Ohio History Journal

AFTERNOON SESSION

 

ADDRESS OF PROFESSOR CARL E. GUTHE

Chairman Sater called the meeting to order at 2

p. m. After a few well chosen remarks he introduced

Prof. Carl E. Guthe, University Museums of the Uni-

versity of Michigan, who delivered an address which

was heard with the closest attention entitled, "Outdoor

Guiding in History and Prehistory." Professor Guthe

spoke as follows:

 

OUTDOOR GUIDING IN HISTORY AND PREHISTORY

BY CARL E. GUTHE

The phrase "outdoor guiding" if considered in the narrow

sense refers to the physical process of interpreting an exhibit sit-

uated in the open to a group of visitors. This process must, of

necessity, show infinite variety in accordance with the detailed

demands of the individual exhibit. Yet the successful accomplish-

ment of such outdoor guiding depends upon an adequate appre-

ciation of the reasons for such an occupation, and its place in the

entire scope of museum policy. Therefore I intend to confine my

remarks to a discussion of the more general, and occasionally,

the more theoretical aspects of outdoor guiding in history and

prehistory. The subject may be stated in the form of three ques-

tions, namely: (1) What constitutes an outdoor exhibit?  (2)

How shall this exhibit be cared for? and (3) What is its relation

to the public?

The function of a.museum exhibit, whether it be in the open

or confined in glass cases in a building, is to illustrate, by visual

means, certain facts of a given body of human knowledge, and by

the arrangement of its several parts to demonstrate the relation-

ship of these facts to others. Just as nature trails, wild life sanc-

tuaries, and parks of several kinds supplement and expand the

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584        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications indoor exhibits in the several natural sciences, so a variety of out- door exhibits of historical subjects may widen and strengthen the field of indoor historical displays. For the purposes of this paper, the term "history" is used to

refer to the temporal aspects of the development of human com- munities. It is the function of history museums to preserve all of the great variety of records which have historical significance. As a rule, such museums in this country confine their activities to the preservation of the human records pertaining to a restricted geographical region, whether that be a city, a county, a state, of

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Report of the Forty-sixth Annual Meeting      585

 

the nation. Clearly, the story of the human occupation of a given

region is not that of a single civilization, nor of one historic

period, nor of one occupation. Prehistory and history are only

two parts of a single story; the story of a man's use of a given

region.

Not all objects associated with the human story of a com-

munity are necessarily historic specimens. The fact that a thing

is old does not mean that it must be preserved. Also, an object

which is unique is not an historic specimen. Materials constitut-

ing historical exhibits should illustrate the variety of the com.

monplace activities and objects of a given group, or period. His-

toric values of specimens are often dependent upon their location.

Some objects have a definite and important local significance only,

while others are of interest to the entire nation. In constructing

an outdoor exhibit, these several points must be kept in mind.

An outdoor history exhibit should supplement those within

a museum building; and should be centered around objects which,

for several reasons, cannot be placed within a building. Obviously

it is not possible to house Indian mounds and historic buildings

because of their gross size. Transplanting of some subjects from

specific localities destroys the associations under which they exist,

and consequently their only historical value. Thirdly, there are

historical records which cannot be moved without destroying their

identity, such as trails, waterways, and geographical locations.

The principal value of an outdoor exhibit in history is the

creation of an association between the geographical environment

and some historic fact or principle. Such exhibits may then be

grouped as localities; that is, those associated with historic periods,

those associated with events or episodes, and those associated with

famous individuals.

The most common feature of the localities associated with an

historic period is the habitations in which man lived during that

period. The first human group to thus occupy a region in any

part of the United States were the Indians. Throughout the

length and breadth of our country their forms of habitation varied

greatly. In the east and in the middle west, the average Indian

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village site contained only houses which were impermanent and

which have long since disappeared. In the southern Mississippi

Valley, pyramidal mounds of earth were used as foundations for

buildings. One of the most famous of these, Cahokia, at East St.

Louis, has recently been created a state park by the Illinois State

Legislature. In the eastern Great Plains, a type of earth lodge

was occupied by Indians, somewhat similar to the ceremonial

lodge which has been reconstructed on the grounds of the North

Dakota Historical Society at Bismarck. In the southwest are the

dwellings of the sedentary peoples, which include a great variety

of structures, only a few of which have been made famous in the

Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado. Along

our coasts, evidences of the first occupation of an era are found

in the huge shell heaps built with kitchen refuse. Throughout the

country caves have been used by man during all periods.

