Museums and the Web
An annual conference exploring the social, cultural, design, technological, economic, and organizational issues of culture, science and heritage on-line.
American Centuries
Institution:
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association - Memorial Hall Museum
Designer:
Juliet Jacobson
Small Museum:
Small Museum
Category:
Long-lived
Why
This site was created in 1998 with initial grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Since launched, the site has been continuously added to, improved and expanded with subsequent grant monies. Each year new features, additional database objects and redesigned material enhance the site. From the beginning, local teachers and students have used the site for its wealth of primary source material (over 2500 objects and documents from the history of New England), for the many hands-on interactive activities (see the popular activities "Dress Up" and "Magic Lens") and for the wealth of interpretive information created by historians and educators.
The site is also used extensively by the participants of the Deerfield Teacher's Center to help teachers learn how to teach American history. The site has evolved over the years to better fulfill the museum's mission of reaching as large an audience as possible; the museum is quite small and has such limited resources that it remains closed from October through May! The site has also evolved in response to area educators' requests for particular subject matter for their students. We believe that American Centuries has stood the test of time and looking forward to continuing to improve it!
Kid's Home Page
Dress Up activity
Magic Lens activity
An object from the museum's collection