Note from the current NEMA Staff: On the occasion of our 100th anniversary, we thought it would be fun to share highlights from our 25th anniversary in 1943. The organizers compiled a history of those first years, and a report recommending that the conference be supported by a permanent organization. We find the hopes and recommendations in this committee letter charming, and the record of those first years’ discussions both entertaining and enlightening. In some ways, the museum field has come so far, and in others, the questions we wrestle with have not fundamentally changed. We hope you enjoy the highlights we’ve selected from this piece of NEMA’s history. If you want to read a copy of the entire twenty-fifth year resume, please contact a member of the staff.

Report of the Committee to recommend a Permanent Organization

Read at Worcester, December 2, 1943

At the meeting of the New England conference held in Newport in October, 1941, a committee was appointed to bring in recommendations for a permanent organization for the conference. This committee consisted of Mrs. L. Earle Rowe, Chairman, Mrs. Florence Paull Berger and Mr. Malcolm Watkins. Having lost Mr. Watkins to the Army, Miss Griffin was appointed to take his place. Before making any recommendations we felt that a study of the past history of the Conference was in order. It turned out that Mrs. Berger had a complete file of the programs of all the meetings and personal notes on most of them. She therefore kindly consented to prepare the material and to check it with Miss Griffin, who was the chief instigator of the Conference. From this study it develops that the objects of the Conference were to be: first, the consideration of the sectional problems of the members and an attempt to meet them by cooperation; second, the opportunity for the staffs of small and large museums to meet each other for an interchange of ideas; third, the education of trustees and museum committees by drawing them more closely into contact with the problems of all museums and their staffs. In addition, the results of the conferences were to strengthen the position of the local museums by focusing attention upon them, and to give to the younger, often underpaid members of the staffs, many of whom had little opportunity for museum training, a chance to visit other museums under ideal conditions. Again from this study it appears that the conferences were most successful during the years when there was continuity in planning. Thus for the first years, the Conference was under the aegis of the Committee on Museum Cooperation of the American Association of Museums of which Miss Griffin was chairman. Her work was later carried on by Mrs. Berger who served continuously on the Committee for many years.

It is interesting to compare the growth of the conference to the growth of the parent organization. When the American Association of Museums was first started, the organization was like that of most professional groups of its kind, friendly and informal, and the attendance varied from sixty to seventy. By 1919 when the New England Conference started, the yearly meetings of the association brought together nearly ninety people. The first New England Conference registered forty, and the one in Newport one hundred and sixty-five. Mr. Coleman’s Directory of American Museums lists 351 institutions in New England, including 243 Historic House Museums many of which have no permanent staff. The present mailing list for the Conference contains 286 names. It seems logical, therefore, to expect that in normal times we should have an average attendance of about 150 persons. It is obvious that the scale of hospitality that was possible for a group of forty cannot be extended to one hundred and fifty, nor can the meetings have the same “family gathering” quality. Some sort of division will probably be inevitable, and your committee hopes that it will be a geographical one rather than one based on field of specialization. Looking back over what has been accomplished in the last thirty years, we feel that the influence of the art museum on the museum of natural science and vice versa has been of great mutual benefit, while both have helped the historical museums to clarify their position. We feel that as the object of the Conference is to further the principles of museum work, this can best be done by an understanding of each other’s problems. The objective of a museum of science, history or art is fundamentally two fold – to preserve for the future documents of value to civilization, and to exhibit them in such a way that they will appeal to the eye and stimulate the mind of the museum visitor. The committee, therefore, feels that there should be no permanent division of the Conference by subject, but that as far as possible, the papers should be of general museum interest. They also feel that time should be allowed at each Conference for a thorough examination of the local institutions with a candid report from the director of each one on the individual problems he has had to meet and their solution. The committee also recommends that arrangements should be made for simple and inexpensive meals which the members can pay for individually but which they can eat together, thus having an opportunity to get to know each other personally without causing a financial strain on their hosts.

We also recommend that the present system of collecting dues only from those who attend the Conference should be continued.

