Johnston Farm and Indian Agency accredited by the American Association of Museums in Washington, D.C.,

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Historical Society announced Tuesday that the American Association of Museums in Washington, D.C., has accredited six OHS historic sites and museums for the first time - Johnston Farm & Indian Agency in Piqua, Adena Mansion & Gardens in Chillicothe; Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta; Campus Martius Museum in Marietta; Fort Ancient near Oregonia; and Fort Meigs in Perrysburg. In addition, the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus has earned reaccreditation, its fourth time to earn the designation.

Accreditation from the American Association of Museums is the highest national recognition achievable by an American museum since the program began in 1971. Currently, there are 780 accredited museums in the United States. That means that just 4.5 percent of the estimated 17,500 museums in the country are accredited. AAM accreditation is a widely recognized seal of approval.

Andy Hite, historic site manager at Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, was happy about the news of the accreditation. "We are very pleased to receive this recognition by the American Association of Museums. Accreditation reaffirms the quality of service that the Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, as well as the other Ohio Historical Society sites, brings to the visitors who come to our sites. This accreditation shows that the highest standards of our profession are being met by the staff and volunteers at each of our sites. Visitors to the Johnston Farm & Indian Agency will know that there is no other site in the US that offers any better visitor experience on a daily basis," Hite said.  "In many ways this just shows what we have felt here for a long time," he said. "Our staff and volunteers are as good, if not better, than at any other historical site in the nation."

"Since its founding in 1885, the Ohio Historical Society has been consistently recognized as one of the leading state historical organizations in the country," said Burt Logan, OHS executive director and CEO. "The Ohio Historical Center was among the first institutions to be accredited by the American Association of Museums when the program was established in 1971. This, the center's fourth subsequent accreditation, reaffirms that we continue to meet the most stringent professional standards in all areas of operation. It also is especially gratifying to have six of the Society's sites receive this coveted designation."

Developed and sustained by museum professionals for more than 39 years, AAM's museum accreditation program is the field's primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability. To best serve their communities, it is essential that museums be committed to institutional improvement, maintaining the highest standards in collections stewardship, governance, institutional planning, ethics, education and interpretation and risk management. AAM accreditation signifies excellence and accountability to the entire museum community, to governments and outside agencies and to the museum-going public.
"Accreditation is an entirely self-motivated process, and is no small task," said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. "Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement. But put simply, it means the citizens of the communities served by these museums have in their midst a truly outstanding museum."

The AAM Accreditation Program recognizes museums' commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards and continued institutional improvement. To earn accreditation, a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, then undergo a site visit by a two-person team of peers. The accreditation commission, an autonomous body of museum professionals appointed by the AAM board, considers the self-study and site visit report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation. While the time to complete the process varies by museum, it generally takes as much as three years. All accredited museums undergo a subsequent review within 10 years of their last accreditation award.

At each of the newly accredited historic sites, the Ohio Historical Society will be hosting a reception to recognize the achievements of the site's management and volunteers as well as to present the accreditation certificate. A reception has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 14, for Piqua's Johnston Farm & Indian Agency.

The Ohio Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that serves as the state's partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio's history, natural history, archaeology and historic places. For more information, visit http://www.ohiohistory.org/.

First published in the Daily Call, Piqua, OH 12/29/2010 7:40:00 AM   http://tinyurl.com/5uqj7y8

Support History Day

One of our goals at The Johnston Farm & Indian Agency is to make history come alive.  Another, is to KEEP it alive!  Many Ohio children have benefited from their participation in Ohio's History Day and yet, sadly, due to budget cuts, there are many who have not had a chance to do so.  History Day allows children not only to delve into a particular subject that interests them, but to learn analytical skills that are necessary in the history field, but in many others as well.  This month you can help support hisory just by clicking!  Please go to the link below and take a look.
http://www.refresheverything.com/ohiohistoryday

Johnston Farm Life on an Indian Agency

Our July event has come and gone.  Everyone attending seemed to have a great time, and with nearly twice as many visitors as last year, that was a lot of fun! 

