Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education

Electronic Magazine of Multicultural Education

FALL 1999 http://www.eastern.edu/publications/emme Vol. 1, No. 4

Theme: Understanding One's Own Culture Through Cultural Artifacts

REVIEWS OF RESOURCES

The fall issue of EMME focuses on cultural artifacts as a means to help us discover and affirm our cultural identity and heritage. We believe understanding self is an important pathway to multicultural education. Resources reviewed here concern artifacts from various cultural groups and family traditions. In the multimedia section, an extensive list of museum websites is included. They are organized by ethnicity and gender and the "Others" contains some interactive sites that may be appealing to the youth and a helpful site in setting up a virtual museum.

Literature for Young Readers

Cleaver, Joanne (1988). Doing Children's Museums: A Guide to 225 Hands-On Museums. Vermont: Williamson Publishing Company. 224pp., ISBN: 091358939 (pb).

Several museums dealing with multicultural issues are listed in this book: for example, the Balezekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in Chicago, the Pioneer Farm Museum in Washington, the Cloister Children’s Museum of Maryland, and many natural history museums.

Cha, Dia (1996). Dia's Story Cloth. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc. 22pp., ISBN: 1880000342 (hc), $11.96 (age 4-8).

This book, subtitled "the Hmong People's Journey of Freedom," tells the story of the Hmong's struggles of gaining individual and group freedom. Their freedom fight is poignantly illustrated in the story cloth (hand-embroidered cloth) that the author's relatives created spending many hours in a refugee camp. At the end of the book an essay written by Joyce Herold, Curator of Ethnology at Denver Museum of Natural History, provides a more detailed history of this people group with photographs and descriptions of other artifacts from the Hmong culture.

Morris, Ann (1995). Houses and Homes (Around the World Series). New York: Mulberry Books. 39pp., ISBN: 0688135781 (pb), $3.96 (ages 4-8).

"The world is full of houses. Big houses and little houses. Houses that stay in one place and houses that move from place to place. Some houses are made of wood or stone--others are made from mud or straw. But all of them are made for families to live in" (Amazon.com). This book includes color photos of houses around the world. There is also a world map so that children can find the location of each home.

Norris, Joann (1998). Children's Museums: An American Guidebook. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers. 240pp., ISBN: 0786404434 (pb), $28.5.

This is a guidebook to children's museums. Several natural history museums are listed, in which children can explore cultural artifacts. The list also includes several multicultural museums such as the Long Island Culture History Lab and Museum, My Jewish Discovery Place in Los Angeles, and the Pioneer Arizona Living History Museum.

Satterfield, B. (1997). The Story Dance. Minnesota: Fairview Press. 32pp., ISBN: 1577490223 (hc), $14.95 (ages 4-8).

"A tradition of storytelling brings to life a young girl's family history. Nana tells her granddaughter the story of an exquisite embroidered shawl, acquired by Great Aunt Emmadelle when she went to foreign countries to learn dances. The story and the dance teach the young girl about her family's history and the value of family heirlooms" (Amazon.com). At the end of the book a description of heirlooms is provided and readers are encouraged to discover the stories behind their own family artifacts.

Multimedia Resources

Websites

African American Museum

Anacostia Museum
http://www.si.edu/anacostia

The Anacostia museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution, focusing on African American history and culture. The museum also addresses current issues facing African Americans such as homelessness, health care, and youth violence. An extensive exhibition highlights the history of African Americans in Washington D.C. The website of the Anacostia Museum provides valuable information for children as well as adults. It includes details on current exhibitions, a calendar of events, and an online exhibition. It also allows visitors to view former exhibitions, now available only on the website.

California African American Museum
http://www.caam.ca.gov

The site contains exhibitions featuring both art and history of African Americans. The museum provides programs, films, readings and workshops to the public. There is also a living history theater that brings stories of famous African Americans to life. The site provides ideas for educational activities and links to other relevant sites as well. This is an excellent website for students to explore due to the amount of information provided on many aspects of African Americans.

Asian American Museum

The Wing Luke Asian Museum
http://www.wingluke.org/

Located in Seattle, Washington, the Wing Luke Museum is the only pan-Asian American museum in the United States. It focuses on preserving the history, culture, and art of Asian Americans and includes an extensive collection of artifacts. The museum website is useful for teachers who plan a visit to the museum, but not particularly interesting for exploration. It contains information on current and past exhibitions, links to other Asian American sites and a calendar of events.

