July 6 Earlybird Deadline for AASLH and AIM Annual Meeting
The American Association for State and Local History and Association of Indiana Museums Annual Meeting, Making History a 21st Century Enterprise, will be held Aug. 26 through 29 in Indianapolis.

The earlybird deadline for registration is July 6.

The days of museums as “cabinets of curiosity” are gone. To succeed in our increasingly fast-paced, technology-saturated society, we must embrace new models of operation. Remembering from 2007 that relevance equals the bottom line and from 2008 the power of transformation, we envision becoming centers for ideas and inspiration – cultural entrepreneurs. The 2009 AASLH Annual Meeting in Indianapolis will explore the place of entrepreneurship within the field – marrying fresh concepts with our mission as stewards of the past.

The city of Indianapolis will provide the setting for AASLH members to gather and discuss how we may help our institutions leverage their greatest strengths. We are overwhelmingly recognized as the keepers of historical truth and authenticity. This is a powerful position, with great opportunity and responsibility. What are the most promising new ideas, best practices and models to connect our audiences with our intellectual capital?

In additional to more than 70 different sessions that directly address your latest issues, and an awesome trio of history inspiring speakers, the annual meeting offers evening events and tours that will impress every history enthusiast.

The cost for earlybird registration by July 6 is $210 for members and $310 for nonmembers. After July 6, the cost is $275 for members and $375 for nonmembers.

For more information or to register, please visit http://www.aaslh.org/2009-annual-meeting.htm.

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Please confim event specifics with sponsoring organization, especially if traveling any distance.

Canal Days at the Canal Park in Delphi
This event will be held on Saturday, July 4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, July 5, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Canal Park in Delphi.

The traditional Independence Day parade, sponsored by the Delphi Lions Club, will begin at 10 a.m. and will end around noon at the Canal Center for the presentation of awards. A special feature on Saturday morning will be a stirring patriotic multi-media presentation Let Freedom Ring, presented by Brian Migliore, of Fort Wayne. This distinctive program combines images matched to words and music. Gather at 1, 2:30 or 4 p.m. at the Canal Center to hear Brian’s program. There is no admission charge for this event, but donations are welcome.

The new canal boat The Delphi will be running cruises continuously beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Purchase tickets at the Canal Center front desk.

Narrated walking tours will take visitors to two new venues: a walk at 2 p.m. to Canal Park Annex to learn about the new warehouse patterned after a local 1800s warehouse, and a trek at 4 p.m. to the Mule Barn, a replica of a relay station where fresh horses were obtained to pull the canal boats.

You will find quality hand-made gifts at the Bowen Cabin Crafts Gift Shop. Kids can make their own bird houses with Rob at Jim’s Carpenter Shop. The Schoolmaster will be at the school house both days, and children can play games outside during “recess.” Of course, the wonderful Playboat will welcome children to explore its many parts. The beautiful white carriage will be available for rides on Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

The Canal Association’s Snack Shack will offer various sandwiches and food items as well as the traditional home-made fruit pies and ice cream. New this year will be buffalo burgers. Another booth will be serving chili. Have a hot apple dumpling with ice cream (while supplies last) at the Canal Center. Some dumplings may be available frozen to purchase and bake at home as well.

At the Canal Center and throughout the park craftsmen and artisans of pioneer crafts will demonstrate their skills and some will have items for sale.

For more information, please visit http://www.wabashanderiecanal.org/.

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IMLS Conservation Project Support Grant
The Conservation Project Support program awards grants to help museums identify conservation needs and priorities, and perform activities to ensure the safekeeping of their collections.

Conservation Project Support grants help museums develop and implement a logical, institution-wide approach to caring for their living and material collections. Applicants should apply for the project that meets one of the institution’s highest conservation needs. All applications must demonstrate that the primary goal of the project is conservation care, and not collection management or maintenance.

Grants are available for many types of conservation activities, including surveys (general, detailed condition or environmental); training; treatment; and environmental improvements.

Museums are encouraged to share the impact of conservation activities with their communities through outreach and programs.

Applications for the fiscal year 2010 are due Oct. 1, 2009.

The grant amount is up to $150,000, and the grant period is generally two years, or three years with strong justification. There is a matching requirement of 1:1 for total project request.

For more information, visit http://imls.gov/applicants/grants/conservProject.shtm, or contact Christine Henry at (202) 653-4674 or chenry@imls.gov or Mark Feitl at (202) 653-4635 mfeitl@imls.gov.

