Linking the Present with the Past through Intangible Heritage in History Museums
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This paper will discuss how the New Jersey HistoricalSociety has used the strategy of documenting intangibleheritage in its exhibitions to engage both audiences whounderstand the mission of an historical museum and thosewho have not grown up with history and historicalinstitutions as part of their lives. Intangible culture alsopersonalizes popular and mass cultural items, animatesexhibitions, and creates links between contemporary lifeand the state’s past for diverse urban audiences. FromTeenage New Jersey, 1942-1975 to Dining In, Dining Out,What Exit? New Jersey and Its Turnpike to New JerseyRemembers September 11, 2001, exhibitions havepresented dance, specialized language/jargon, jokes,eating practices, local traditions and lore, stories, songs,and memories along with material culture. This paperexamines how this has altered our presentation of historyand helped diversify our audiences as well as having hadimplications for staffing, collecting and collectionsmaintenance. Finally, this device has allowed us to formwhat might be viewed as an ‘identity repository’ – arepository of documents that speak not only to the values,practices and identity of distinct ethnic groups but also towhat it is that constitutes a New Jerseyan.
Abstract
This paper will discuss how the New Jersey HistoricalSociety has used the strategy of documenting intangibleheritage in its exhibitions to engage both audiences whounderstand the mission of an historical museum and thosewho have not grown up with history and historicalinstitutions as part of their lives. Intangible culture alsopersonalizes popular and mass cultural items, animatesexhibitions, and creates links between contemporary lifeand the state’s past for diverse urban audiences. FromTeenage New Jersey, 1942-1975 to Dining In, Dining Out,What Exit? New Jersey and Its Turnpike to New JerseyRemembers September 11, 2001, exhibitions havepresented dance, specialized language/jargon, jokes,eating practices, local traditions and lore, stories, songs,and memories along with material culture. This paperexamines how this has altered our presentation of historyand helped diversify our audiences as well as having hadimplications for staffing, collecting and collectionsmaintenance. Finally, this device has allowed us to formwhat might be viewed as an ‘identity repository’ – arepository of documents that speak not only to the values,practices and identity of distinct ethnic groups but also towhat it is that constitutes a New Jerseyan.