0.8 Chapter six: attempting a turnaround, 1988-1992  (Page 16/19)

In addition to the efforts to gain control of the collections and to increase pub­lic access to them, the second priority of the Society's plan was to double public programming. It was hoped that improving the Society's public reputation for community outreach might lead to increased contributions. As Debs put it, "The more we work on presenting our collections and programs to the public, the closer we get to becoming an indispensable institution." The Society's public program­ming efforts were centered in two areas: a public panel, film, and music series titled "Why History?" which attracted three thousand visitors in its first fall sea­son, and several programs addressed more directly to teachers and schools. The spring 1991 "Why History?" series focused on race and class in New York City. The keynote lecture in the series was by Cornel West and was titled "The Role of Visionary Leadership." Six other panel discussions followed, titled "Historical Perspectives," "Contemporary Issues," "Bridging the Gap," "Responsibility, Change, and Power," "Life and Survival in the City," and "Prejudice and the 'Other' New Yorker." Five of the thirteen "Why History?" programs were sellouts, and the total series averaged more than two hundred attendees per event and were warmly received by their audiences. Detailed surveys were given to audiences that allowed the Society to track audience demographics and to get feedback to determine how it could improve the programs.

The Society also offered public programming that fulfilled more directly the educational component of its mission. One such program was the curricula de­velopment project at the William J. O'Shea Junior High School (Intermediate School 44), the Society's neighboring intermediate school. A short-range goal of the project was to enable teachers "to utilize the Society's collections in ways that allow for new approaches to the teaching of American history and art." The longer-term goal was to familiarize students at a young age with the Society's col­lections and to help develop within them the knowledge and skills that would allow them to become regular users of museums and research libraries. The work at O'Shea was extremely well received by school administrators.