Because we are better acquainted with the detailed story of

human development since the coming of the white man to this

continent, we are inclined to subdivide the past three hundred

years into several historic periods, each of which may be re-

garded as satisfactory material for outdoor exhibits. Their value

depends, to some degree, upon their relative local and national

importance. The interesting development which is taking place

at Williamsburg, Virginia, is an example of what can be done in

restoring an entire community to a single period in its history.

Similar attempts might be made, not only to preserve villages typ-

ical of the pioneer period of the middle west, of the frontier towns

of the far west, and of the early mining communities, but also

to reconstruct, while opportunity still exists, a few blocks of a

town of the middle of the 19th century, or even of the early part

of the 20th century, before the coming of the automobile and the

resulting changes in our communities.

Such large exhibits, dealing with a particular historical

period, have their administrative and economic difficulties.

Usually a desire to memorialize an historic period results in the

preservation of a single house within an otherwise modern com-

munity. Throughout the country there are innumerable log

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Report of the Forty-sixth Annual Meeting     587

 

cabins and houses of the 18th and 19th centuries, which serve as

historical exhibits. The chief purpose of any exhibit is to teach

a lesson and, insofar as possible, to create an illusion of reality

in the mind of the observer. If this statement is true, then it is

important that houses representing specific periods have the ap-

pearance of being lived in, and not of merely being a store house;

and that those parts of the house open to visitors to be absolutely

true to the period, without incongruous objects and arrange-

ments. Many exhibits of this class are completely ruined through

a misguided attempt to cater to public interest.

Another great class of exhibits dealing with historic periods

is that which includes monuments erected by human beings in

the past. Under this heading come the great burial mounds

erected by Indian communities in commemoration of those who

lived before them. Both Wisconsin and Ohio have been partic-

ularly active in having such monuments preserved in state parks.

The Indians also created monuments of similar nature when they

placed inscriptions in the form of geometrical and natural figures

upon various rocks and cliffs. Within the past year, considerable

time and patience have been spent in the state of Pennsylvania

preserving such records found near Safe Harbor, on the Susque-

hanna. These records, distributed throughout this continent, con-

stitute a valuable form of outdoor exhibit. Since the coming of

the white man, similar monuments have been erected according to

our own customs. Our cemeteries contain, both in the private

monuments and in those of a more communal nature, definite his-

toric records. Arlington, because of its national scope and its

dedication to a particular phase of modern civilization, holds an

important historical lesson.

The next great group of exhibits is that dealing with locali-

ties associated with events or episodes in which either the

European or Indian may have participated. The creation as

parks of such places as the battlefields at Gettysburg and Sara-

toga, the preservation of historic trees such as the Washington

Elm in Cambridge, and the Logan Elm in Ohio, under which

important events occurred, and the guarding of such objects as

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the Plymouth Rock exemplify the natural desire to preserve a

locality associated with some historic event. In all of these cases,

the lesson is best taught if considerable care be taken to maintain

the locality in the condition in which it was when the event

occurred.

Another class of events or episodes which may be commemo-

rated in an historic exhibit is that relating to the first appearance

of some culture trait. The only claim to history which the fields

have over which the Wrights first flew is that they mark the

location of an epoch-making event. Similarly, Menlo Park in

New Jersey is famous only because it was there that the electric

light was invented.

There is another group of geographical localities which are

sometimes not classed under this category. Many are inclined to

overlook the definite historic value of trails and waterways.

These are the arteries through which the changes in civilization

occurred, and if we are to understand the interrelations of the

several communities in our country, it is essential that adequate

provision be made for the interpretation of these trails. They

were Indian trails first, used later by frontiersmen and traders.

Then they were traveled in a variety of conveyances by the

settlers and the military groups. In these days of the automobile,

the traveler is usually unacquainted with the historic background

of the artery of communication over which he drives. A begin-

ning has been made in utilizing this group of outdoor exhibits

in the setting up of stone markers all over the country. A great

deal more can be done. With proper handling, I feel sure that

the general traveling public would be interested in the story of

such famous routes as the Long Hunters' Trail, the Warrior's

Trail, the old Sauk Trail, as well as the better known ones, such

as the Mohawk, Santa Fe, and Oregon Trails.