To secure continuity in the organization of the Conference, we recommend that there should be a permanent Secretary-Treasurer whose duties would be to prepare the list of people to whom invitations to the Conference should be sent, to collect the dues at the Conference, and to pay such bills for postage and printing as may be necessary for the orderly functioning of the organization.

The committee feels that, owing to war conditions, it would be better to take no action on these recommendations at this time, but that they should be brought up again later. Copies of Mrs. Berger’s report have been made and they will be deposited in the libraries of the Boston museums where they can be consulted by anyone interested.

 Florence Paull Berger
Delia I. Griffin
Margaret T.J. Rowe, Chairman.

Highlights from the “Resume of the First Twenty-Five Years of the New England Conference”

Before the meeting of the American Association of Museums in 1918, Miss Griffin, who had been on the association Council and active at all the meetings from the start, on two occasions invited a number of people, mainly from Children’s Museums in the vicinity of Boston, to have dinner with her and to talk over the possibility of a regional organization. This resulted in a larger meeting with dinner at the Hotel Westminster, Boston, and on April 4, 1919 the First New England Conference was held at the New England Society of Natural History in Boston. The story of this meeting was given in the following report of the Committee on Museum Cooperation for the year ending April 30, 1919, presented at the meeting of the American Association of Museums, June, 1919.

1st New England Conference, Boston, April 4, 1919

In March invitations were sent to all the museums of New England, a special attempt being made to secure attendance from several of the smaller institutions which have not usually sent representatives to the annual Association meeting. The directors of these museums were also asked to speak of the work, or special features, which characterized their own institutions, but, with the exception of arranging for an evening lecture, the program was purposely made very elastic, so that discussions might be informal. The session, which began at two o’clock in the afternoon at the Society of Natural History, Boston, included a dinner at one of the hotels and an evening meeting to which several educators… were invited. The attendance in the afternoon numbered about 40 and included several trustees and members of the Visiting Committees of three Boston museums and one in Cambridge.

The program included reports of the educational work of the Fairbanks Museum. St. Johnsbury, the general collections and history of the inception of the exceedingly interesting Museum built and endowed by Mr. Zenas Crane in Pittsfield, Mass., and the installation of special exhibits which is done so admirably at the Peabody Museum, Salem. Informal and quite spirited exchange of views followed these papers, and officers from practically every institution represented took part.

2nd New England Conference, at Hartford, Jan. 9, 1920

The second annual New England Conference of the American Association of Museums was held at Hartford, Connecticut, on Friday afternoon and evening, January 9^th, 1920, in the Wadsworth Athenaeum. There was a total attendance of forty-seven, representing many of the museums in New England. The papers of the afternoon session centered about the work of historical museums, the revivifying of certain Natural History Museums, and Museum Extension Work. The evening program was devoted to the general topic of art in cooperation with industry.

Through the courtesy of the Trustees of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, those in attendance were privileged to enjoy a delightful dinner at the Hartford City Club, at which opportunity was afforded for better acquaintance and exchange of ideas and experiences.

3rd New England Conference at Pittsfield, Mass.

About forty museum workers met in Pittsfield, Mass., October 1^st and 2^nd, 1920, in the Berkshire Athenaeum, with Mr. Harlan H. Ballard, Curator, as the host. In the evening, the subject of the use of motion pictures in the educational work of museums was presented thoroughly. Two of the best machines on the market were exhibited. The Red Cross sent films illustrating a wide range of possibilities of a combination of the film and the lecture, while showing one of the finest nature study films which has ever been produced. (Note: In the discussion it was decided that motion pictures were not appropriate for museum use! How our opinion changed – even in ten years motion pictures had become a necessary part of science teaching – Delia I. Griffin.)

5th New England Conference, St. Johnsbury, Vt., at the Fairbanks Museum of Natural Science, October, 1922

…The delegates were given a demonstration by Dr. Henry Libby, a dentist who had developed uses of plaster in mounting exhibits and had built the Libby Museum of Wolfboro, N.H.; there was then a talk on geography in Children’s Museums, with a discussion; lastly Mr. Frank Wood of New Bedford spoke on the value of the Local Historical Museum. The remainder of the day was given up to an auto trip to Lake Willoughby.

