American Association of Museums

The American Association of Museums (AAM) is a non-profit association that has been bringing museums together since its founding in 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future.

AAM is the only organization representing the entire scope of museums and professionals and nonpaid staff who work for and with museums. AAM currently represents more than 15,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, 3,000 institutions, and 300 corporate members. Individual members span the range of occupations in museums, including directors, curators, registrars, educators, exhibit designers, public relations officers, development officers, security managers, trustees and volunteers.

Every type of museum is represented by the more than 3,000 institutional members, including art, history, science, military, maritime, and youth museums, as well as public aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, arboretums, historic sites, and science and technology centers.

History

* 1906: Foundation
* 1911: Directory of North and South American museums published
* 1923: Headquarters established in Washington, D.C. (offices in the tower of the Smithsonian Castle)
* 1925: Code of Ethics for Museum Workers adopted
* 1925: $2,500 grant from the Carnegie Corporation for research on museum fatigue
* 1961: Museum directory published (4,600 institutions)
* 1964: Museums included in the National Arts and Cultural Development Act
* 1966: National Museum Act passed
* 1976: New constitution adopted

Presidents/Chairpersons

* Hermon C. Bumpus (1906-07), director of the American Museum of Natural History
* William M.R. French (1907-08)
* William J. Holland (1908-09)
* Frederick A. Lucas (1909-1910)
* Frederick J.V. Skiff (1910-11)
* Edward S. Morse (1911-12)
* Henry L. Ward (1912-13)
* Benjamin Ives Gilman (1913-14)
* Oliver C. Farrington (1914-16)
* Henry Howland (1916-18)
* Newton H. Carpenter (1918-19)
* Paul M. Rea (1919-21)
* Frederic Allen Whiting (1921-23)
* Chauncey J. Hamlin (1923-29)
* Fiske Kimball (1929-32)
* Paul J. Sachs (1932-36)
* Herbert E. Winlock (1936-38)
* Clark Wissler (1938-45)
* David E. Finley (1945-49)
* George H. Edgell (1949-51)
* Albert E. Parr (1951-53)
* William Milliken (1953-57)
* Edward P. Alexander (1957-60)
* Froelich G. Rainey (1960-63)
* Charles van Ravenswaay (1963-66)
* Charles Parkhurst (1966-68)
* William C. Steere (1968-70)
* James M. Brown III (1970-72)
* Charles E. Buckley (1972-74)
* Joseph M. Chamberlain (1974-75)
* Joseph Veach Noble (1975-78, director of the Museum of the City of New York
* Louis Casagrande (2002-2004), director of the Boston Children's Museum
* Jeffrey Rudolph (2004-2006), director of the California Science Center
* Irene Hirano (2006-2008), director of the Japanese American National Museum
* Carl R. Nold (2008-2010), director of Historic New England

Directors/Presidents

* Charles R. Richards (1923-27), director of Cooper Union
* Laurence Vail Coleman (1927-58)
* Joseph Allen Patterson (1958-67)
* Kyran M. McGrath (1968-75)
* Richard McLanathan (1975-78)
* Lawrence L. Reger (1978-2006)
* Edward H. Able (1986-2006)
* Ford W. Bell (2007- )

ee also

* Carnegie Institute
* Field Museum
* Honolulu Academy of Arts
* New York Botanical Garden
* National Education Association
* Art Museum Partnership
* Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
* Metropolitan Museum of Art
* Art Institute of Chicago
* Higgins Armory Museum
* New England Museum Association
* Oklahoma City National Memorial

External links

* [http://www.mediaandtechnology.org/ AAM | Media and Technology Committee]
* [http://www.aam-us.org/ AAM website]
* " [http://www.aam-us.org/aboutaam/aamafter72years.cfm The AAM after 72 Years] " by Ellen C. Hirzy. Article published in "Museum News", May/June 1978.
* [http://www.aam-us.org/sp/centennial/timeline.cfm AAM Centennial Timeline]
* [http://www.rcaam.org/ Registrar's Committee website]