1)”Lost San Diego” presented by San Diego’s Save Our Heritage Organization.
For those of you who are into looking at “before and after” stories and photos of historic sites, this is pretty interesting. The reason this project is interesting, though, is the way in which it was put together. It obviously comes from a group who is passionate about their local history, but it serves as a lesson in how not to present this information. Click on the links above the photographs and think about what kinds of information or arguments they could or should have included.
http://sohosandiego.org/lostsd/index.htm
2) Cultural Heritage Tourism success stories
This was linked from Preservation Nation’s website. It is a list of successful heritage tourism programs and many of them certainly made me want to hop in my car or on a plane and visit right away. My favorites are the article on Chicago’s neighborhood tours (“A Cultural Mosaic: Chicago’s Neighborhood Tours”), which includes a “Roots of Chicago Blues and Gospel” tour, and “A Niche in the Northwoods: Michigan’s Great Outdoors Culture Tour.”
http://www.culturalheritagetourism.org/stories.htm
3) Walt Disney Family Museum
Finally, a quick video. Dr. Madsen-Brooks mentioned this museum in class due to its poor branding (the museum is actually a museum about the Disney family, rather than a Disney museum for families). As an unabashed Disney history geek, I knew about this museum beforehand but I hadn’t really looked into it. Anyway, while the museum may not be suited for all ages, it is certainly one of the most technologically-advanced museums I have ever seen – it is the definition of the “edutainment” concept we discussed in class. Pretty cool stuff.
I liked both the Disney Museum video and the San Diego site. Unlike the other Luke I have no issues with edutainment or an emphasis on entertainmentality. While Walt Disney really isn’t my thing, it looks like they did a great job on the Museum. I wish I had found the “Lost San Diego” page when I lived in San Diego. Great links.
The Lost San Diego page is really interesting, since I am one of those people into “before and after” pictures. I think the authors do a great job of lamenting the loss of the “before” buildings, but doing only that doesn’t seem to serve much of a practical purpose now. I think it would have been a good idea to have a photo or link to a similar building (similar either in use or architecture) that is still standing, and make a plea for its preservation that way. Of course not all of the buildings would have still-existent counterparts, but it could be a start for some of them.
The cultural heritage tours sound really fun. I love the wide-rage of topics that they cover throughout the U.S.
The San Diego Site made me pretty sad as I saw all of those buildings that were torn down, and I couldn’t help but remember all of the buildings that Boise lost during the same time. It makes me wonder about how all of this change to our built environment influences our sense of place. I think by exploring what was once there and what is there today in both cities could produce an interesting project about how places change, and weigh the pros and cons of historic preservation against those of allowing new styles to be built.
I also enjoyed the story of Historic Jonesboro and how it combined cultural tourism with storytelling. And speaking of storytelling, I really want to go to the Walt Disney museum now.
The cultural heritage website is great! It is helpful to see what is successful for other states. I looked at the tour for Washington State in particular. Their use of audio tapes is a little out dated, but I think the idea is creative. I liked that their focus on people in the state, learning about the cultures they did not see. It was not focused on just tourism. Often, I think Idahoans get label of being one cultural group, when there are several cultures with in Boise, let alone the whole state. They were very innovative, too. Asking the state department of transportation for money is a new angle that I think Idaho could use.
The youtube video of Walt Disney was touching. It is a great example of what money can do for museum. I thought the technology was very impressive and they make a good point about treasures being locked in storage. I can assure the Idaho State Historical Museum has several possible “treasures” locked away as well. It is a shame they cannot be displayed.
Lost San Diego was almost a sad seeing some of the beautiful building of which there are no longer a trace. The Hotel San Diego photos especially where you could see some of the soffit detailing in the rubble. At least there were photographic images to remember them.