Nearly two hundred years ago John Johnston's Ohio farm  became an Indian Agency for the Shawnee Indians.  It was unique in Ohio then and still is today.  John Johnston was known as a friend of Native Americans and spent his time and money supporting, supplying and providing a sancutary to Indians.

This years focus was on the early years of the agency, established in 1812. Grandma Johnston, John Johnston's mother, made an appearance, speaking about her life as a single mother on the frontier.

Jim Johnson was on hand representing Johnston's native friends, and he brought many a smile to both children and adults alike with his talents and generosity. 

As usual our talented volunteers were also on hand to show all of the various chores and tasks it took to keep such a busy, active and important agency working smoothly.

 In other words, a great time was had by all!

Johnston Farm Family Fun Day June 2010

Our 2010 season kicked into high gear with last weekend's Family Fun Days.  Old and young alike enjoyed watching the Ohio Village Muffins 1860s baseball team, taking a ride on the 1830s canal boat, visiting the Indian Museum, and touring the 1815 farmhouse. 

Spinning, weaving, cooking and candle making demonstrations, along with a chance to try your hand at nineteenth century chores and Native American beading, rounded out the day. Take a look at the smiles on the faces of those attending and make certain you mark your calendar to come to the next event, Life on an Indian Agency, July 10th and 11th. There will be more of the same plus 1812 reenactors and a first person presentation featuring John Johnston's mother, Elizabeth Bernard Johnston, sharing what it was like to live life as a single mother on the frontier.

Signing of Johnston Book at the Piqua Taste of the Arts Festival May 21st, 2010

Friday night Piqua Ohio hosts its annual Taste of the Arts.  This year Marla Fair, interpreter at the Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, will be a part of the Author's Book Fair located in the lobby of the Piqua Library in the newly renovated Fort Piqua Plaza.  Marla will be on hand her to sign the recently published book, 'In the Midst of Danger: Book One of the Johnston Chronicles'.  All profits from the sale of the book go to support the Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, 9845 N. Hardin Rd. Piqua OH. 

Come and see Marla and go home with a book or other item knowing that your purchase is helping keep history alive!

Taste of the Arts, Time: 5:00pm - 9:00pm  Location: Downtown Piqua.  14 area restaurants will be offering taster size portions of their popular menu items.   Enjoy an evening of fun with art demonstrations, children's activities, music and more. 

History Day Update - Ruolin Yang goes on to State!

Canals and Locks - What America Has Forgotten

Ruolin Yang

http://76445069.nhd.weebly.com/

We are excited to announce that Ruolin Yang who did the canal website we featured last month has qualified for the National History Day contest in June! She also won the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board Award for her project and received a check for archives use.


Congratulations, Ruolin!

History Day Project - Individual Website made by Ruolin Yang

National History Day in Ohio is an exciting co-curricular program for students in grades 4-5 and 6-12. Each year, students conduct research based on the annual theme and create historical papers, original performances, media documentaries, creative exhibits and imaginative websites as a result of their research.  More than just one day, History Day is a program that allows students to do independent research and create a project that has a life outside the program. Students choose a topic related to the annual theme and can create a paper, exhibit, documentary, performance or website.

For this week's post we'd like to share with you one local student's project.  Ruolin Yang chose to do her History Day project on transportation, featuring America's canals and locks.  She met with Andy Hite, site manager of the Johnston Farm and Indian Agency, and toured some of Miami County's remaining canal sites in preparation for creating her imaginative website.  We'd like to thank Ruolin and her family for sharing the site with us - and now with you.

You can view Ruolin's project, Canals and Locks - What America Has Forgotten, at http://76445069.nhd.weebly.com/

Please add a comment and let us know what you think and we will pass it along to Ruolin.