Interpreting American Military History At Museums And Historic Sites (Interpreting History)

A brief scan of publications online or in a book store indicates that military history continues to capture the public s imagination. Unfortunately though, a closer look at these works, reveals a great deal of repetition battles and leaders, technology, strategy and tactics, etc. If there s a great deal of repetition in literature dealing with American military history, then how do museums and historical sites interpret the complex stories of our past? Is our military history all about drums and trumpets with blue and red arrows superimposed on a map? The short answer is no. Regardless of what institution or agency you work for and the audience that entity aims to reach out to, interpreting military history can be a challenge. Public expectations convey a desire for familiar linear chronological narratives of events and conflicts, celebrating the heroes and martyrs of old, and American innovation and global dominance inventing ever bigger and better weapons. Captivating as that approach might be, military history is as sophisticated as any field of history in working to explain our nation s and our world s collective past. The work of presenting narratives of military history that reach beyond and challenge familiar public conceptions of the field is an immense task. Interpreting American Military History at Museums and Historic Sites helps interpreters achieve that goal by describing methods and information helpful to institutions charged with the care of collections and interpretation of stories that relate to military history, or places whose mission is to preserve and interpret some aspect of our military s past. The book acts as a primer for those unfamiliar with academic trends of the last forty years. Historiography of American military history, like that of other sub-fields, shifts as new information surfaces or as perspectives change. Secondly, it uses case studies to showcase how museums and historic sites can take this information and create programs, interpretive media, outreach strategies, and mission goals that are relevant to the public and the institution charged with serving them."

• | Author: Marc K. Blackburn
• | Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• | Publication Date: Apr 08, 2016
• | Number of Pages: 276 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback/Business & Economics
• | ISBN-10: 1442239743
• | ISBN-13: 9781442239746