OKME Mid-Winter Meeting

February 19, 2010

Oklahoma Museum of History
2401 N. Laird Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

Creative Connections in the Cultural Community: Museums and Perceived Public Value

Guest Speaker, Ruth Ann Rugg

Museum educators play an important role in community engagement. By seeking creative connections with others in the cultural community, museum educators build on positive perceptions of the museum’s public value. Collaboration is smart business—especially in an economic downturn. Beyond the immediate results, creative partnerships can also strengthen a museum’s position for future development. Hear how effective museum educators identify their assets, share resources, and contribute to a museum’s growth.

AGENDA

11:00 – 11:30 OKME Business/Welcome

11:30 – 12:30 Lunch

12:30 – 3:00 Presentation & Audience Participation

Registration is available online at https://payments.auctionpay.com/ver3/?id=W035893.

Registration fee is $25.00

You must be a member of OKME to register. Become a member today!

More about our guest speaker:

Ruth Ann McBeth Rugg began her career in the museum field in 1980 at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth Texas, as a Communications Assistant, thereby putting her double major in Journalism and English immediately to work. (Ruth Ann graduated from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, earning a Bachelor of Arts cum laude, December 1979.) In two short years, she was promoted to a senior staff position, serving as the Assistant to the Director for Public Relations. In this capacity, Ruth Ann was responsible for a multi-faceted public relations program designed to maintain the Kimbell’s national and international image. She functioned as an institutional press agent, managed the media, positioned key spokespersons, and drafted public statements. She also researched, wrote, and distributed press information. Ruth Ann also instituted and managed the Kimbell Art Museum’s first membership program.

In 1991, Ruth Ann moved to the Amon Carter Museum, serving as the Public Relations Manager for eight years before taking the job of Program Communications Manager. In April of 2004, Ruth Ann was employed as the Acting Executive Director of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, in Dallas. Serving as the chief administrator of the museum during a transition period, Ruth Ann simultaneously performed duties of Director of Interpretation and Executive Director, which entailed managing a staff of 50 in a $3.9 million operation that was fiscally self-supporting and hosted 375,000 visitors annually, including almost 60,000 school children. Prior to, and following the temporary position of Acting Executive Director for The Sixth Floor Museum, Ruth Ann served in the capacity of Director of Interpretation, with responsibility for creating and implementing the interpretive programs of The Sixth Floor Museum. Ruth Ann reported to the Executive Director and supervised six full-time staff members. She also managed activities relating to collections, exhibitions, publications, and education while representing the Museum in the national and regional professional museum community.

Well, if that isn’t enough museum work for anyone, I don’t know what is! Yet, at this time Ruth Ann stepped into the world of museum exhibit design and fabrication, working as an interpretive consultant for Museumscapes in Richardson. Ruth Ann was responsible for concept research and development, project planning, narrative arts, and interpretation for museum clients. From 2006 to 2008, she worked independently as a consultant for regional museums to facilitate strategic planning, professional development for board of directors, education, interpretation, and other projects. Somewhere in between all of this, Ruth Ann also served as part-time Director for the Texas Regional Office of Partners for Sacred Places.

Currently, Ruth Ann is the Executive Director of the Texas Association of Museums. As the chief administrator of the non-profit museum membership association with 700 members her responsibilities include executive management of the organization’s operations, educational program development, and implementation of training opportunities for museum professionals.

OKME

The Oklahoma Museum Educators (OKME) is a standing professional committee of the Oklahoma Museums Association. OKME represents the concerns and needs of museum educators within OMA by participating in policy and decision-making discussions at the statewide level and by selecting and planning programs for annual state and regional meetings. OKME promotes communication among museum educators statewide through an annual luncheon and mailings. OKME encourages high professional standards for museum educators, advocates the support of museums and their educational purpose, and promotes excellence in museum learning. OKME members share a mutual concern for museum learning, research, evaluation of programs, and/or exhibition development. OKME also has an online community.

OMA members can join OKME by paying $10 OKME membership dues. OKME dues may be mailed to OMA or you can pay online by clicking here. For more information on OKME, contact: Jana Brown, Museum of the Great Plains, 601 NW Ferris Avenue, Lawton, OK 73507, 580.581.3460, or Susan Green, Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Road, Tulsa, OK 74114, 918.748.5375.

Photgraphs from MGP Visitors

A kind visitor shared photos from her recent visit to the Museum. She took some great pictures of the pond lilies, train, sculptures and trade post.
I didn't get her name, but here she is with Living History Interpreter Tim Poteete.
I just want to say THANKS!

Pictures from 2007 Fall Encampment

I love going through the photos from our 2007 Fall Encampment. One reason being that that was the year I met Tonda Harrup and Patsy Harper, two living history interpreters from south Texas who just appeared that year with the "usual" south Texas bunch. They set up a beautifully furnished tipi on the grounds of the Museum, just outside the Fort. Tonda and Patsy talked about women's role in the fur trade to hundreds of Museum visitors for two full days, and then dissappeared into the sunset, just as quietly as they had appeared. I'm hoping they will come again soon!
Their personal stories of how they became interested in history can be found here.
Oh, and as far as the "usual" south Texas bunch goes...I was just kidding. We don't really have any "usuals" around here...at least not when the Fall Encampment begins! As long as these members of the American Mountain Men Association choose to be here with us, you'll not find a better presentation on the southern Plains fur trade.

