The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals with the resources, knowledge, inspiration, and connections they need to move the field forward."
AAM represents the scope of museums, professionals, and nonpaid staff who work for and with museums. AAM represents more than 25,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, 4,000 institutions, and 150 corporate members. Individual members include directors, curators, registrars, educators, exhibit designers, public relations officers, development officers, security managers, trustees, and volunteers.
Museums represented by the members include art, history, science, military, maritime, and youth museums, as well as public aquariums, zoos, botanical gardens, arboretums, historic sites, and science and technology centers.
At the 2014 American Alliance of Museums conference, the Institute of Museum and Library Services announced there are now at least 35,000 museums in the US.
Contents
History
An informal meeting was held at the National Museum in Washington, D.C., on December 21, 1905, for the "purpose of discussing the advisability of endeavoring to establish an association of the museums of America." Major events in the history of the Alliance include:
1906: Founding
1911: Directory of North and South American museums published
1923: Headquarters established in the tower of the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C.
1925: Code of Ethics for Museum Workers adopted
1925: $2,500 grant from the Carnegie Corporation for research on museum fatigue
1961: Museum directory published (4,600 institutions)
1964: Museums included in the National Arts and Cultural Development Act
1966: National Museum Act passed
1968: Belmont Report recommends developing an accreditation program to help support museums
1969: Accreditation program created on the recommendation of a committee chaired by Holman J. Swinney
1971: The Public Museum of Grand Rapids and fifteen additional museums are the first accredited
1976: New constitution adopted
1980: Museum Assessment Program (MAP) created on the recommendation of a committee chaired by E. Alvin Gearhardt, with MAP supported through a cooperative agreement with IMS, the Institute of Museum Services (later renamed IMLS, the Institute of Museum and Library Services)
2003: Launch of the Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal (NEPIP)
2006: Year of the Museum – 100th anniversary of AAM
2009: First Comprehensive Strategic Plan "The Spark" adopted
2012: Name changed to "American Alliance of Museums"
Museum (magazine)
The Alliance publishes Museum, a bimonthly membership magazine covering the issues and trends facing the museum field. The publication began in 1924 as Museum News and was given its current title in 2008. Issued six times a year, each 48-page issue is built around an overarching theme addressed by four or five feature articles together with an opinion column titled "Point of View".
In November 2017, the Alliance released a special issue, Museum 2040, written as if it were published in the year 2040, to mark the tenth anniversary of its Center for the Future of Museums.