7th New England Conference at Worcester, Mass., Dec. 5 and 6, 1924

…Dr. Charles R. Richards, Director of the American Association of Museums, told of its recent plans and developments…The causes of museum fatigue, a standard accounting system for museums, the training of museum assistants, and the preparation of traveling exhibitions, were other activities which Dr. Richards hoped to further.

8th New England Conference. Yale School of the Fine Arts and the Peabody Museum, New Haven, Dec. 28, 29, 1925

This year a registration fee of $1.00 was asked to meet the expenses of printing, etc.

Topics of interest were as follows: plans and construction of the new museum building for the Rhode Island School of Design by L. Earle Rowe; an interesting trip through North Africa was described by Miss Griffin and illustrated by colored slides…At the evening session Mrs. Siple of the Worcester Museum discussed “The duty we owe to Museum objects,” as collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and instructing the public regarding them.

11th New England Conference, Cambridge and Boston, Oct. 18, 19, 1928

The first session at the Children’s Museum in Cambridge was devoted to subjects of general interest. The five Cambridge museums were hosts at the luncheon at the Colonial Club, after which the conference was divided into two groups, and the science and art museums were visited. After the dinner at the Hotel Brunswick, Boston, four scientific moving pictures were shown.

On the 19^th, the morning session was Prof. Moorehead, whose subject was “Cooperation of the Museums east of the Hudson.” A tour of the new Department of Decorative Arts of the Museum of Fine Arts and a complimentary luncheon were followed by the art and science groups dividing again and going to the institutions of their special interest. [Current NEMA Staff note: The first appearance of PAGs!]

13th New England Conference. Hartford, Oct. 23, 24, 1930 at the Morgan Memorial and Children’s Museum

“Forgotten Landmarks of Hartford” and other papers were read. After a New England luncheon, which was served in the rooms of the Nutting Collection on a blue and white printed Staffordshire dinner set, an opportunity was given to visit the four institutions in the Athenaeum group. Afterwards Theodore Sizer of the Yale Gallery spoke of the important Garvan Collection that had recently come to them…and the manner in which Nantucket raised $40,000, as described by William F. Macy, held the attention of everyone.

Later in the afternoon the delegates enjoyed an organ concert and demonstration of the colored lighting effects at the new Horace Bushnell Memorial Hall, through the courtesy of its Trustees.

At the Round Table Dinner 48 people were present and five minute talks on current events were in order. [Current Staff Note: PechaKucha and TEDTalks are not new ideas in conference activities!]

17th New England Conference at the Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, Oct. 5, 6, 1934

The Conference had not met in Pittsfield since the reorganization of the museum by Miss Laura M. Bragg, formerly Director of the Museum in Charleston, S.C., and Miss Bragg was complimented on the many improvements made in arrangement and installation. A wide range of subjects, such as Japanese prints, Russian Museums, and New England Stencils, were discussed at the first afternoon session, after which the Crane Museum and Paper Mills were visited and tea was served by Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Kittredge, Vice-President of the Museum.

For the first time, a special session was devoted to science, on the following morning, when fluorescent minerals were featured and an unusual demonstration of High Voltage Engineering was given at the General Electric Laboratory.

A short session in the afternoon gave time for a choice of drives to Pleasant Valley Bird Sanctuary, to the studios of A. Sterling Calder or to that of the late Daniel Chester French. The dinner was held at “Broad Hill,” a Melville home, and toasts were given to Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick.

19th New England Conference at Andover and Salem, Mass., Oct. 16, 17, 1936

This year’s program was divided into several sections. The History Group assembled at the Essex Institute, Salem, where the talks were on historic house museums; the Natural Science members at the Peabody Museum, Salem, for a Round Table discussions; and the Art Section at the Peabody House, Phillips Academy, Andover, the subject being “Exhibitions” and the speakers the Directs of ten New England museums. All groups met for dinner at Phillips Inn, Andover, where George H. Edgell, Director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, gave a most entertaining account of his experiences in Japan while “Assembling the Japanese Exhibition” then being held at his museum.

