Creating Accessible Spaces for All!

Friday, August 15, 2025

12:00 - 1:00 PM EST

Join Beth Ann Balalaos, Access and Inclusion Program Director at the Long Island Children’s Museum, for an Accessibility 101 for museums. Gain a better understanding of the dos and don’ts of accessibility and have an opportunity to ask questions!

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Oral History Best Practices - Five Years of Learning in the Field

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

12:00 - 1:00 PM EST

Julia Fell, lead curator of the oral history initiative and Dr. Neal V Hitch, Director at the Museum at Bethel Woods will describe the Museum’s goals and strategies, as well as lessons learned over a five-year period. Logistics, equipment, and management of staff capacity will be discussed, with a particular focus on “pop-up” travel programs. The Museum at Bethel Woods has collected over 1,300 audiovisual oral histories since 2020.

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Destigmatizing the Deaccessioning Process

Friday, August 29, 2025

12:00 - 1:00 PM EST

Deaccession is not a dirty word! Many historic institutions are faced with growing collections that far outweigh the resources available to care for them. Although deaccessioning is a necessary aspect of collections management, uncertainty and misinformation has led to institutions keeping their deaccession work a secret or avoiding it entirely. Sharing our deaccession procedures, challenges, and success stories can help make this process more acceptable and easier for all.  Join Amanda Massie and Natalie DeQuarto from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (Bureau of Historic Sites) and Meg Hughes from Virginia’s Valentine Museum to discuss their large-scale deaccessioning projects and learn how this work benefited their collections and communities.

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