The third of the great classes of outdoor historical exhibits

is that comprising the localities associated with famous indi-

viduals. The first of these is that group which are definite

shrines to the memory of great men, and which may or may not

be located at a place where the individual actually worked.

These shrines usually take the form of shafts, statues, or build-

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Report of the Forty-sixth Annual Meeting      589

 

ings erected to a certain attribute of the individual. In the

Stillman Valley in Illinois, there is an empressive heroic statue

of Black Hawk overlooking the region in which he carried on his

activities. Throughout the country we find monuments erected

to the pioneers and the pioneer women as tributes to a particular

characteristic of this class of individuals. The gigantic portraits

on Stone Mountain are another example of this type of memorial

to individuals. Without question, the most spectacular and the

most perfect of these shrines is the famous Lincoln Memorial

in Washington.

Another group of these localities is the one containing the

birth-places, death places, and dwellings of individuals. The

various buildings throughout the country preserved merely be-

cause they happen to have been the birth places of subsequently

famous people are legion. All of you know of dwellings of

well-known men which have been preserved as monuments

through local or national interest, such as Mt. Vernon and Monti-

cello.

The fact that the public is interested in these historic indi-

viduals is well known, but I think historians are sometimes in-

clined to overlook or perhaps belittle the potential value of

famous names. A consideration of their use by public service

organizations in localities associated with these individuals brings

out forcibly what can be done in this field. There would not be

so many uses of the name Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, nor of

Andrew Jackson in Nashville, Tennessee, if the public were not

interested in this aspect of history.

In this very brief and hasy review of the different kinds of

outdoor historical exhibits, it has, of course, been impossible to

consider all of the interesting problems involved, or to elaborate

upon some of the more pertinent examples. My only purpose in

cataloguing this material is to place before you a conception of

the complexity of the problem and the need for judicious con-

sideration in choosing only those subjects which definitely have

historical significance as outdoor exhibits.

We may now pass to the second question before us--How

shall these exhibits be cared for? It is clear that an outdoor

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590       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

historical exhibit is not in itself a museum. No one would think

of classing a wild life sanctuary or a nature trail as a museum.

Therefore, one must not become confused between an historical

exhibit and an historical museum merely because certain of these

exhibits happen to be buildings. The several exhibits of which

I have spoken should be handled in a way similar to that in

which habitat groups in natural history are dealt with in museum

buildings. This means that in order to preserve and properly

care for the exhibit, there must be some outside agency interested.

We museum men naturally feel that the best of such agencies

are organizations well acquainted with museum principles.

However, such organizations are not as yet widespread, and in

the meantime these exhibits can be and are cared for by civic

groups, including women's clubs and luncheon clubs, or by com-

munity departments, such as state historical societies and, as in

Phoenix, Arizona, by an archaeological commission. The im-

portant point is recognition of the fact that the establishment of

an outdoor exhibit does not constitute the sole responsibility of

the group involved. There is the expense of overhead and up-

keep, as well as the details of guiding to the exhibit, which must

be cared for in perpetuity.

We now come to the last of three questions--What is the

relation of the exhibit to the public? In many ways, this ques-

tion is the most important of the three. Unless a collection or

an exhibit is used, it does not justify its existence. What may

be most important to the individual specializing in history may

not be of the slightest interest to the average public. Therefore

one of the most important problems of outdoor guiding in history

is to bring the subject matter to the attention of those to whom

the guiding would be a service.

In outdoor guiding, the problems of public relations are of

greater variety than within a museum building. We are not only

concerned with the various age groups within a community, from

the children of the primary grades to the old people who have

personal recollections of the objects exhibited, but also with that

continually increasing group known as the tourist. The exhibits,

unless of a national character, must be so arranged as to appeal

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Report of the Forty-sixth Annual Meeting      591

 

not only to the local interest, but also to those individuals who

come from afar without a knowledge of the detailed history of

the community.

