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October Issue 2006
South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC, Presents Exhibit to Honor the American Association of Museums
A century is a milestone in many ways. People who live 100 years are celebrated. Centuries of time are analyzed by historians. Many human institutions, cities and civilizations are centuries old, or centuries dead.
2006 marks the centennial of a significant cultural institution in the United States, the American Association of Museums (AAM). In observance of this anniversary, the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC, is using the milestone to celebrate South Carolina's history and culture, its rich past and promise of the future, in a new exhibit, Treasures by the 100s: A Celebration of AAM's Centennial, opening Oct. 6. The exhibition will continue in the Museum's Lipscomb Gallery through Feb. 7, 2007.
The exhibit will display objects from the museum's collection which echo the theme of 100. "From donations which contain 100 individual objects to single objects that are 100 years old (or thereabouts), the museum's collections represent the people and places of the Palmetto State," says Registrar Michelle Baker, the exhibit's organizer.
"Although we've been collecting only since 1975 (a very short time by museum standards), we have more than 70,000 artifacts and specimens in our care. The exhibit represents just a small fraction of the museum's permanent collection, and most of these objects have never been exhibited before."
The many items museum guests will see will include a collection of 100 arrowheads; a collection of 100 handmade wooden walking canes carved by Alvin A. Jones; $100 bills from various eras in South Carolina history; quilts that are a century old; a pharmacy counter from Greenville, SC, that is at least 100 years old; and much more.
A unique aspect of the exhibit is that it also will compare technologies over the past century. A modern flip cell phone will be seen alongside a telephone from c. 1906.
A baptismal gown from 1901, worn by family members from that year, 1932, 1957 and 1989 - all christened on Palm Sunday - also will be displayed.
The next 100 years also will be discussed, says Baker. A telescope from a century ago will be used to draw attention to the museum's plans to expand in the next few years to build a futuristic observatory, planetarium and 4-D theater. This project, called OPT, will open new worlds to young visitors, some of which may become the major scientists and explorers of the 21st century.
In addition, a list of interesting facts from 1906 will inform guests of what the world was like 100 years ago. For instance, in 1906 the late Senator Strom Thurmond was four years old.
"I hope this exhibit gets people thinking about what museums offer to us all by preserving our past and saving it for present and future generations to learn from," says Baker. "Many things today are so disposable. We don't think about things that we consider common, and so many items that help define our culture at a certain point in time could be in danger of being lost if museums were not here to preserve them."
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, call Tut Underwood at 803/898-4921 or at (www.museum.state.sc.us).
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