Outside Report Due At Museum Of Confederacy

By Kathryn Jorgensen

RICHMOND, Va. — Results of a peer review study of the Museum of the Confederacy were due in mid-September, 10 days after Wednesday closings went into effect.

Executive Director Waite Rawls said at presstime the board of trustees was to receive the report at an all-day retreat on Sept. 15. It will be written up and made public in early October.

Nicholas Muller, former director of the Wisconsin State Historical Society and former president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, led the review team that started its work the first of May.

The museum is paying for the study directly. Rawls said they had hoped to fund it through a requested $700,000 state grant. When the state granted only $50,000 the museum instituted cutbacks in operations and in the study.

“We had wanted to do comprehensive market research of members and visitors,” he said. That part of the project was cancelled, but Rawls is positive about the study.

Outside museum experts looked at all aspects of the operation, from how the museum cares for collections to its hours and everything in between.

“They’ve looked at things differently than we had in the past,” said Rawls. “I think a lot of their conclusions will be very similar to what we’ve done internally.”

He added, “Sometimes the best studies are the ones that don’t tell you anything new, but confirm what you were thinking.”

Last month Rawls announced that the museum would be closed one day a week from Labor Day to Memorial Day. Wednesday was chosen since it is traditionally the lightest day for visitation. The White House of the Confederacy will be closed for public tours in January and February.

In addition, the museum cut 10 percent of staff through attrition. In 2003 staff was cut 30 percent. The museum’s magazine will be published three times a year instead of four and new exhibits will be postponed. An exhibit on Virginians in the Confederacy, which is funded by the Lee-Jackson Educational Foundation, will be shown.

In announcing the cuts, Rawls said in a statement, “Tying together all of these painful decisions is one goal: above all else, we are doing everything in our power to protect the collection and to minimize the negative effects on our visitors and members.”  

Rawls said the Sept. 6 closing was the first such closing since World War II. “It was strange walking around the museum with fulltime staff being here, but being closed to visitors,” he said.

Visitors have been understanding, he said. Member donors responded to the museum’s efforts to cut costs with “a high level of sympathy and support” and a “fair number” of contributions.

Rawls said it was interesting to see the power of the Internet. The electronic announcement about the cutbacks that was sent to members was copied and the museum heard “literally from all over the world.” Some of these people sent donations.

As for this year’s disappointing state grant, Rawls said, “I’m sure we’ll be going to the state for something next year.