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A OHIO VALLEY EDITORIAL BOARD HISTORY STAFF Senior Editor Compton Allyn Christine L.Heyrman Joseph R Reidy Christopher Phillips Cinri?liiati Muse,im Center University ofDelazuare Ho'u)a,·d University History Advisory Board Depmtment of History j.Blaine Hudson Steve,!J. Ross University ofCincinnati Stepben ATon Uni'versity ofLouisville University ofSouthern Associate Editors University ofCalifornia California R.Douglas Hurt A.Glenn Crotbers Los Angeles at Purdue Unkersity Hany N. eiber&/, Department ofHistory Joan E Casbin University ofealifornia James C.Klotter University ofLouisville Ohio State University at Berkeley Georgetolun College David Stradling R.L.Cayton Steven M. Stowe Andrew Bruce Levine Department of History Miami University Indiana Unruersty University ofCalifornia University ofCincinnati R.David Edmunds at Santa Cruz Roger D.Tate Managing Editors ofTexas Dallas Somerset Community University nt Zane L.Miller John B.Westerji eid H College Ellen T Eslinger University ofCincinnati Ib¢Filson Historical Society Joe W.Trotter,Jn Depaul University Elizbeth A.Perkins Ruby Rogers Carnegie Mdion University CraigT Friend Centre College Cincinnati Museum Centr€ North Carolina State Aitina Waller Editorial Assistant james A.Ramage University Unioersity ofConnecticut Northern Kentucky University Cathy Collopy Department ofHistory University ofCinannati CINCINNATI MUSEUM THE FILSON HISTORICAL CENTER BOARD OF SOCIETY BOARD TRUSTEES OFDIRECTORS Cliair David Bobl C aig Meier President Ronaid D. Brmn jegq KMattbeg,M.D. Henry D Gms* Geoi·ge 1.! Vineent Budig,Jr. Sbenan R Murphy Past Chair Otto M. Vice-President Stephanie Byrd Robert W.Olson H.C.Buck Niebo# Ronald R.14}n St*kum,Jr. Erinn Cayley Scott Robertson Vice Chairs John E Cassidy Yvonne Robertson Secretary Ja,ze Gal·vey Dorothy A.Coleman Elizzabeth York Scb@ Maygaret Enrr Kitip Dee Gettier Richard 0.Coleman Merrie Ste'u>mt Stillpasi Treasurer R Keith Harrison Robert Sullivan Bob Coughlin J.Walker Slim,III William C Portman.III David Davis laine:L.Turner Edwai·d D.Dilier David L.Armstrong Treasurer Mm·kJ.Hauser Mark Dunford J.McCauley Brown Charles H.Gerbardt,III SGQTdon Dabney Secretary Le,lie Hardy Holly Gatbright Martind R. Dimn Francine S Hihz 1[homasT.Noland,Jr. CEO President and Greg Kenny H.Powell Starks Robert E Kisti, Douglass W MoDonald ger Dy.R Ted Steinbock Laura LO? Vice President ofMuscums Ig Steuen R.Love Jobn P.Stern William M.Street John E.Fleming Kenneth W.Louoe Ormz Wilson,IJI Director Mark K Wetberington Ohio Valley History (ISSN Louisville,Kentucky,40208. sity of Cincinnati. Cincinnati History.Back issues are 58.00. located Museum Center andThe Filson For information 746-3472)is published in Editorial Offi ces at more on Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati,Ohio,and Louis- the University of Cincinnati, Historical Society are private ville,Kentucky,by Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio, 45221-0373. non-profi t organizations sup- including membership,visit Museum Center and The Filson Contact the editorial offi ces ported almost entirely by gifts, www.cincymuscu in.org or call Periodi- 513-287-7000 1-800-733- Historical Society. r [email protected] or grants, sponsorships,admission or stradlds@email. edu. 2077. cal postage paid at Cincinnati, uc. and membership fees. of Cincinnati For more information on Ohio, with an additional entry Ohio Valley History is a Memberships collaboration of-Ilic Bison Ihe Filson Historical Society, at Louisville, Kentucky. History Museum at Cincinnati Museum Center The Filson Postmaster send address Historical Society,Cincinnati or including membership,visit fi isonhistorical. call changes to'Ilie Filson Historical Museum Center,and the De- Historical Society include a www. org or 502-635-5083. Society,1310 S.'[hird Street, partment of History,Univer- subscription to Ohio Valley © Cincj,innii Museum Ce,ifc?·i!,id'jb,·34/son Ilisforiral Society 2006. OHIO VALLEY HISTORY Volume 6, Number 2, Summer 2006 A Journal of the History and Culture of the Ohio Valley and the Upper South, published in Cincinnati,Ohio,and Louisville, Kentucky,by Cincinnati Museum Center andlhe Filson Historical Society. Contents Introduction Who Owns the Past? 1 Public History in the Ohio Valley David Stradling Museum Marketing Muhammad Ali 6 Reviews Louisville's Newest Museum Center Catherine Fosl What Are We Running Away From? 12 Relections on the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Alan Gallay The National Underground Railroad 18 Freedom Center Museum of Conscience Samuel W.Black Mystic Chords ofMemory No More 28 Ibe Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Joan Flinspach Stunning,Appealing,Troubling 34 Be Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum's Permanent Exbibit Gerald J. Prokopowicz Contents Review Nikki M. Taylor 