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Concerts on the Canal: Independence Day Bash
This concert is held in partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine and will be held on Saturday, July 4, from 4:30 to 9:45 p.m. at Fitness Park, American College of Sports Medicine, located at 401 W. Michigan St.

The feature for this concert is the Independence Day Bash with the Indianapolis Municipal Band at 5 p.m. and the Impalas at 7:30 p.m.

An outdoor grill and cash bar will be on-site, and free seating is available on the Canal walk area behind the reserved tables. As always, attendees may bring their own food and nonalcoholic beverages to the concert – but all alcohol must be purchased on site. No pets and no smoking are allowed at Fitness Park.

Tables are on the grass and in the shade. The cost is $40 for a table of eight for nonmembers and $35 for members. Half-tables are available for $30 or $25 for members.

For reservations, call the IHS Welcome Center at (317) 232-1882. The 2009 Concerts on the Canal Series is sponsored by Lewis Wagner, LLP. The 2009 Concerts on the Canal media partner is WFYI.

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IUPUI University Library Receives Grant for Conner Prairie’s Traditional Crafts Project
The IUPUI University Library, in collaboration with Conner Prairie, received a Library Service Technology Act digitization grant for over $11,000 to create the museum’s newest online digital collection entitled: Conner Prairie’s Traditional Crafts: Preservation and Reproduction, making yet more of the organization’s resources accessible to the public on-line, especially Hoosier K-12 students.

While the collection will highlight artisan crafts such as pottery making, arms making and blacksmithing, it also emphasizes the role of museums in preserving age-old skills through teaching, reproduction and research, explains David Lewis, Dean of the University Library.

Over the next 12 months, the library’s Digital Libraries Team will use 3D imaging technology to photograph approximately 85 artifacts from the collection at Conner Prairie. Most of these objects date back to the 1800s and are extremely fragile

In addition, the library team will also scan and place archived editions of Conner Prairie’s Voice of the Hammer and The Art and Mystery of Blacksmithing publications along with three short videos, featuring artisans demonstrating and talking about the history of their craft in the collection, making for a comprehensive online resource.

The University Library will also collaborate with the School of Education at IUPUI to create K-12 standards-based lesson plans and evaluation/assessment components for the collection, making it a valuable teaching aid for classroom instruction.

Over the past 10 years, the University Library has received LSTA digitization grants to collaborate with many other Indiana nonprofit organizations such as the Indiana State Archives, Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, the Geography and Map Library Indiana University, Indiana Historical Society and the Hancock County Public Library/Riley Old Home Society.

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Make Big Plans at the Westchester Township History Museum
This exhibit is currently on display through the month of August at the Westchester Township History Museum located at 700 W. Porter Ave in Chesterton.

Few residents of Northwest Indiana realize that Lake, Porter and LaPorte Counties were included in Daniel Burnham’s 1909 plans for Chicago. The centennial of legendary architect and city planner Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago, is being observed this year. It is arguably the most influential document in the history of American urban planning. Co-authored by Edward Bennett and produced in collaboration with the Commercial Club of Chicago, the 1909 Plan proposed what have become the city’s most distinctive features, including its lakefront parks and roadways, the Magnificent Mile and Navy Pier. 

Burnham apprenticed as a draftsman for the William Le Baron Jenney architectural firm. In 1873, two years after the Great Chicago Fire, Burnham left that firm to start his own firm with his friend John Root. They rose quickly to a leading role in designing homes for Chicago’s wealthier families. A more important level of fame and influence was reached due to corporate clients in the Loop.

As part of the celebration of Burnham’s Centennial, Carl Smith, author of The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, will present an illustrated talk based on his prize-winning book. He will describe the Plan of Chicago’s fascinating history and explain its central role in shaping Chicago and American city life.  The program will take place on Sunday, Aug. 2, at the Westchester Public Library Service Center.

This program and exhibit is co-sponsored by the Burnham Plan Centennial and the Newberry Library, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Westchester Township History Museum is open to the public free of charge, Wednesday through Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. or by appointment.

For more information, please call (219) 983-9715.

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Local Treasure Now at the Lake Station Historical Society and Museum in Lake Station
The elaborate and colorful murals installed in numerous Hoosier communities during the 1930s are highlighted in the Local Treasure traveling exhibit.

The exhibition gives a brief history of the federal Section of Painting and Sculpture, which was established in the summer of 1934 “to secure suitable art of the best quality for the embellishment of public building,” and then focuses on the histories of some of the 36 murals commissioned and executed for Indiana post offices that are in existence today. The exhibit is based on a 1995 IHS publication A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals, by John C. Carlisle with photographs by Darryl Jones.

