Recently, on the ALHFAM Facebook page and the discussion list (ALHFAM-L), members were asked, “Why ALHFAM?” Why do you join? Why do you renew? Why should others join?
The answers so far are not surprising to me: the knowledge base of the members, the willingness to share that knowledge, and the overall congeniality of our group.
I agree. I’ve been to numerous professional conferences in my career and I’ve never met a group so passionate about history and so willing to share their knowledge. The ALHFAMily is, without doubt, a welcoming bunch.
At our conferences you will find nicely dressed people giving power point presentations about collections management, marketing, new technology, safety and security, interpretive techniques, and other issues of importance to living history and farm and agricultural museums.
You will also find people learning how to: dress chickens, fire muskets, plow with oxen, cook on an open-hearth, sew historic garments, shear sheep, construct wigs, start fires, furnish historic buildings, drive tractors, and much, much more.
ALHFAM members preserve (and sometimes resurrect) historic skills and artifacts and use them to bring history to life for others.
Given that, my answer to “Why ALHFAM?” is ALHFAM does.
–Deb Arenz, ALHFAM Vice-President
ALHFAM 