Diversifying eastern North Carolina heritage sites: tour guides' perspectives

摘要

Tour guides from six eastern North Carolina heritage sites were interviewed to assess African-American participation. The selected sites included museums, plantations, and districts, half owned by the state and half in private ownership. The interview data provided reasons for lack of African-American participation, which exhibits drew African-American interest, and potential solutions to boost African-American participation. Sites were also assessed regarding how interpretive information was presented; specifically the content from a guided tour, along with the site exhibits were analyzed. Guides listed several inhibitors to account for low African-American visitation. The top five themes were: lack of African-American representation, elitist perceptions by site management, lack of knowledge/interest among tour guides to present relevant material, limited number of African-American travelers, and admission fees. The review of findings culminates in three suggestions for short-term initiatives: developing consistent scripts for tour guides, creating new exhibits, reaching out to school children and three suggestions for long-term initiatives: partnering with local universities, allowing exhibits to travel to other sites, and employing more African-American staff.