Stories from Small Museums - by Fiona Candlin & Toby Butler & Jake Watts (Paperback)

About the Book

This book tells the story of the boom in smalls museums that took place in Britain from the 1960s onwards. Drawing on extensive interview materials, it explores why community groups, families and individuals were inspired to set up museums, teasing out the connections between personal experience and national change.

Book Synopsis

During the late twentieth century, the number of museums in the UK dramatically increased. Typically small and independent, the new museums concentrated on local history, war and transport. This book asks who founded them, how and why.

In order to find out more, Fiona Candlin, a professor in museology, and Toby Butler, an expert oral historian, travelled around the UK to meet the individuals, families, community groups and special interest societies who established the museums. The rich oral histories they collected provide a new account of recent museum history - one that weaves together personal experience and social change while putting ordinary people at the heart of cultural production.

Combining academic rigour with a lively writing style, Stories from small museums is essential reading for students and museum enthusiasts alike.

From the Back Cover

In the second half of the twentieth century, new museums started appearing all over the UK. Typically small and independent, they covered subjects that ranged from fairgrounds to farming and watches to watermills. Above all, they concentrated on local history, war and transport. This book asks who founded them, how and why.

In order to find out more, Toby Butler, an expert oral historian, and Fiona Candlin, a professor in museology, travelled around the UK to meet the individuals, families, community groups and special interest societies who established the museums. The founders spoke about the villages and towns they lived in, the places they worked, their families and friendships and their feelings of belonging and not belonging. These rich oral testimonies provide a new account of recent local, national and international cultural history - one with ordinary people at its heart.

Combining academic rigour with a lively style, Stories from small museums shines a light on a remarkable array of grassroots organisations, dedicated to everything from military regiments to railways, from mining to music. At the same time, it teases out the connections between personal experience and national change.

Review Quotes

'In the depth of its observations and via beautiful writing, Stories from small museums does an incredible job... The results are a book that will make you feel as if you have found new friends, learned new things, and above all, been reminded of the richness of human existence.'
Oral History Society

'A book that has reinvigorated my love of museums at a time of considerable upheaval for the sector; I recommend it highly.'
European Journal of Archaeology

'Stories from Small Museums is deeply grounded, analytical and straightforward... it shines out brightly from the other museum books I have read recently because it is based on real conversations about real issues with real people.'
Journal of Curatorial Studies

About the Author

Fiona Candlin is Professor of Museology at Birkbeck
Toby Butler is a heritage consultant and public historian
Jake Watts is a researcher in politics and social history