We have heard for some time that natural history exhibits

should not be built for the education of the specialist in natural

history, nor for the gratification of the curator, but rather for

the use of those individuals who are not primarily interested in

the subject matter of the exhibits. The same holds true in his-

torical matters. There is a tendency to assume that the average

person has a sufficient knowledge of history to take an interest in

these materials regardless of their method of display. As a mat-

ter of fact, I feel that the majority of visitors to historical ex-

hibits do not have an adequate appreciation of either the facts or

the principles which an historical exhibit should illustrate. The

obvious interest which does exist on the part of individuals is not

of an historical nature, but is rather the result of three natural

and inevitable tendencies which I call the appetite for vicarious

experience, hero worship, and family pride.

It is not sufficient to ignore these three natural reactions to

historical exhibits, nor merely deplore them. They will occur in

any event, and the proper attitude should be that of utilizing

them to teach the desired lessons, bearing in mind that undue

catering to these reactions may obscure the true reason for the

existence of the exhibit. A desire to take advantage of the in-

terest in vicarious experience may cause the exhibit of a series

of objects associated with an event which was neither typical of

any given period nor which had any historical significance. The

recognition of hero worship has sometimes resulted in the

preservation of utterly useless things which were at one time

associated with some historical personality. I have in mind

some cigar ashes which came from a cigar smoked by General

Grant and a nondescript one-roomed wooden shack which was

once occupied by a subsequently important person. Perhaps the

most frequent cause for mistakes in historical exhibits is the

desire to satisfy family pride. This results in the unnecessarily

prominent display of the donor's name, and also in the close

association within a single exhibit of totally unrelated materials

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592       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

because of their acquisition by the organization from a single

source.

It is possible, on the other hand, to favor these aspects of

public interest and at the same time accentuate the historical

value of the exhibits. The chief charm of outdoor exhibits lies

in their surroundings. The fact that the visitor is standing on

the very spot on which some historic personage stood, or where

some important event occurred, is a vicarious experience, which

is entirely lost if the exhibit is moved to a locality which appears

to be either more convenient to those in charge or more conducive

to a larger number of visitors. A policy of leaving objects in

their natural location prevents incongruity through mixture of

periods and objects as a result of attempted centralization of ex-

hibits.

It must also be remembered that outdoor exhibits are only

exhibits and not museums. They must be treated as "habitat

groups", and explained in that way to the visitors. Insofar as

possible, the illusion of stepping into another historic period must

be preserved, granted, of course, that there are a number of

classes of exhibits which do not lend themselves to such treat-

ment. The worst offenders in this matter of retaining the illu-

sion, the spirit of the "habitat group", are the attempts to repro-

duce period houses and period rooms. Framed copies of news-

papers current in the period would not normally be found upon

the walls; the various pieces of furniture would not bear cards

giving names of individuals from whom the family had received

them; nor, as recently witnessed, a card with the word "original".

The illusion should be that of a home in which people live. One

good way of maintaining such an illusion, and one which at the

same time would be a means of support, would be a tea room,

with waitresses dressed in the costumes of the period, using linen

and table equipment which are replicas of those of the period, and

bringing food from a kitchen in which the cooking was being done

according to the methods and with the utensils of that period.

The requirement that history exhibits emphasize the human

element behind them is paramount. It is true that in many cases,

such as the sites of battlefields, the locations of old trails, and

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Report of the Forty-sixth Annual Meeting       593

certain localities associated with famous individuals, it is impos-

sible to reconstruct the actual life of the period represented.

However, the human element may be emphasized by secondary

exhibits, and arrangements. Such adjustments are particularly

necssary in the case of the localities dealing with the pre-Colum-

bian history of the Indians of the region.

