Letters: Museums need support from the state to survive
As the former deputy director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, I was very bothered to learn that Gov. Rendell has suggested removing funding for several of the city's important museums. Museums provide out-of-classroom experience and the primary tools for innovative learning. In a world that competes to challenge the minds of school-age children, this is an arena that provides the platform for lifelong learning.
Besides the 75,000 students who visit Penn Museum annually, the educational programs provide lectures and teaching forums throughout the commonwealth. But it is the experience of visiting the museum that is priceless. Take the Lenape exhibit on the Indian tribes from our region, for example, now on display. With all the rich history of the Founders of our democracy in the cradle of liberty, there is not one exhibit that deals with the history of the American Indians in our city.
In a world that now Twitters and text messages to the least political and cultural nuance, the University Museum, through its programs, allows the students of the city and commonwealth to become global citizens, and not the prey of the impulse of the moment. Much the same argument can be made for the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Science, and the African American Museum. Without support, these institutions might never recover from the recession, and we will all be that much more impoverished.
Gerald Margolis
Narberth
