American Alliance of Museums

Headquarters of AAM, Washington, DC

The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the 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.

At the 2014 American Alliance of Museums conference, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced there are now at least 35,000 museums in the US.^[1]

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
• 2012: Name changed to "American Alliance of Museums"^[2]

Strategic Plan

"The Spark" is the first strategic plan in AAM’s recent history. It articulates a vision for museums, the field and AAM. The mission highlights AAM's commitment to leadership, advocacy, collaboration and service.^[3]

"The Spark" contains four goals: excellence, advocacy, sustainability and alignment.

Presidents/Chairpersons

• Hermon Carey Bumpus (1906–07), director of the American Museum of Natural History
• William M.R. French (1907–08), director of the Art Institute of Chicago
• William Jacob Holland (1908–09), director of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh
• Frederic A. Lucas (1909–1910), director of the American Museum of Natural History
• Frederick J.V. Skiff (1910–11), director of the Field Museum of Natural History
• Edward S. Morse (1911–12), director of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
• Henry L. Ward (1912–13), director of the Milwaukee Public Museum
• Benjamin Ives Gilman (1913–14), secretary of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Oliver C. Farrington (1914–16), curator, Field Museum of Natural History
• Henry R. Howland (1916–18), director of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences
• Newton H. Carpenter (1918–19), executive secretary of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Paul M. Rea (1919–21), director of the Charleston Museum
• Frederic Allen Whiting (1921–23), director of the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Chauncey J. Hamlin (1923–29), president of the Buffalo Society of Natural Science and a founder of ICOM
• Fiske Kimball (1929–32), director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Paul J. Sachs (1932–36), associate director of the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
• Herbert E. Winlock (1936–38), director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Clark Wissler (1938–45), curator of the Department of Anthropology, Yale University
• David E. Finley (1945–49), director of the National Gallery of Art and chairman of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
• George H. Edgell (1949–51), director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Albert E. Parr (1951–53), director of the American Museum of Natural History
• William M. Milliken (1953–57), director of the Cleveland Museum of Art
• Edward P. Alexander (1957–60), vice president for interpretation at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
• Froelich G. Rainey (1960–63), director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania
• Charles Van Ravenswaay (1963–66), director of the Missouri Historical Society
• Charles Parkhurst (1966–68), director of the Baltimore Museum of Art
• William C. Steere (1968–70), president, the New York Botanical Garden
• James M. Brown III (1970–72), director of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
• Charles E. Buckley (1972–74), director of the Saint Louis Art Museum
• Joseph M. Chamberlain (1974–75), director and president of Adler Planetarium
• Joseph Veach Noble 1975–78, director of the Museum of the City of New York
• M. Kenneth Starr (1978–1980), director of Milwaukee Public Museum
• Craig C. Black, director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History
• Dan Monroe, director of Portland Art Museum
• Robert MacDonald (1985–1988), director of the Museum of the City of New York
• W. Richard West (1998–2000), director of the National Museum of the American Indian
• 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), president and chief executive officer of Historic New England
• Douglas G. Myers (2010-2012), executive director of San Diego Zoo Global
• Meme Omogbai (2012-2014), chief operating officer of the Newark Museum
• Kaywin Feldman (2014-2016), director and president of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

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 (1978–1986)
• Edward H. Able (1986–2006)
• Ford W. Bell (2007- )

See also

• National Education Association
• Art Museum Partnership
• New England Museum Association
• Association of Art Museum Directors

References

External links

• Official website