The persons depicted in the post office murals were occasionally specific figures, whether fictional like “The Raggedy Man,” a James Whitcomb Riley character featured in Roland Schweinsburg’s The Sleighing Party in Alexandria, or nonfictional such as Solon Robinson and Chief Mewonitoc in George Melville Smith’s Crown Point mural From Such Beginnings Sprang the County of Lake, Indiana.

“The other people shown may not be identifiable by name, but by type they represent the essence of the American scene concept,” said Carlisle. “They are the farmers, the loggers, the railroad men, the pioneer mothers and the workers of our history.

These traveling exhibits are on loan from the Indiana Historical Society. For more information about the IHS traveling exhibit program, go to www.indianahistory.org/LHS and click on "Traveling Exhibits."

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National:

Historical Interpreter at President Lincoln’s Cottage in Washington, D.C.
President Lincoln's Cottage seeks enthusiastic candidates for the position of Historical Interpreter to interpret the history of President Lincoln and his time at the Soldier's Home, placing the activities and events that occurred here in the broader context of the Civil War and exploring many of the wartime ideas developed by Lincoln at his country retreat. Historical Interpreters will also serve as informed, friendly ambassadors for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Duties:

• Lead educational, multi-media tours and school programs of President Lincoln's Cottage to a diverse audience of up to twenty visitors per tour
• Utilize active teaching techniques and media to respond to a variety of audience learning styles, age levels and knowledge
• Facilitate Lincoln's Toughest Decisions interactive media programs
• Provide a high level of customer service and a seamless visitor experience to all
• Welcome the public, check-in visitors, answer questions and direct visitors to facilities, exhibits and other site opportunities
• Assist in providing security for the site, buildings and exhibits to ensure the safety of the visiting public, responding calmly and professionally to emergencies
• Attend interpreter meetings and actively participate in training programs and other opportunities to expand site knowledge and strengthen interpretive skills
• Update or modify tours as new or relevant information is approved by the Education Coordinator
• Assist in the museum shop or with general education and site outreach tasks when not giving tours, including, but not limited to answering phones, assisting with sales, research and writing
• Participate in ongoing evaluation of the site's programs and tour offering
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• Excellent speaking skills, especially the ability of succinct expression
• Friendly attitude towards visitors and staff and ability to work as a member of a team
• Sustained intellectual curiosity in Lincoln and the history and culture relevant to his period
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, strong research and writing skills and an ability to work with groups of all ages
• Ability to comfortably and seamlessly use technology as an interpretive tool
• Ability to stand for periods up to one hour, multiple times per day
• Ability to work inside and outside in all weather conditions
• Ability to speak at an acceptable volume for up to four one-hour tours a day
• Minimum weekly commitment of 12 hours; ability to work some weekend days each month
• Minimum of two years of college or equivalent experience in interpreting an historic site or public speaking, etc.

To apply, please include a cover letter in the body of a message and e-mail your resume as a Word, PDF or Text attachment to 33121-CS-815@nthp.hrmdirect.com.
 

Manager of Collections and Research Computing at the Yale Center for British Art
The Manager will oversee and work with a small internal staff and coordinate outside vendors to build out and maintain the architecture for creating, managing and publishing information about the collections of the Yale Center for British Art. 

The chief goals of this effort are to permit staff to more efficiently manage collections and the intellectual property around them, and to provide online access to the information and surrogates of collection works.  While the effort is centered on the collections, the Manager must also support the related research and general-public communications and e-commerce needs of the institution.

This position reports to and works with the Chief Curator of Art Collections to set strategy and priorities for the use of technology in support of the Center's mission and goals.  The Manager is responsible for the administration and maintenance of the Center's collection-related computing as well as all aspects of the newly internalized web management for the Center, including the daily management of budgets, contracts, staff and development projects. The Manager provides high-level expertise and direction for the infrastructure that supports the work of the staff and direct support for all web related projects, maintaining the integrity of the Web site's navigation, design logic and usability.

For full details about this position or to submit an application, visit http://www.yale.edu/hronline/stars/application/external/index.html.

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Do you know someone who might want to receive Communique Online? Anyone may join the mailing list by e-mailing col@indianahistory.org.

If your historical organization, genealogical society or museum has changed its address or phone number in the past six months, please send the updated information to Coordinator, Local History Services, at the above e-mail, or Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center, 450 W. Ohio St., Indianapolis, IN 46202.