Using Archival Materials Effectively in Museum Exhibitions

Abstract

A subcommittee report to the British Records Association in 1949, noting the importance, need, and value of archival materials in exhibitions, stated, It has been found by experience that the best means of arousing local interest in the preservation of records and demonstrating their educational value is by holding displays of documents, maps, and photographs.1 Though the subcommittee's report was directed primarily toward British libraries and archives, today nearly four decades later most American conserving institutions, including many museums, continue to realize the potential of incorporating archival materials in exhibitions. Broadly defined, such materials may include organizational records, personal papers such as letters, newspapers, treaties and government records, and pictorial material such as architectural drawings, cartoons, posters, advertisements, maps, photographs, and calendars. Put simply, archival materials are sheets of paper with some type of illustration, symbol, or writing on them. They convey information about a historical event, person, or institution.2