Steven Conn recently argued that as museums change from warehouses of artifacts focused on public instruction to a different model of education by engagement, their emphasis on objects will become less necessary. This dissertation directly engages with that idea and argues that for many local museums objects mean as much as they ever did, maybe even more. My idea, the “currency of authenticity,” builds on two strands of scholarship. One that traces the increasing commodification of history. The other that local museums are just as worthy of study as national institutions. Specifically, I analyze how smaller museums use material culture to convince their audience that their textual narrative and/or oral interpretation is just as truthful as its objects. Using institutional records, newspapers, and oral histories, this dissertation examines how the Stephen Foster Museum and Florida Folk Festival, both in White Springs, Florida, and the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village portray aspects of Southern culture. Each of these places emphasizes different qualities, objects, or ideas as they construct their own brand of authenticity. Simultaneously, these places also all emphasize their own kind of Southern identity, unique to their regions and the people they want to represent. Their exhibits demonstrate that Southern heritage is vast, complex, and more diverse than some people understand. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2016. / July 8, 2016. / Local History, Memory, Public History / Includes bibliographical references. / Suzanne Sinke, Professor Directing Dissertation; Denise Von Glahn, University Representative; Andrew Frank, Committee Member; Jennifer Koslow, Committee Member; Maxine D. Jones, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_366136 |
| Contributors | Worley, Elizabeth Dean (authoraut), Sinke, Suzanne M. (professor directing dissertation), Frank, Andrew, 1970- (committee member), Koslow, Jennifer Lisa, 1970- (committee member), Jones, Maxine Deloris (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of History (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (148 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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