Fall Encampment 2009

Planning Underway for the Museum of the Great Plains

Annual 1830s Fall Encampment

September 29 – October 3

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day

Free to Museum Members

Tim Poteete, living history interpreter for the Museum of the Great Plains, has begun planning for the Museum’s annual 1830s Fall Encampment, which is always scheduled around the first Saturday in October. As is usual, Tim begins by sending out a letter to all AMM (American Mountain Men) members who have helped in the past. The letter is written in an old style that was customary at that time among merchants, trappers and traders, though it appears to us today to be full or grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Tim has researched many primary sources over the years to include letters and journals in order to emulate the style. Not only are the letters historically accurate and period appropriate, they’re also interesting and fun. We hope you’ll find the letter of interest too. It is attached below. (Please don’t overlook the silent auction discussion. We hope to see you there.)

Friday, July 17, 2009

Coffee's Station, on Red River

Near the Mouth of Cache Creek

In the Comanche country

To all to whom these presents shall come,

Ladies & Gentlemen, Ne'r-do-wells, & other interested parties:

I take pen in hand to Extend Greetings to one & all, hoping that good health attends you & that a Kind & Munificent Providence will shine light upon your path, & thus ease an other wise difficult passage.

To my dismay, I am only just now relaying this missive. As we have had an inordinate amount of rain at this place, no communications have been able to go or arrive, due to creeks & rivers running bank-to-bank. That, & the "electronic mail" machines at this place are as independent as a hog on ice. They do as they please, when they please. It is well said, "Technology is great. When it works."

On a related note, if all who actually receive this missive will be kind enough to pass it along to any you feel will be interested, Cols. Coffee & Colville will greatly appreciate it. I have sent it to as many as I still have addresses for. Unfortunately, there are many stalwarts of the brigade whose information I lost recently while crossing the Little Washita when we had to cut a mule loose from its pack to keep it from drowning. (We did loose another mule & a horse during that same crossing.

As many of you will recall, last fall when the Red River Brigade congregated at Coffee's Station, an impromptu silent auction was held, & the money thrown into the log-replacement pot. (To date, we have purchased $4,800 worth of logs - enough to replace the southeast & northwest walls.)

Mr. Cuz Trumble, Shiner, Republic of Tejas, has suggested we hold another silent auction at this year's gathering, using talents of RR Brigade members. Each Brigade member will make one fur trade related item and put it on the block. The auction will occur during the day Saturday (October 3), and will be open to the public. As last fall, money raised will go into the "log pot." The general public will be able to see - and buy - AMM handiwork. Hopefully, by opening it to the public, we will generate more. More money for logs, more interest in the AMM, more interest in Coffee's Station, & more interest in MGP.

On a related note, there are tentative plans for entertainment at this year's gathering, to be provided by a group of itinerant musicians billing themselves as "The Falderal String Band." Their performance is not scheduled until 6 or 7-o'-clock on the 3^rd instant. As this is meant as a gesture of appreciation, we hope none take exception to the time of the performance.

Contact from Ft. Smith last spring contained price information from STL. Prime beaver were listed at $1.85/lb; otter $1.78 each; fox $1.73 each; 'cat & 'coon $1.67 ½ each, with prices expected steady or to decrease slightly as more bales were brought in. Ah, for the days of $9.00 / lb beaver! We may never see them again, I am sad to say.

As we are preparing to quit this place & return to Ft.S with this year's furs, I must now close & go help with the doctoring of one of our mules inflicted with a boil-type sore upon hiz person, as it were. Methuselah is old, steady & dependable, (would that ALL of Col C's employees were as good as him! Or as brite!!) & possessed of a sore upon his neck, which we have nearly healed up with diligent care & attention. He seems to know what we are about, & so lets us handle him with out difficulty, tho he seems to delight in playing mischif upon the un-suspecting. I will try to write again when we reach FtS, & until then wish to humbley remaine yore obeedient sarvant,

Tim Poteete

Spring Encampment April 20 - 25

Tim Poteete, the Museum's Living History Interpreter, has spent the last two days in Wichita Falls meeting with teachers and delivering posters to all the public schools he can. He wanted to be sure everyone down that way knew about the upcoming Spring Encampment. The program would make an excellent end of the year excursion following end of the year testing. Several schools have already made reservations, but we still have room for more. We can accommodate around 100-125 students per hour, because we have several re-enactors who can each present to 25-30 students. We have excellent re-enactors. Every time I stop to think about them, I feel so completely indebted to them, with no chance in sight of ever being able to pay them back for the service they provide. They are so knowledgeable of the 1830s -1840s Southern Plains history. Our community is extremely lucky to have them.
We're also lucky to have support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Lawton Arts and Humanities and the City of Lawton.

Local Historian Wallace C. Moore, Sr.

Wallace C. Moore, Sr. was a guest speaker at the last GSCOAS meeting. He was terrific, as usual. Members and guests had a great time listening to his creative presentation on "Negro Scouts of the West". I can't wait to listen to the interview we recorded with Wallace after his presentation. It should be available soon. You can find it on the Chapter's website at www.gscoas.org

The Museum's Second Annual Bike Fest May 2nd