Top 10 Western Museums of 2007
By: Johnny D. Boggs 04/01/2007
Charles Lummis had a vision when he founded the Southwest Museum of the American Indian 100 years ago, starting a small museum that would grow into one of the most extensive collections of Indian artifacts, totaling some 240,000. Yet the Los Angeles museum hits the century mark in a state of controversy. Last year, the Southwest closed its doors to start a three-year project to clean and catalog its collection and, perhaps, move to a new building in Griffith Park next door to the Museum of the American West. In 2003, the Autry Museum acquired the struggling Southwest, one year after taking over the Women of the West Museum, founded in 1991 in Boulder, Colorado. Thus, the Autry National Center was created to oversee the Autry, which was renamed the Museum of the American West, as well as the Southwest and Institute for the Study of the American West. Walking from Ohio to Los Angeles to take a job at The Los Angeles Times in 1884, Lummis was captivated by the Southwestern Indian culture during his journey. He began dreaming of a museum housing artifacts of the Indians of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, finally incorporating the Southwest Museum in 1907. Construction of the Spanish Colonial Revival museum building began in 1912, and the Southwest opened its doors two years later. The Friends of the Southwest Museum Coalition has been fighting to keep the Southwest in its historic Mount Washington location, where it was LA’s first real museum. Autry officials say that’s no longer feasible. Phrases like “cultural piracy” and “saving the collection” are hurled like Molotov cocktails during a gang fight. The battle still rages. So although there’s turmoil in the Southwest, Western history buffs can travel back in time at many gems of museums in the United States. The mission can range from a focus on local history (Western Heritage Center in Billings, Montana) to something more specific, say, barbed wire (Devil’s Rope & Route 66 Museum in McLean, Texas). From living history re-creations (Living History Farms, Des Moines, Iowa) to great art displays (Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, Texas) to great events (the Heard’s Indian Market, Phoenix, Arizona). From historic sites (Northfield Historical Society, Northfield, Minnesota) to tributes to a historic figure (Kit Carson Home and Museum, Taos, New Mexico). Good museums preserve history, but the great ones go beyond that. They not only interpret, or reinterpret, history, but they bring it to glorious life. And the greatest of the great, well, they do even more, revealing our past and providing some insight into our future. Here are our Top 10 Western Museums, along with other sites to visit while you’re in town.
Johnny D. Boggs’ favorite museum is the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe ... or maybe it’s the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
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