The first and simplest of these secondary exhibits is the

tablet or marker which, when once in place, becomes of value only

upon the initiative of the visitor. Clearly such a method is in-

adequate, but it is often the only way in which Indian sites, his-

toric trails, and the locations of events and episodes can be

marked by a group with limited time and funds. A more ade-

quate secondary exhibit is what has been called a "wayside

museum"; that is, a small building erected, if possible, in a style

of architecture in keeping with the major exhibit, in which a

variety of small objects are so arranged in glass cases as to ex-

plain its importance and historical significance. This is a par-

ticularly satisfactory method of bringing out the human values

of Indian sites, of treaty spots, frontier and mining communities,

and the like. The entire significance is lost if this secondary ex-

hibit is a perfunctory group of miscellaneous material. As much

or more care must be given to such a display as to those in

similar glass cases in the parent museum. By presenting clearly

the physical relationship between the minor specimens and the

major exhibit, it is possible to emphasize the historical value of

apparently unimportant objects. However, the greatest care must

be used not to destroy the sense of illusion, which is the first con-

sideration of the outdoor exhibit. The use of a part of an his-

toric block house of colonial times as a small exhibit room and a

sales room for postals and books dealing with the historic event

which took place in and near that block house definitely destroys

some of the historic value of the construction. One of the most

appropriate of such secondary exhibits is that at the Aztec Na-

tional Monument in New Mexico, where the smaller objects

illustrating the daily life of the inhabitants of a pueblo ruin are

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housed in some of the undisturbed and partly reconstructed rooms

of the pueblo itself.

A third means of creating public interest in outdoor exhibits

is through the individual in charge, one who, unfortunately, some-

times bears the title "care-taker."  His responsibility should be

not only that of protecting the exhibit from small boys, thought-

less tourists and vandals, but also that of making the visitors

appreciate, insofar as possible, the significance and interest of the

exhibit which has been placed in his charge. A training which

will teach the caretaker or curator of the exhibit the real value

of that for which he is responsible, will result in a cordial atti-

tude of the teacher towards visitors.  The actual guiding of

visitors through the exhibit might be supplemented by outdoor

lectures on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.    At the Mesa

Verde National Park, campfire talks each evening are doing

much to interest the public in the story of the builders of these

famous cliff dwellings.

A fourth means, of no historical significance whatever, is of

considerable importance in increasing the use of an outdoor ex-

hibit by the public. This is the establishment of adequate facilities

for amusement, recreation, and camping. The only important

consideration is that such playgrounds and camping grounds be

situated near, but not upon, the area which constitutes the ex-

hibit. Concessions must be granted for food, stationary, and the

usual mementos. It should also be remembered that an Indian

curio shop or antique store would be just as incongruous on the

outskirts of an historical exhibit as a furrier's establishment or a

taxidermist's shop situated at the gate of a wild life sanctuary.

The fifth tool for use in outdoor guiding is the printed word.

Brief accounts, published as small leaflets, or in some cases, as

more pretentious pamphlets, have a tremendous effect upon the

public. Ohio has prepared a guide to historic spots. The Wis-

consin Historical Society has published a large number of small

leaflets calling attention to a great variety of outdoor historical

exhibits.

In conclusion, then, the first requirement in considering the

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Report of the Forty-sixth Annual Meeting     595

 

question of outdoor guiding in history is to determine what con-

stitutes an outdoor historical exhibit. Not all historical objects

can be exhibits. The particular value of outdoor materials is

that attention may be called to objects which cannot be placed

within museum walls. Yet all things which are old do not have

historical significance, and conversely, not all historical speci-

mens are old. They must be typical of some period or have a

definite association with some event, circumstance, or personage

of importance.

Outdoor exhibits are not museums, and like all exhibits,

they must be associated with some organization which is pre-

pared to care for the overhead and upkeep incidental to pre-

serving such historical material.

If the material is worth exhibiting at all, it is worth study-

ing carefully in order that it may best serve to demonstrate, by

visual means, the pertinent historical facts, and by its presenta-

tion to establish its relationship to other facts and exhibits. It is

necessary to cater to the visiting public by considering such mat-

ters as love of vicarious experience, hero worship, and family

pride, but the true function of an historical exhibit must not be

forgotten. Public interest and participation in outdoor exhibits

can be secured by emphasizing the human values; that is, by pre-

serving the exhibit in its natural surroundings; by fostering the

illusion of the present use through careful adherence to the

period of the exhibit in all details; by supplementing, but not

marring, the major exhibit through the use of secondary housed

displays of related smaller materials; by fostering public recrea-

tion parks in the neighborhood, but not upon the grounds of the

exhibit; and finally, by issuing carefully prepared leaflets and

pamphlets.

 

(Applause.)

CHAIRMAN SATER: The Secretary has an announce-

ment to make at this time,

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