The Smithsonian as a Microcosm of American Museum Practice: Robert C. Post, Who Owns America's Past?

摘要

Robert C. Post's Who Owns America's Past? The Smithsonian and the Problem of History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. Pp. 384. $29.95) is an important work for anyone in the museum profession to study. The book is a well-written, at times slightly colloquial, account of the history of the Smithsonian and how it evolved between about 1930 and the early twenty-first century. An equally significant point is that it guides the reader to a better understanding of the important issues related to operating museums in the United States today. The Smithsonian is arguably the largest and most famous museum complex in the country. The problems encountered there due to interactions among museum staff, the visiting public, and so-called "stakeholders" are universal and apply to almost any museum of any scale.