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 25,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, 4,000 institutions and 150 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 4,000 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
• 1927: Laurence Vail Coleman, President (1927–58)
• 1958: Joseph Allen Patterson, President (1958–67)
• 1961: Museum directory published (4,600 institutions)
• 1964: Museums included in the National Arts and Cultural Development Act
• 1966: National Museum Act passed
• 1968: Belmont Report recommends developing accreditation program to help support museums, Kyran M. McGrath, President (1968–75)
• 1969: Accreditation program created on recommendation of a committee chaired by Holman J. Swinney
• 1969: 1975: Richard McLanathan, President (1975–78)
• 1971: The Public Museum of Grand Rapids and fifteen additional museums are the first accredited
• 1976: New constitution adopted
• 1978: Lawrence L. Reger, President (1978–1986)
• 1980: Museum Assessment Program (MAP) created on recommendation of a committee chaired by E. Alvin Gearhardt, with MAP supported through a cooperative agreement with IMS, the Institute of Museum Services (later renamed IMLS, the Institute of Museum and Library Services)
• 1986: Edward H. Able, President (1986–2006)
• 2006: Year of the Museum – 100th anniversary of AAM
• 2007: Ford W. Bell, President (2007-2015)
• 2009: First Comprehensive Strategic Plan “The Spark” adopted
• 2012: Name changed to "American Alliance of Museums"^[2]
• 2015: Laura L. Lott, President (2015- )

Strategic Plan

"The Spark" is the first comprehensive 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 Watson Bell (2007-2015)
• Laura L. Lott (2015- )

Annual Meetings and MuseumExpo

An informal meeting was held at the National Museum in Washington, D. C. on December 21, 1905, for the “purpose of discussing the advisability of endeavoring to establish an association of the museums of America.”^[4]

• 1st 1906 New York, New York
• 2nd 1907 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 3rd 1908 Chicago, Illinois
• 4th 1909 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 5th 1910 Buffalo, New York
• 6th 1911 Boston, Massachusetts
• 7th 1912 New York, New York
• 8th 1913 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 9th 1914 Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois
• 10th 1915 San Francisco, California
• 11th 1916 Washington, D.C.
• 12th 1917 New York, New York
• 13th 1918 Springfield, Massachusetts
• 14th 1919 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 15th 1920 Washington, D.C.
• 16th 1921 Cleveland, Ohio
• 17th 1922 Buffalo, New York
• 18th 1923 Charleston, South Carolina
• 19th 1924 Washington, D.C.
• 20th 1925 St. Louis, Missouri
• 21st 1926 New York, New York
• 22nd 1927
• 23rd 1928 Washington, D.C., Joint Meeting with American Federation of Arts
• 24th 1929 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 25th 1930 Buffalo, New York
• 26th 1931 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 27th 1932 Boston, Massachusetts
• 28th 1933 Chicago, Illinois
• 29th 1934 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 30th 1935 Washington, D.C.
• 31st 1936 New York, New York
• 32nd 1937 New Orleans, Louisiana
• 33rd 1938 Columbus, Ohio
• 34th 1939 San Francisco, California
• 35th 1940 Detroit, Michigan
• 36th 1941 Columbus, Ohio
• 37th 1942 Williamsburg, Virginia
• 38th 1943
• 39th 1944
• 40th 1945
• 41st 1946
• 42nd 1947 Quebec, Province of Quebec, Canada
• 43rd 1948 Boston, Massachusetts
• 44th 1949 Chicago,Illinois
• 45th 1950 Colorado Springs, Colorado
• 46th 1951 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 47th 1952 Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 48th 1953 Buffalo, New York
• 49th 1954 Santa Barbara, California
• 50th 1955 Washington, D.C.
• 51st 1956 Cincinnati, Ohio
• 52nd 1957 Lincoln, Nebraska
• 53rd 1958 Charleston, South Carolina
• 54th 1959 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 55th 1960 Boston, Massachusetts
• 56th 1961 Detroit, Michigan
• 57th 1962 Williamsburg,Virginia
• 58th 1963 Seattle, Washington
• 59th 1964 St. Louis, Missouri
• 60th 1965 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 61st 1966 Columbus, Ohio
• 62nd 1967 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 63rd 1968 New Orleans, Louisiana
• 64th 1969 San Francisco, California
• 65th 1970 New York, New York
• 66th 1971 Denver, Colorado
• 67th 1972 Mexico City, Mexico
• 68th 1973 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• 69th 1974 Fort Worth, Texas
• 70th 1975 Los Angeles, California
• 71st 1976 Washington, D.C.
• 72nd 1977 Seattle, Washington
• 73rd 1978 Kansas City, Missouri
• 74th 1979 Cleveland, Ohio
• 75th 1980 Boston, Massachusetts, Joint Meeting with Canadian Museums Association
• 76th 1981 Indianapolis, Indiana
• 77th 1982 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 78th 1983 San Diego, California
• 79th 1984 Washington, D.C.
• 80th 1985 Detroit, Michigan
• 81st 1986 New York, New York
• 82nd 1987 San Francisco, California
• 83rd 1988 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 84th 1989 New Orleans, Louisiana
• 85th 1990 Chicago, Illinois
• 86th 1991 Denver, Colorado
• 87th 1992 St. Louis, Missouri
• 88th 1993 Fort Worth, Texas
• 89th 1994 Seattle, Washington
• 90th 1995 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 91st 1996 Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
• 92nd 1997 Atlanta, Georgia
• 93rd 1998 Los Angeles, California
• 94th 1999 Cleveland, Ohio
• 95th 2000 Baltimore, Maryland
• 96th 2001 St. Louis, Missouri
• 97th 2002 Dallas, Texas
• 98th 2003 Portland, Oregon
• 99th 2004 New Orleans, Louisiana
• 100th 2005 Indianapolis, Indiana
• 101st 2006 Boston, Massachusetts; Centennial Celebration
• 102nd 2007 Chicago, Illinois
• 103rd 2008 Denver, Colorado
• 104th 2009 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 105th 2010 Los Angeles, California
• 106th 2011 Houston, Texas
• 107th 2012 Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
• 108th 2013 Baltimore, Maryland
• 109th 2014 Seattle, Washington
• 110th 2015 Atlanta, Georgia
• 111th 2016 Washington, D.C.
• 112th 2017 St. Louis, Missouri
• 113th 2018 New Orleans, Louisiana
• 114th 2019 Phoenix, Arizona

See also

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

References

External links

• Official website