The Museum of Shenandoah Valley, or also called the MSV, is located in Winchester, Virginia. The museum focuses on the social history of the valley between the 18th and early 20th century. However, some exhibits have shown to include pieces from the present time. Most of the exhibits show the living conditions and artifacts that were made or imported in to the valley. Their focus seems to be on not hiding secrets from or placing barriers between their audience. Such things as being open about building damages, artifacts reconstruction, and hidden facts in the artifacts themselves, help gain audience interest by uncovering the truth of history.
The museum holds a special interest in their message to promote social history, as opposed to something …show more content…
She taught us, while looking at the topography, that not many Indians sought the valley as a place of settlement. They saw it as a stopping place to rest and use as a pathway to migrant onwards. I found, already, a trust in her that they have thought about these common problems in museums. Most museums only talk about the famous and rich white males who dominated society. And you can’t highlight something if there are no history, artifacts, or evidence to show. This is not a fault onto the museum itself, but on the …show more content…
In the preservation gallery, our second guide shows that artifacts need attention and the only way to do that is by financial and reconstruction support. While it is not only interesting to see a before and after version of the artifacts, they don’t want to hide anything. This is to teach a lesson that history can be damaged when not taken care of properly. This was definitely a memorable aspect of the museum, once explained. If passing by, I believe the audience wouldn’t feel as passionate about it. Another message, related to not withholding boundaries and meant as a lesson and not so much historical, was that they eventually want to get rid of the barriers between the audience and the artifacts. They don’t like to teach that historical items have to be restricted, but instead interact with