Association of American Museums

Association of American Museums
Name	Association of American Museums
Founded	1911
Dissolved	1986 (merged into American Association of Museums)
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Type	Professional association
Purpose	Support museums and cultural institutions
Region served	United States
Leader title	President

Association of American Museums was a national professional association for museums and museum professionals in the United States that operated in the 20th century and contributed to standards, advocacy, and professional development for collecting institutions. It interacted with a broad network of cultural, scientific, and historical organizations across North America and engaged with legislative, educational, and philanthropic actors in matters affecting museums and heritage stewardship. The association convened museum leaders, curators, conservators, educators, and administrators to address issues such as collections care, exhibition practice, funding, and public access.

History

Founded in 1911, the organization emerged during a period of institutional consolidation alongside entities such as the Smithsonian Institution, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Library of Congress. Early leadership included figures who worked with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Field Museum of Natural History. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the association engaged with federal initiatives such as the Works Progress Administration and cultural programs linked to the New Deal, collaborating with the National Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps on interpretation and preservation projects. Postwar decades saw cooperation with philanthropic foundations like the Carnegie Corporation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to professionalize museum practice, and ties to academic institutions including Harvard University, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago informed curatorial training. During the 1960s and 1970s the association responded to changing social movements represented by actors such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and advocacy by the American Civil Liberties Union. In the 1980s, amid sectoral consolidation and strategic realignments, it merged into a successor organization that incorporated functions of the American Association of Museums and engaged with international partners like the International Council of Museums.

Mission and Programs

The association’s mission emphasized stewardship, public service, and professional standards, aligning its activities with museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Getty Museum. Programs targeted curatorial practice at institutions like the Pittsburgh Museum of Art, conservation initiatives at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and educational outreach modeled on programs at the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Seattle Art Museum. It administered fellowship and training efforts that connected with the Smithsonian Institution Fellowships, partnerships with the Cooper Hewitt, and internships comparable to those at the Chicago History Museum. Collaborative initiatives included loans and traveling exhibitions with the American Folk Art Museum, the New-York Historical Society, and the Frick Collection.

Membership and Governance

Membership comprised directors, curators, trustees, and institutional members drawn from bodies such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and regional museums including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Denver Art Museum. Governance structures featured boards and committees that mirrored nonprofit practice at organizations like the Urban Institute, the Council on Foundations, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Elective officeholders often had prior roles at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, or academic chairs at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. Cooperative memberships linked the association to state-level consortia such as the California Association of Museums and provincial organizations in Ontario.

Accreditation and Standards

The association developed conservation and collections care guidance influenced by techniques at labs like the Smithsonian Institution's Museum Conservation Institute and protocols used by the Canadian Conservation Institute and the Victoria and Albert Museum. It promulgated standards for registration, deaccessioning, and ethical practice reflecting debates in forums that included the American Alliance of Museums, the ICOM, and specialist groups like the American Institute for Conservation. Benchmarking exercises compared practices at institutions such as the Natural History Museum, London, the British Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History (France), and engaged legal frameworks inspired by precedents in cases before the United States Supreme Court and policies of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Conferences and Publications

Annual conferences convened delegations from the American Alliance of Museums, the Museum Educators of America, the Association of Art Museum Curators, and international delegations from the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the European Museum Forum. Proceedings and journals published by the association circulated alongside periodicals like Museum News, Curator: The Museum Journal, and compilations similar to those of the Getty Conservation Institute. Training workshops echoed curricula from programs at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and lecture series hosted by the Morgan Library & Museum.

Advocacy and Public Policy

The association lobbied federal and state legislatures, interacting with committees of the United States Congress, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities on funding and tax policy affecting museums. It partnered with organizations such as the League of American Orchestras and the American Library Association on cultural policy, and filed position statements that aligned with standards promoted by the Institute of Museum and Library Services after that agency’s creation. Public campaigns referenced intellectual property frameworks like the Copyright Act of 1976 and engaged with regulatory bodies including the Internal Revenue Service regarding nonprofit status.

Awards and Recognition

The association administered awards and honors that recognized innovation in exhibition design, conservation, and education, similar in prestige to accolades given by the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the MacArthur Fellows Program, and the Pulitzer Prize in cultural reporting. Institutional recipients included museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Walker Art Center, and the Hammer Museum, while individual laureates included curators and conservators who later gained recognition from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Humanities Medal, and peer organizations across the museum sector.

Category:Museum associations