News Archives
The ISHA newsletter is distributed electronically on a quarterly basis. They are usually published in March, June, September, and December. Here is an archive of the past several years of newsletters.
- ***NEW*** See the most recent ISHA newsletter (March 2010)
- Archive of newsletters in PDF format:
January 2010
September 2009
June 2009
March 2009
October 2008
June 2008
April 2007
December 2006
October 2006
June 2006
March 2006
Conference, 2005
June 2005
March 2005
Conference, 2004
September 2004
June 2004
April 2004
CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEWSLETTER – the e-newsletter is an easy way to share information about what’s happening at your institution. Be sure to add ISHA to your press release mailing list.
Send related materials to Karen Bednarski.
We are also always in need of features about any topic related to sports heritage. Please contact us if you are interested in providing an educational piece for an upcoming issue.
Full article from March 2010 newsletter
Responsibilities and Opportunities
By Ed Harris
You’re an established facility, or you’re brand new bricks and mortar. You’ve been around for decades, or the last coat of paint is drying on your freshly hung sheet-rocked walls. You’ve put out the welcome mat, promoted through the print and electronic media, taken out colorful advertisements in the local newspapers and national trade magazines, shouted from the highest tree tops and announced that you’ve got the finest edifice that honors and extols the virtues of your sport.
Now all you need are visitors – those enthusiastic souls who many times venture hundreds of miles to explore the artifacts and memories of their youth and the important moments that have defined their lives.
No matter what size your museum or hall is, no matter what each display case contains, it is our responsibility to present the history and passion that provides the ultimate tribute to our heroes and our sport. It is our job to educate, entertain and delight each guest during their visit and to ensure that when they leave our sacred ground, that they are filled with a sense of pride, loyalty and the desire to communicate with others the stories they’ve just experienced firsthand during the few hours spent within our walls.
So how do we do that? Each of our institutions follows a similar but different plan based on our desired demographic, our locations, and the stories we wish to present to the sporting public.
Sport is a remarkable entity. It appeals to children and adults, from the very young to the very old - the memories shared and the special times that we recall at varied stages of our lives. We sit in the arena stands next to strangers we’ve never met and will probably never see again, yet sharing a few hours discussing the athletes and the plays, chatting and behaving like old friends. It’s a remarkable bonding process that sport offers to each and every one of us. Personally, I’ve attended so many football games over the years that they sometimes blend into one another, but uncannily I vividly remember one of my first college games as if it were yesterday, which in my case is more than just a few years ago. Growing up in New Jersey – not a bastion of collegiate football – I fondly remember trudging down to Princeton one chilly fall day with a group of high school friends and their families to watch an Ivy League game between the Princeton Tigers vs. the Big Green of Dartmouth.
As we drove onto the campus, we were directed by student volunteers to park on the grass of the team’s practice field adjacent to the stadium. And what a sight it was! Built years before, Palmer Stadium was everything majestic I always imagined a football pantheon to be. Classic architecture, pillared concrete walls with wooden benches to sit on, and as I was to discover later on in life, symbolic of most Ivy League stadia since most were constructed during the same time period. Ivy vines covered parts of the exterior walls as it did numerous buildings on campus – indeed, the league had adopted a most appropriate name!
Armed with a thermos bottle my Mom had filled with hot chocolate and an old olive drab woolen blanket from my Dad’s days in the Army Air Corps during World War II for warmth during the game, we made our way towards the immense imposing home of the Orange & Black in front of us, passing obvious alumni wearing outlandish plaid pants, rep ties and a multitude of clothing bearing the home team’s school colors.
It was also my introduction to what is now referred to as tailgating, as a small legion of die-hard fans grilled up basic football fare to augment the food stands surrounding the stadium walls. Hot dogs, hamburgers and Cokes ruled the day back then, and the taste of each bite seemed way better than any I’d ever eaten before. In fact, though you may think me crazy, I can still smell the wonderful aroma of those grilled meats and the spicy mustard as I reminiscence about those past days. There’s something about food cooked and eaten outdoors that somehow just can’t be duplicated.
So what does all of this have to do with how we operate our sports museums and halls of fame? Well simply this: it’s our mission as directors and curators to re-create those remembered moments even in a small way with each exhibit we present to our visitors. We need to take our guests back to their initial experiences when each sport made an indelible impression and encouraged them to pursue their passion for the sport. And as that passion within them grew, it naturally was passed down to their children – from generation to generation – creating the collegiate and professional loyalties we are obsessed with to this very day.
Each of our institutions honors and respects the heritage of our sport – the momentous events, the legendary athletes and coaches, the innovations in equipment design, the standards that remain flexible for the changing times and all the other elements that we preserve for future generations.
We are currently experiencing difficult financial times not only in America, but globally as well. This has had a trying effect on us all as we attempt to continue fulfilling our mission both to our sport and to our main constituency: those fans who daily pass through our turnstiles – not only once, but on repeat visits. Operating capital is tight, and tough decisions have to be made regarding updating exhibitions and retaining dedicated personnel, but we must remember to not tamper with the essence of our being at all costs.
We need to keep current our exhibits and our creativity in selecting new ways to tell our stories via tried-and-true yet static displays, interactive activities; the essential mix of the old and the new to excite and stimulate the senses and minds of all those who make the pilgrimage to our hallowed halls. New exhibition technology is becoming abundant and although initially expensive, affordable in small bites when budgeted for and amortized over time.
Most of us partner throughout the year with an array of vendors whose insight complements our visions and brings our dreams to reality. And through membership in ISHA, we are able to explore numerous applications applied elsewhere that can assist in the development of our own facilities, affording a stronger position in the sports marketplace and a more appealing experience for each of our visitors.
If you’ve never attended an ISHA Conference, annually held in the fall and hosted by one of our member institutions, you have missed valued opportunities to network among your peers and to obtain shared information that you can take back to your own museum or hall that will undoubtedly stimulate your staff and board, assisting in the ongoing changes necessary for future success in our industry.
It’s quite simple for all ISHA members to take advantage of the many benefits your membership offers, including usage of the Listserve which can connect you with the entire membership whenever you need information or have questions pertaining to your operations, selection processes, special event programming, community outreach and more. Our Annual Conference – to be held this year at the San Diego Hall of Champions from October 12-14, is the premier opportunity to network with the movers and shakers of our industry – and to get on a first name basis for exchanging ideas throughout the entire year. Not only will you develop friendships with others in the sports heritage community, you’ll have a chance to talk about your needs one-on-one with exhibitors specific to the museum world.
The dates of your hall’s annual events such as induction ceremonies and the names of your honorees can be listed in our quarterly newsletter to inform ISHA’s membership and the sporting public as well. Share your concerns – whatever they may be – through our Board Buddy program, by discussing problems and offering suggestions to ISHA’s Board of Directors every few weeks. The board does listen to your comments and if appropriate, will put them on the agenda to discuss at our monthly board meetings.
Although when you joined ISHA, you may not have realized how significant your membership could be, but we value your participation and want to include your ideas about strengthening the benefits we can provide to you. We encourage your interest in joining our varied committees and if called upon, your service on the board of directors. We are only as strong as you make us as members, and we look forward to a long, valuable, and continuing relationship with each of you for years to come.
Ed Harris serves as President of the National Sports Foundation/National Sports Museum and is a long-time ISHA member, currently serving on the association’s Board of Directors as Treasurer.