41 Essay Frontiers of Freedom:Cincinnatik Black Community, 1802-1868 Darrel E. Bigham Collections The Tyler Davidson Fountain 48 Essays A Synibol OJ Cincinnati The Reuben T Durrett Papers 54 at The Filson Historical Society Book 59 Reviews Cover Exterior views of the three museums reviewed in this issue. OHIO VALLEY HISTORY Contributors Catherine Fost is assistant professor in Women's and Gender Studies and director of the recently-established Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research at the University of Louisville. In 2003,her book,Suboersi'ue Southerner:Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice tbe Cold in War South NewYor\( c.Palgrave-Macmillan,2003), won book awards from both the Gustavus Myer Humanities Center for Human Rights and the Oral History Association. Alan Gallay is Warner Woodring Professor of Atlantic World and Early American History at 1[he Ohio State University His book, 7be Indian Slave Trade:Fe Rise oftbe English Empire in tbe American Soutb,1670-1717 New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002),won the Bancroft Prize in American History in 2003. He writes frequently about slavery in America. Samuel W.Black is Curator of African American Collections at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. Joan Flinspach is President and Chief Executive Officer of'Ihe Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne,Indiana. Gerald J.Prokopowicz is Assistant Professor of History at East Carolina University in Greenville,North Carolina. He is the author of Allfor tbe Regiment:71)e Army oftbe Obio,1861-1862Chapel ( Hill: University of North Carolina Press,2001)and served for nine years as the Lincoln Scholar at The Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Darrel E.Bigham is Director of the Historic Southern Indiana Organization and Professor of History at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. SUMM ER 2006 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY Who Owns the Past? Public History in tbe Ohio Valley David Stradling new history museums.the OhioPartValleyof thehas nation'becomes developmenthome numberof touristof ndestinationsrecent yearsdesigned to boost local economies, tomanya of these museums have at the heart of their missions more than just the education of the public. Civic leaders hope these new institutions will draw national attention-and dollars-to their cities. This is certainly the case for Cincinnati's recently opened National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Louisville's even newer Muhammad Ali Center, and although the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has a diverse mission,its impressive new edifice in downtown Springfield, Illinois has enlivened that small city,too. More than ever history sells, and these new museums represent a remarkable confluence of commerce and education. Each of these museums has its own history of conception, fund raising,and design,but with their completion they reveal some important similarities. Striking architecture announces their intention to be important destinations, places to be talked about as much as walked through. Although these three museums vary in their use of historical artifacts, all of them rely heavily on advanced technology to impress visitors. In each,film is an important part of the experience. Although all are set in meaningful locations, none dwells long on local history, striving instead to tell a national story,to reach a national audience. Each admirably addresses critical,difficult issues in American history-slavery, freedom, segregation-but each also contains frustrating silences and missed opportunities. Altogether,inside and out,these institutions speak to a new age in museums,where a constant tension exists between treating visitors as students of history eager to learn or as customers who need to be satisfied. Each of these museums must navigate between the accurate presentation of the past-with all its ugliness and controversy-and pleasing consumers, many of whom undoubtedly prefer unconflicted messages of nationalism, uplift, and hope. Will people really pay to SUMM ER 2006 1 WHO OWNS THE PAST? learn the horrid details of slavery's cruelty and( will they pay twice about ( to do so)?Will avid fans of Muhammad Ali want to read or watch)the flaws in his character? Is it possible that a museum might spark so much controversy that its bottom line is damaged? While the average museum-goer undoubtedly wants to see truthful historical representations, no museum can speak to the past without immediate concern for the present. Museums can accomplish little without visitors spinning turnstiles. This special issue of Obio Valley History offers five reviews of these three recently completed history museums.Ihese " museums represent the growing importance of public history in the presentation of the nation's