By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning Our friends at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, reopened their doors to the public at the end of May when state and local authorities lifted restrictions. I chatted with …
Reopenings: Whitesbog Historic Village
By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning Unlike most museums, the Whitesbog Historic Village in Browns Mills, New Jersey, is primarily an outdoor site, so hasn’t faced some of the same challenges as cultural institutions that welcome guests …
Risk, Reward, and Reopening: The Dilemma Facing Cultural Institutions
By Megan Anderson, Manager of Exhibits & Interpretive Planning As we enter August – and our sixth month since COVID-19 turned life in the U.S. upside down– many museums and historical sites are struggling with the question of whether or …
Digital Research Methods: Notes from the (Teleworking) Field
The COVID-19 public health emergency has underscored the importance of digital research. While many federal, state, and local archives and record collections remain closed, our historians have continued to work with legal clients to ensure that their time-sensitive investigations continue …
Engaging Visitors in the Age of Social Distancing
By Hilary Bergen, Historian & Certified Interpretive Planner In the midst of a public health crisis, museums and cultural institutions are more important than ever. Museums are much more than four walls and a roof. They are trusted sources of …
Investigating the Recent Historical Past: Using the Internet Archive Wayback Machine for Litigation Research
By Justin Broubalow, Research Historian Our legal clients often ask us to investigate events in the recent historical past. Roughly spanning the last twenty or so years, this encompasses a period when the fact record was likely born-digital—that is, it …
Genealogy: The Branches of Historical Storytelling
By Jenna Hill, Historian When Roots: The Saga of an American Family, based on the novel by Alex Haley, aired over eight nights in January 1977, it captivated millions, ignited important conversations about race, and transformed genealogical research. The miniseries—a …
Make the Trip Online: Virtual Experiences that Bring History to You
By Scott Vierick, Historian The shift towards accessible, digital experiences that many historic sites, cultural institutions, and museums have embraced to share their collections, histories, and stories with a broader audience has perhaps never seemed more important. As the response …
Chronicling Health and History: HAI’s Decades-Long Collaboration with the NIH
By Scott Vierick, Historian For the past few months, HAI has been working with historians at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on a panel presentation for the Society for History in the Federal Government’s (SHFG) annual conference. HAI has …
Reflections on the Field: History and Technology in 2020
By Scott Vierick, Historian Alexis C. Madrigal’s article for The Atlantic, “The Way We Write History Has Changed,” is a timely reminder that historical methods have evolved considerably since HAI’s inception in 1981. The rise of digital technology has provided historians …
Behind the Scenes: Insights of an Interpretive Planner
Interview with Halley Fehner, CIP, Content Director, Exhibits and Interpretive Planning How did your background influence your decision to become an Interpretive Planner? I come from a history-loving family who also really like to hike, so we visited a lot …
The Modern Museum: Trends in Cultural Institutions
Museums and historical sites are keepers of the past, but the ways they convey and share stories are constantly evolving. Today, institutions are actively redefining what it means to be a steward of history by updating interpretation, broadening audiences, and …
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2