DETAILS, DETAILS: SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC PROGRAMMING

By Floyd Barrmann

Local History Notebook, July / August 1988

The 1976 Bicentennial initiated a dramatic rise in the popularity of history witnessed by the expansion of historic mini-series and novels, genealogical research and outdoor dramas. Even the commercial sector responded to this phenomenon by offering historic theme parks, permanent flea markets and nostalgic decor. In the face of this competition, historical societies find themselves re-evaluating their public image and can no longer afford to be involved with just the "collection and preservation of heritage." They are now in the business of attracting people.

Historical societies have discovered a strong basis of support in educational programming. Quality activities build a solid foundation of public understanding and appreciation for these institutions. Over time, programming can help the public learn about the values of these agencies, the heritage they collect and services they perform.

To survive and thrive, historical institutions must appeal to the widest possible audience. Quality programming, as do good museum exhibits, strikes deep at the heart of the historical society's mission. Plus it provides a forum for the exchange of ideas. Well-planned and implemented activities can help a community remember and give it a sense of place.

To date, historical societies have "enticed" the public through sponsorship of craft shows, flea markets, ice cream socials, quilting bees and log cabin raisings. They have worked with fashion shows, feast of the flowering, budding and hunting moons, pioneer days, and events honoring every foodstuff ever ingested by our forefathers.

And why not, for they have proven successful in producing needed revenue and have appealed to the public's insatiable desire for nostalgia.

Yet, local historical societies are obliged to return to the heritage of their own locales and use their mission statements as guidance in planning successful programs. Dozens of acclaimed educational programs throughout Ohio attest to the viability of this technique. A professional approach to programming demands some general guidelines.

The Guidelines

Each community has a history special to it. The human resources and local spirit and tradition in any community, regardless of size, can tell a dozen dramatic stories. Through your public programming, reaffirm the importance of your own area. Avoid the homogenization of history by telling the story of Everytown, U.S.A. Search for those events which distinguish your community from all the rest. If, after extensive study in a particular area, you discover that area lacks enough character to create a program, change direction to an activity supported by color and documentation.

Teach society volunteers how to creatively research for programs. This may well lead to research roundtables and new society publications. While it is a major tool in planning direction for a program, research does not end with the program's conclusion. Your research should be a vital part of a program's evaluation, measuring its strengths and weaknesses against historic fact. Research defines the dimensions of a program and gives it depth and meaning. And continued research can add fresh direction for programs in the future.

Every program should have clearly defined purposes or objectives. Never forget that historical organizations are educators. Without educational objectives an event is in danger of merely being entertainment. Objectives can be attained through covert messages, by association, context and environment. Placing a blacksmith in a blacksmith's shop can deliver, through environment, a message to the public. Good demonstrations set in conducive contexts can accomplish educational objectives with little explanation. Clear objectives enable historical societies to use all their creative abilities to give relevance and character to the past.

To begin a program right, establish a planning committee which brings topic, research, and objectives together into one cohesive program plan. The committee should ensure that the program doesn't stray from the goals set by your research.

Whether people outwardly demand it or not, historical organizations are obliged to present authentic activities. It is difficult for the public to distinguish between historic events from different time periods. Create realistic environments to help the public make distinctions.

Every program demands active audience participation. In a world with so many fast-moving, technical distractions, too many people are turned away if there is a real or perceived barrier between them and a particular activity. If you are not attracting new audiences to each of your programs, re-evaluate your activities.

Understand the difference in culture, class, ethnicity and economics of your community and allow several interpretations of the same story to recount their contributions.

When planning a program, you should also be aware that a child's comprehension differs from an adult's. Children's experiences are external and immediate. They may react to a puppet show yet be bored during a craft demonstration. If you want a large number of youths to participate, provide as many sensory activities as possible for them. Children seek unusual and tactile experiences.

Children also can participate in programs of discovery. With proper advance planning, students can travel natural areas around the community, role-playing as early explorers. Mapping and recording geographical areas, keeping a journal of the explorations complete with the renaming of plant and animal species, could all be part of such a program. Upon completion of the trip, children could compare their notes with those of early explorers and maps with modem geological records to discover how close they came in their mapping efforts and how the geography and use of lands have changed over the years.

Avoid Nostalgia

The effects of nostalgia have dealt a crushing blow on the history profession. It also has separated people from the realities of the past. Hollywood lies at the heart of this problem. Movies have given the public a one-sided perception of history. Yet history must tell of human foibles along with triumphs. To be believable, programs must show the weaknesses alongside the strengths of the past.

Avoid nostalgic phrases like "Ye Olde" and pristine settings. Laundry drying on a line behind a Victorian home, a child's cluttered room, commoners in tattered clothes, all add realism to a program.

To attract an audience, be innovative with your public promotion. A comprehensive promotional program, complete with radio, television and newspaper releases, membership flyers and posters in local businesses, must run in concert with your activity Every program does not have to be based on a profit motive. Gain the public support, and the money will follow.

Carefully Evaluate Annual Events

Foremost to be successful, programs must be new and exciting. Annual events can only attract new audiences if they are extensively altered each year. Amusement parks realize this and add new attractions on a regular basis to draw audiences. Evaluate your program at its conclusion. If it is an annual affair, a standing committee should be encouraged to create new attractions within it. Otherwise the program faces the danger of becoming stale, and historical institutions cannot afford to lose their audiences.

