Now hiring: City of Edmonton Historian Laureate
“This places Edmonton at the forefront of heritage awareness in Canada,” said City of Edmonton archivist Michael Payne. “Edmonton is the first municipality in Canada to create a Historian Laureate position. This is a testament to Edmonton’s commitment to heritage preservation.”
An excellent idea. I hope more municipalities, states, counties, etc., demonstrate their commitment to history by hiring public historians.
Museum workers on strike:
- Staff at two of Canada’s biggest museums, the War Museum and Museum of Civilization, both in Ottawa, have been on strike for over two months. Union museum jobs, how about that? Keep up the fight, colleagues! (Thanks to Dan Cull and Kirsten of Museos Unite for the heads up).
- Additionally, museum staff at the Centre Pompidou have been striking; staff at other Paris museums have struck in solidarity.
Repercussions of the financial crisis:
State Historical Society of Missouri cuts hours, employee pay:
“The reduced hours will have a significant impact on genealogists, students, and scholars who make use of the State Historical Society’s collections,” said Gary R. Kremer, the executive director. “And local organizations that have used scholars well-versed on a variety of historical topics will lose access to a much-needed source for speakers.”
The 25 percent withholding reduces the Society’s state funding to 65 percent of the FY2009 appropriation.
(thanks to Gordon Belt)
Gordon has also done a roundup of financial problems at state historical societies.
An update on the Ironworld closure: an article linked by David Grabitske asserts that the Minnesota Discovery Center’s problems stemmed from an identity crisis: were they a museum or an amusement park?
Twitterverse: the twitter museum community is very happy to welcome LAM hero John Cotton Dana to our ranks (as well as the museum he founded.)
Public Historian 