary:History museums sometimes struggle to communicate history's relevance to visitors. By reframing historic interpretation through the lens of environmental sustainability and by developing issue-based exhibits to bridge past and present, Accokeek Foundation (which runs the National Colonial Farm) has made colonial history more meaningful to visitors. This article describes the development of its initiative, Green History, changes made to the general visitor experience, and the creation of a school program, Eco-Explorers: Colonial Time Warp, which has stimulated an increase of student visitation by 48% in two years. Both successes and challenges of making history relevant through the lens of environmental sustainability are discussed.
ISSN:1059-8650
2051-6169
DOI:10.1080/10598650.2016.1193307