A cultural arsenal for democracy : the World War II work of U.S. museums / Clarissa J. Ceglio.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ceglio, Clarissa J., 1962- author.

Series:

Public history in historical perspective.

Public history in historical perspective

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Museums--United States.

World War, 1939-1945.

Museums--Social aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Museums.

Museums--Educational aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Public history--United States--History--20th century.

Public history.

World War, 1939-1945--Propaganda.

Propaganda, American--History--20th century.

Propaganda, American.

World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 223 pages) : illustrations.

Other Title:

World War II work of U.S. museums

World War 2 work of United States museums

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2022]

Summary:

""Does it seem strange to think of a museum as a weapon in national defense?" asked John Hay Whitney, president of the Museum of Modern Art, in June 1941. As the United States entered the Second World War in the months to follow, this idea seemed far from strange to museums. Working to strike the right balance between education and patriotism, and hoping to attain greater relevance, many American museums saw engagement with wartime concerns as consistent with their vision of the museum as a social instrument. Unsurprisingly, exhibitions served as the primary vehicle through which museums, large and small, engaged their publics with wartime topics-with fare ranging from displays on the cultures of Allied nations to "living maps" that charted troop movements and exhibits on war preparedness. Clarissa J. Ceglio chronicles debates, experiments, and collaborations from the 1930s to the immediate postwar years, investigating how museums re-envisioned the exhibition as a narrative medium and attempted to reconcile their mission with new modes of storytelling"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction. The American museum as social instrument

Toward a material rhetoric of social instrumentality

Materializing the good neighborhood

The exhibitionary network and hemispheric citizenship

War comes to the museum

Witnessing war fare : the construction of home front citizenship

Gateways to global citizenship in a postwar world

Conclusion. Museum stories, old and new.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Ceglio, Clarissa J. A Cultural Arsenal for Democracy

ISBN:

9781613769003

OCLC:

1258043147