As we head toward the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to share one of my favorite museum videos, The Invention of Thanksgiving. It was produced in 2018 for The National Museum of the American Indian exhibition “Americans.” Curator Paul Chaat Smith (Comanche) narrates a powerful and pointed video that reveals some of the myths of Thanksgiving. I watch and share it this time every year and I have used it as a design comp on many of my own projects. It is an excellent example of how powerful this kind of video can be in framing complex and difficult histories. Chaat Smith’s words, combined with the corresponding animations, are pointed and super engaging, using humor, sarcasm, and matter of fact directness to deliver an empathy inducing conclusion that keeps the viewer engaged long after the video ends.
As I continue to process the results of the 2024 Presidential Election, I wonder what kinds of stories museums will tell over the next several years. Museums have narrative power and are generally considered the most trusted of institutions. The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Spring 2021 report Museums & Trust states that people believe that museums are highly trustworthy and rank just below the most trusted group, friends and family. This is especially important now that people have less confidence in news organizations, the government, and of course, social media. A 2023 study by Colleen Dilenschneider suggests that more people trust museums now than before the pandemic.
How can museums continue to build on that trust by upholding truth, promoting scientific fact and critically reflecting on history? My hope is that museums can find creative ways of expressing and maintaining their core values in what will be a changing and possibly volatile political environment. We must refocus our efforts and find ways to discuss the issues that matter most to our organizations…education, equity, climate change, social justice, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion. Museums should reinforce their strength as trusted organizations and promote their institutional values.
Powerful storytelling about the past can help shape our future and engage audiences in important civic discourse. Whose stories will we prioritize, what voices will we amplify, who will we advocate for, and who will we support. As the work of LaTanya Autry and Mike Murawski has shown us, Museums are Not Neutral.
Let’s get to work, we need to find and share these stories now more than ever!