For Ernest Dollar ’93, director of museums for the City of Raleigh, the way to engage visitors is to make history personal. “I can tell you facts about the Battle of Gettysburg, but when I can also tell you about a young man who was there, far from home, and who suffered on the battlefield, that personalizes it,” he says. “I’ve found that anytime I can make people taste, touch, smell, feel, or hear history, they’re going to remember it.”
He also says history must be relevant to people’s lives. The City of Raleigh’s museum tagline – “then, now, next” – embodies this. Any history is about the past – “then” – but connecting it to today and tomorrow makes it more powerful, Dollar explains.
He sees a similar approach being applied to America’s 250th anniversary, which will be celebrated this summer. “I feel most historians are taking this opportunity to hold the mirror up to America. And that mirror is the Declaration of Independence. Most of us are asking, ‘How far have we come and how far have we fallen short of these great principles baked into this founding document?’”
One example is the exhibition “Patterns of Belonging: English Language Learners’ Reflections on America 250,” which will open later this year.
“Museum staff went to groups of immigrants from around the world and asked them what freedom means to them?,” says Dollar. “What do they think the American dream is? How do they think they’re going to achieve it? This is a fascinating way to step back and look at America through the eyes of new immigrants.”
The great thing about America is that it grows and changes and evolves.
— Ernest Dollar ’93, director of museums, City of Raleigh
Dollar found his way to a career in museums at UNCG. He began as a studio art major and discovered history during his undergraduate years. He says, “I was able to take my art degree and meld it with my love of history. Ultimately, that’s what led me to the museum field because that’s where art and history meet.”
Today, Dollar says, “I work on the strategic vision for the city of Raleigh’s historic and cultural sites. We’re part of the Historic Resources and Museums Program and have 14 sites altogether.”
The goal? “We try to present history and encourage people to draw their own conclusions from it.”
by Mercer Bufter ’11 MA
Photo courtesy of Ernest Dollar