Japanese American National Museum
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/janm/

The Japanese American National Museum, located in Los Angeles, CA, is the first museum dedicated to the story of the Japanese people in America. It contains a large collection of Japanese artifacts including images and documents. This collection is displayed through exhibits, educational programs, films, and publications. The website includes detailed information on current exhibits and an extensive calendar of events. The website also provides the history of Japanese Americans useful for educators.

Hispanic American Museum

The Hispanic Society of America
http://www.hispanicsociety.org

The Hispanic Society of America is a free museum and reference library for the study of arts and cultures of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The museum is located in New York. This website provides a glance of the Hispanic culture through paintings, decorative arts, archeology, sculpture and textiles. This website may provide students with opportunities to get acquainted with the Hispanic culture.

The Mexican Museum
http://thecity.sfsu.edu/users/Mex/Welcome.html

The Mexican Museum is located in Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. The museum is dedicated to the promotion of Mexican art and culture through its permanent collection, exhibitions, publication and educational and interpretive programs. The permanent collection includes pre-Hispanic art, colonial art, folk art, Mexican fine art and Mexican American/Chicano fine art.

Gender Museum

Women of the West Museum
http://www.wowmuseum.org/

The Women of the West (WOW) virtual museum is dedicated to honor the lives and contributions of women. It includes an interactive feature story of a woman and highlights a woman of the week. A story quilt displayed gives a short narrative about the lives of several women. The Women of the West (WOW) virtual museum is ideal for middle or high school students. Teachers may enjoy its photos and displays as well as its educational resource center. Book reviews are available as well as links to other sites.

Native American Museum

National Museum of the American Indian
http://www.si.edu/cgi-bin/nav.cgi

The purpose of the National Museum of the American Indian is to preserve and study the history and culture of Native Americans. The museum exhibits cover more than 10,000 years of the Native American history. The museum has three centers. One is located in Manhattan, New York, and has been open to the public since 1994. The Smithsonian center in Washington D.C. is scheduled to open in 2002 and will serve as an exhibit place for modern American Indian arts and performances. The third center, located in Suitland, Maryland, will be open in the future. The website of the NMAI is a valuable resource even to those unable to visit the actual museum. It presents descriptions of the museum exhibitions and a calendar of events and activities. It provides links to other Native American sites, reviews of many publications and recordings by the museum, and video and film resources. It is appropriate for children as well as adults.

Heard Museum
http://www.heard.org

The Heard museum is the private collection of Dwight and Maie Bartlett Heard. The goal of the museum is to promote appreciation and respect for Native American peoples. The large collection of the museum focuses on Southwestern Native Americans. The Heard Museum website is particularly helpful for multicultural education teachers. It provides information on current and past exhibitions and the Heard Research Library. An education section of the website allows teachers to sign up for the Heard Museum mailing list and describes several curricula and educational resources.

Koshare Indian Museum
http://www.koshare.org/kimindex.html

The primary goal of the Koshare Indian Museum is to provide an educational experience for its visitors. The site describes the types of artifacts displayed in the museum and provides information on the Koshare Indian Library. It focuses on Southwest and Plains American Indians. The website is useful for those who plan a visit to the museum or seek links to other Native American museums and programs.

Jewish Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/education/

This excellent website contains much information on the Holocaust history. This website is well organized with images and descriptions. It includes a learning site for students, guidelines for teaching about the Holocaust, annotated videography, children in the Holocaust, a history summary and chronology. Printed materials on the topic can be ordered from the site. Numerous links to educational activities and teacher resources are provided as well.

Others

Exploring Virtual Museum
http://fromnowon.org/museum/oldies&goodies.html

This site would be helpful for those who like to build a virtual museum with their students. This site provides the step-by-step help when creating one and links to other school museums as well as well-established museums around the world.

Kids' Space
http://www.kids-space.org

This site is not of a museum but certainly has a museum's quality. The primary goal of this site is to foster literacy, artistic expression, and cross-cultural understanding among children of the world. In the site you will find actual drawings, writings and musical works of children. The "kid's gallery" displays children's drawings organized in various categories. The "story book" presents short stories written by children of all ages. The "On Air Concert" includes musical works played or created by children. This site also provides opportunities for children to find pen pals.

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Editor: Heewon Chang, Ph. D.
Assistant Editors: Lhaki Tang, Gail Mast, Elaine Hoffman, Cynthia Tuleja, M. Ed.

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