Faces and Voices of Real People: Connecting and Learning in a History Museum Exhibit

Abstract

Although educators have argued that traces of identifiable individuals of the past (TIIPs), such as photographs and first-person accounts, can “bring history to life,” there has yet to be a systematic consideration of what visitors do with TIIPs. This article is based on a qualitative study of 12 visitors’ experiences in an exhibit on the California Gold Rush that foregrounds TIIPs and minimizes curatorial interpretation. Participants “thought aloud” while wearing a GoPro camera, and they were subsequently interviewed. A framework is constructed to account for how participants used TIIPs as means of interpersonal connection and as sources for gathering facts. The framework is then used to characterize varying ways in which participants made interpersonal connections with and gathered facts from TIIPs, and in-depth portraits of four participants are explored. Questions are raised about the potential benefits and drawbacks of using TIIPs, and implications for several learning environments are discussed.

Keywords:

• Emotion
• history
• informal learning
• interpersonal connection
• museums
• narrative
• perspective taking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a grant from the Frank H. and Eva B. Buck Foundation 10.13039/100007133.

Notes on contributors

Adam P. Nilsen

Adam P. Nilsen is now at San José State University, where he is a senior lecturer in the Connie L. Lurie College of Education. He teaches courses in cultural psychology, human development, and educational leadership, and he conducts research on museum education, social science education, and perspective taking.