Innovative programs in use across Ohio include junior history programs with youth researching and producing their own journals. Oral history projects have created special dramas based on original transcripts. Some societies sponsor period dinners and others use community resources in the reconstruction of authentic river and lake crafts. Communities celebrate their anniversaries by sponsoring Victorian garden parties, recreations of events in early settlement and period expositions where visitors might join spelling bees or enter apple pie judgings. In Toledo, the Metro Park system sponsors a summer program exploring the archaeological ruins of Fort Miami while every other year the Yellow Springs Historical Society hosts an authentic chautauquas. Carriage Hill in Dayton, a 19th-century working farmstead, highlights important seasons in the life of a farm family while the Sullivan-Johnson Museum of Hardin County creates an annual educational entertainment by changing its facility into a house haunted by local people from the community's past.

Ohio museums are creating programs by opening up previously closed doors to their collections and processing areas where crowds may view conservation and exhibit construction projects. Some museums post unidentified photographs, inviting the public to help them identify people and places within them. Others place special orientation centers in malls and other public buildings.

One of the most important methods of recording local history and making it available to the public as a long-lasting educational tool is to produce a videotape or film. This seems like a tremendous undertaking, but in this technological world videos have become sound educational tools. Choose a film topic which spans a narrow bridge of time. (You can't tell your community's entire history in just 20 minutes.) Use the resources of film classes at a nearby college to produce a movie that deals with a specific event or a series of activities that relate to a present situation in the community. Documentary evidence in your collections, such as photographs and journals, can provide the bulk of resource material used in the production. Enlist local acting classes for some scenes. Film's effects on the public's understanding of your role as promoter of community history can be far greater than any brochure.

Be Wary Of Theme Festivals

The immense popularity of theme festivals and commemorations is evidenced by the number of people who attend them. Revolving around a loose, homogeneous theme, they are more celebrations than educational exercises. They generally lack believable environments, highlight scores of unrelated crafts, inappropriate foods and entertainments. They are also highly commercialized and lack authenticity and context. if you plan a theme festival, establish a timeline with limitations. Any festival that purports to show history from the 18th through the 19th centuries cannot begin to do justice to such a broad expanse of culture and change. Once a timeline is established, all activities within that period should be substantiated by sound research.

Don't alter history to cater to contemporary tastes: if people during the 18th century viewed a "Punch and Judy" show sitting on bare ground, don't provide benches. This doesn't mean that every society should rush to cancel popular events but it is important to strive for improvement in quality and education. Flea markets, unauthentic food offerings and modem demonstrations should be in separate areas.

Interpret Mixed Attractions

If attractions must be mixed, interpret them with signs much like you would a museum exhibit. Never let the public try to distinguish the different backgrounds of a steam thrasher sitting beside an Indian tipi. Changes in technology are best understood if machinery and/or demonstrations are placed in chronological sequence.

If you develop a festival around a central theme, adhere to its constraints. "Smithville, Heritage Days" should deal only with Smithville heritage and not a homogenized view of general American history.

Many event possibilities can emerge from community anniversaries. Commemorations which celebrate historic events with parades, picnics and fireworks should supplement the bunting and ballyhoo with introspective programs. Symposia, dramatic re-enactments and the refurbishment of important cultural landmarks give a celebration lasting value.

Innovative programming demands authenticity, research and quality interpretation. If your event possesses these basic components, it will be a sure success. Just keep in mind what a person much wiser than myself once said, "There is enough truth and color in the reality of the past, enough character and texture, to ever feel the need to expand upon it."

Floyd Barmann, director of the Clark County Historical Society in Springfield, is founder of the 18th-century Fair At New Boston as well as an originator and commander of the Federal-period First American Regiment. Barmann also oversees the Crabill Homestead, an 1826 living history farm in Springfield.

A Checklist For Successful Public Programs

• History and the people who create it are as different and colorful as people today. Highlight these differences.

• Do not embellish a program by attaching 20th-century values to make something from the past interesting.

• Give community members a chance in researching and planning your event. But maintain control over their direction.

• Evaluate your program before, during and after it takes place.

• Don't be afraid to admit mistakes, and be challenged by the possibilities of making it better.

For Further Reading On Public Programs:

Alderson, Willian T. and Shirley P. Low. Interpretation of Historic Sites. AASLH, 1982.

Bryan, Charles, F. and Mark V. Wetherinton. Finding Our Past: A Guidebook for Group Projects in Community History. East Tennessee Historical Society, 1983.

Hawes, Edward. Planning Living History Programs and Facilities: Seven Areas of Concern. Newberry Library, 1979.

McDonald, Patricia and Ian Willis. School Groups are Welcome: Ideas & Suggestions for Guides & Guardians of Historic Houses & Museums. National Trust of Australia, 1984.

Peterson, Keith. Historical Celebrations: A Handbook for Organizers of Diamond Jubilees, Centennials, and Other Community Anniversaries. Idaho State Historical Society, 1986.

The Local History Notebook is edited and published by the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office in order to bring useful information to people working in the local history field. The selection of subjects and authors is based on inquiries to the Local History Office and on the editor's determination of issues which are timely in nature and lasting in scope. The reference inserts are copyrighted 1988 the Ohio Historical Society. Reprints are available; please specify volume and number. For further information, contact: