Kara Fosey, Fort Devens Museum
Proposal Type
Collaborative Conversation
Seeking
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
Related Topics
- Memory
- Museums/Exhibits
- Public Engagement
Abstract
The Fort Devens Museum, a private non-profit organization, collects, preserves, and shares historic photographs, documents, and artifacts that tell the histories of Camp Devens and Fort Devens from 1917 to the present. Situated at the crossroads of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley, Massachusetts, Fort Devens would become “New England’s largest Army Base.” But the history of the World War I Camp Devens, overshadowed by the United States Civil War and World War II, never receives the attention it deserves. In this centennial year, it is our responsibility to tell of the camaraderie, loss, destruction, and hope World War I soldiers experienced and then hand their stories over to the next generation. Time passes, but war never really ends.
Description
The Fort Devens Museum’s executive director and board members serve as stewards of our collections. We are educators and facilitators: connecting people and community. We are also advocates: promoting Veteran and citizen recognition. We are storytellers: speaking for those no longer with us, and whose stories deserve to be remembered. However, we are a small museum with limited financial resources and rely on volunteers. We are dependent on MassDevelopment for our three museum rooms at 94 Jackson Road, a building for sale or lease to businesses. After Fort Devens closed in 1996, the site became a 4,400 acre mixed-use community with more than one hundred businesses and organizations. Because a military area, the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area, was renamed Fort Devens in 2007, we feel that the site’s 1917 to 1996 history still has relevance not only to those who once served here and now come back for a visit, but also to younger generations. If the Fort Devens Museum is successful in its outreach, we may possibly become known as one of the important military museums in New England. We would appreciate any suggestions from other small museums and military museums on how best to maintain and strengthen our mission. We also welcome other presenters who would like to serve on a panel with us.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly: Kara Fosey, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be submitted by July 1, 2018. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.
You might take a look at the proposals from Klibanoff and Waters and see if you think there is a session here that can be organized around the conference theme of “Repair Work.”
Thank you. Kara’s name is spelled Fossey. Kara Fossey