21st New England Conference at New Haven, Nov. 11, 12, 1938

…At the morning session, Wallace K. Harrison, architect of the New York World’s Fair, 1939, was the principal speaker. An open discussion of Museum cooperation with the Fair and an inspection of Antiquities from Dura followed. In the evening the members were invited to attend a performance by drama school students of “Love in Parenthesis” at the University Theatre.

23rd New England Conference at Hartford, Oct. 17-19, 1940

The Wadsworth Athenaeum and Children’s Museum, hosts.

The morning was devoted to registration, allowing out of town members to arrive. In the afternoon … “The Theatre in the Museum,” and “The Museum and Public Relations” were some of the topics. A lecture by Prof. E. A. Panofsky of Princeton on “The Gothic Problem in the Italian Renaissance” was given at the Avery Memorial in the evening, and one by Prof. Edward L. Troxell of Trinity College on “America, an outdoor Museum” at the Children’s Museum.

…The subscription dinner at the Hartford Club was attended by 80 people and was delightfully presided over by Dr. Edgell. A special Variety Entertainment in the Avery Auditorium followed, in which Mr. Austin appeared as the Great Osram in one of his well-known magic performances.

24th New England Conference, Newport, R.I., Oct. 16-18, 1941

This was the first time the Conference had been invited to Newport. A very full program was prepared by Mr. Brigham and his committee, with special stress on the many buildings of historic interest in the city. An exhibition of paintings of 63 houses by Miss Helena Shurtleff and a talk by her was given on the evening of the first day. Dr. Coomeraswamy was another speaker on “Why Exhibit Works of Art.”

The Conference was divided into five sections the next morning – History, Science, Art, Museum Extension and Small House Museums, at each of which interesting topics were discussed. The History group were invited to Bristol for luncheon by R. F. Haffenreffer to inspect his Indian relics. The afternoon was given up to visiting some of the fine old houses and driving or walking to points of interest.

When it came time to arrange the 1942 Conference it was found that war conditions made it impossible. The invitation of New London had been accepted, but it was withdrawn, both because Mr. Ames was leaving the Lyman Allyn Museum, and because the hotels were too crowded. Boston also decided against having the meeting. However, an invitation from Worcester to hold the twenty-fifth conference there in 1943 was accepted.  

25th New England Conference, Worcester, Mass., December 2, 1943

After registration at the Worcester Art Museum and a visit to the exhibition of New England Handicrafts in the morning, a luncheon was served in the Member’s Room at 12:15. At this time a report was read on the subject of a permanent organization for the Conference. The committee recommended the postponement of any action until after the war, and this was voted. It was left to this committee, consisting of Mrs. Rowe, Chairman, Mrs. Berger, and Miss Griffin to arrange for the next meeting.

Following the luncheon Mr. Sullivan gave an interesting talk on the exhibition of Handicrafts. At 2:15 in the Lecture Hall a session was devoted to the Museum in Wartime. Following this at 4:15 was a discussion on the School and the Museum, at which 200 teachers from Worcester schools were present. A delightful cocktail party as guests of the Trustees at the home of Mrs. Sawyer preceded the dinner at the Bancroft Hotel at which Mr. Taylor, Director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, spoke on the War in Europe and the salvage of works of art, stressing the vital part American Museums must play in the future as custodians of works of art which have, by being in this country escaped destruction.

The attendance was over a hundred, with forty-four out of town visitors.

During the twenty-five years since the New England Conferences were inaugurated, meetings have been held in all the New England States – the largest number, 13, naturally in Massachusetts; the next, 6, in Connecticut; 3 in Rhode Island; and one each in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Florence Paull Berger
Wadsworth Athenaeum,
Hartford, Conn.
1942, 1944

Attendees at the 12th NEC conference in Providence show off Roaring ’20s conference fashion. Photo Credit: Fairbanks Museum