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Commentary: Today's nonprofits must be open to new ideas

By Page Talbott The recent news about Philadelphia's Civil War Museum transferring its artifacts is one piece of a much larger story. It is important to understand the enormous challenges and strains experienced by many historical and cultural institutions throughout the region. The reality is that many of these organizations are rethinking their futures, others are exploring significant changes in programs, and some are considering mergers or other changes of status.

A recently restored painting of Civil War Gen. George Meade.
A recently restored painting of Civil War Gen. George Meade.Read moreCivil War Museum of Philadelphia.

By Page Talbott

The recent news about Philadelphia's Civil War Museum transferring its artifacts is one piece of a much larger story. It is important to understand the enormous challenges and strains experienced by many historical and cultural institutions throughout the region. The reality is that many of these organizations are rethinking their futures, others are exploring significant changes in programs, and some are considering mergers or other changes of status.

The board of the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia chose to examine its long-held intention to build a new museum in light of this difficult environment and decided on a different path. It could not have been easy because this collection originated in Philadelphia and was donated by Union officers of the Civil War and their heirs who, for the most part, were Philadelphians. But despite the difficulty, there was wisdom in the decision not to build another museum in a city struggling to sustain those we already have.

In crafting a new strategy that would meet the goals of protecting the collection, keeping it intact, and providing for exhibition to the public, the Civil War Museum was fortunate to find partners like the Gettysburg Foundation and the National Constitution Center to help shape a plan that would ensure that all these important goals could be achieved without building a new museum. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania was also pleased to be able to provide encouragement and expertise to the museum as this process took shape. We believe that we can all benefit from working together, and the more flexibility and creativity we can bring to the task of strengthening the community of historical organizations and museums, the better off the publics we serve will be.

Philadelphia has in fact been a leader in this type of innovation and open thinking about mission and collaboration. In the past few years, there have been two cultural mergers of note.

The merger of the Academy of Natural Sciences and Drexel University joined a venerable and respected science museum, home to an extraordinary collection of flora and fauna, including those amazing dinosaurs, to a university that was interested in creating a new department of biodiversity, earth, and environmental science. This merger gave the academy access to expanded resources and knowledge, and increased the opportunities for Drexel's students to engage with the academy's scientists and its world-renowned approach to scholarly inquiry.

The next significant combination, of the Rosenbach Museum and the Free Library of Philadelphia, once again took a jewel of a collection, in an engaging museum setting, and joined it with a large public institution. The Free Library's expansive mission, dedicated to literacy, learning, and access to literature of all kinds, was enriched by the Rosenbach's, whose collection of rare and important books, and skill at providing engaging programs for all ages, have long encouraged curiosity and exploration of ideas.

There are more such mergers and other initiatives under study, some funded by the new Nonprofit Repositioning Fund, a joint initiative of several regional foundations in recognition of the need for seed funding for these kinds of ventures.

To pursue our missions and fulfill our promises to the public, we in the nonprofit sector need to be open to new ideas, be willing to explore combining with others to achieve our purposes, and consider changing our organizational boundaries and sometimes even our identities. If we keep our focus on what is most important in what we do, creative initiatives like the one crafted by the Civil War Museum and its partners will become more common and more successful.

Page Talbott is president and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. ptalbott@hsp.org