Browse Exhibits (29 total)
Public Education
"It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time — for we are bound by that — but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time."
- T. S. Eliot
Recognition of the importance of public education, for both the individual and society, is as old as Western civilization. There is a lot of science behind teaching and even more intuition and intelligence behind its success and yet, more often than not, there is inadequate support for curricula and learning, and small thanks or remuneration for even the most excellent teachers.
Like others called to public service, those working in public education are there to make a difference in the lives of their students and because of their commitment there have been wonderful developments in public education over time. First of all, there is no age limit to accessing public education. Many return to public education institutions as adults beyond the age associated with specific educational levels. Curricula continue to expand to include more diverse groups of student as well as new areas of study that help to keep public education relevant and accessible.
In the age of electronic access to information, those interested in accessing public education has many more options including online line courses and e-publications. The exhibits in this gallery allow up to reflect on the accomplishments of public education and the stalwarts that made important contributions to public education in roles such as public policy development, supervision of public education institutions, as well as the unionization of teachers.
Libraries
"It's funny that we think of libraries as quiet demure places where we are shushed by dusty, bun-balancing, bespectacled women. The truth is libraries are raucous clubhouses for free speech, controversy and community. Librarians have stood up to the Patriot Act, sat down with noisy toddlers and reached out to illiterate adults. Libraries can never be shushed."
- Comedian and author Paula Poundstone, national spokesperson for Friends of Libraries U.S.A.
As gateways to knowledge and culture, libraries play a fundamental role in society. The resources and services they offer create opportunities for learning, support literacy and education, and help shape the new ideas and perspectives that are central to a creative and innovative society. They also help ensure that an authentic record of knowledge created and accumulated by past generations is archived for future reference.
Public libraries also function to record the history of populations by documenting marriages, deaths, property ownership, court dockets and criminal records and minute from public meetings. This gallery highlights some of the major libraries in this United States that are renowned for their collections. The gallery also presents biographical information on those who had careers as librarians, on philanthropists who contributed to enhancing the role of libraries in the lives of their communities.
The libraries portrayed include state public libraries such as the Boston public Library and the New York Public Library. Also featured here are well-known university libraries, such as the Widener Library at Harvard University. The Harvard Library system is the largest in the world and the Widener Library, established in 1915, is a central organ in that system.
Nonprofit Organizations
“The "non-profit" institution neither supplies goods or services, nor controls. Its "product" is neither a pair of shoes nor an effective regulation. Its product is a changed human being. The non-profit institutions are human-change agents. Their "product" is a cured patient, a child that learns, a young man or woman grown into a self-respecting adult; a changed human life altogether.”
- Peter F. Drucker
Nonprofit organizations exist for educational or charitable reasons. Their trustees or stakeholders do not benefit from them financially. Any money earned must be retained by the organization, and used for its own expenses, operations and programs. In most cases, nonprofit organizations are tax exempt and to retain this status they are required to provide evidence annually that they are not accruing profits. Nonprofit organizations generally take on some of the most challenging work and despite the lack of financial incentive, are some of the most dedicated and passionate people committed to giving back to society much more than they themselves receive.
Many who are privileged as members of traditionally wealthy families or have earned enormous wealth on their own establish nonprofit organizations as vehicles for contributing to society in areas where dire need is evident, such as in youth development, social education, hunger and disaster relief. Well known entrepreneurs and Hollywood celebrities demonstrate their desire to give back to society from their success, through the launch and support of nonprofit organizations.
The work of nonprofits is carried out primarily by volunteers that routinely dedicate time and resources to their communities. The exhibits in this gallery show case a variety of nonprofit organizations and philanthropists, including the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and the Salvation Army.
Social Work and the Helping Professions
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the shoes of others."
- Mahatma Gandhi
In the social work and helping professions there are people who nurture the growth of, or address the problems of a person's physical, psychological, intellectual, emotional or spiritual well-being, including through medicine, nursing, psychotherapy, psychological counseling, social work, education, life coaching and ministry. For instance, social workers help people overcome problems and make their lives better. They might work with people who are homeless, sick, or having family problems. Or they might help students who are having trouble at school, either with learning or with their social skills. However, such roles should not be limited to these professionals as Leo Tolstoy once said, "The vocation of everyman and woman is to serve other people.”
People who choose careers in social work and the helping professions are strongly interested in people, and in being directly in service to them as individuals, families or groups. There careers bring them in contact with the most vulnerable populations where they seek to contribute to improving their lives overall. In this gallery, among others, we highlight the work of hospice leader Bernice Catherine Harper who contributed to improving conditions for AIDS patients in hospices in Africa. Also featured here is Ann Morgan Vickery for her work in counseling clients regarding the impact of federal laws- mainly Medicare and Medicaid, and for her involvement in the enactment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1982.
Red Tape from Red Square
This collection consists of items from the art exhibit “Bureaucracy in Russian Art: Posters and Political Cartoons" (2010), produced by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, School of Public Affairs and Administration, in collaboration with the American University of Armenia and the Department of Sociology, St. Petersburg University, Russia. The collection features works that satirize bureaucracy.
Russian artists, like their American counterparts, have been calling our attention to conflicts between efficiency and ethics in organizational life, including ethical dilemmas faced by public servants; the unintended consequences for employees and clients of large bureaucratic organizational structures; and ways in which individuals are frustrated by, and cope with, large systems.
The exhibits in this gallery demonstrate the perception of the Russian artists that bureaucracy is dysfunctional, enervating, and inefficient, the antithesis of creativity, and a cancer in the social fabric. Their messages are, perhaps necessarily, negative. Their suggested solutions are seemingly superficial: use common sense, untangled red tape, treat people as human beings, and do not forget the organization’s objectives.
The display comprises primarily political cartoons and posters. Over a period of many decades political cartoons were disseminated in Krokodil (crocodile), a satirical magazine published in the former Soviet Union, as well as in other similar magazines. During the decades of the 1960s, 1970s and early in the 1980s a group of artists in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) known as the “Fighting Pencil,” produced anti-bureaucratic posters aimed to “open the boils on the body of the Soviet society.”
With the support of local officials, the anti-bureaucratic material was widely available throughout the Soviet Union and served to contend that bureaucracy was an obstacle to the success of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (the political and economic system), and warned that political and bureaucratic changes must go hand-in-hand.
The Straus Family: Pioneers in Public Service and Philanthropy
Beginning in the 19th Century and continuing into the 20th, members of the Straus Family have served in governmental positions at the federal and local levels. More particularly, family members have served in the House of Representatives, as Ambassadors, and as Presidential Cabinet Members. By virtue of their positions, as well as a consequence of their acting as advisors and confidants to a number of American Presidents, family members have been actively involved in the formulation of American public policy for well over 100 years.
Furthermore, in the context of American finance and commerce, family members were the owners of Macy's for nearly 100 years. In addition to their participation in the commercial development of the City of New York and America in general, family members have been in a position to assist others less fortunate throughout this period of time. Members of the family have served on the boards of innumerable philanthropic organizations. As a consequence of the family's involvement in this broad spectrum of American life, the family exemplifies and brings to life the true American story and its spirit.
Thus, it is not so much the story of one family that is sought to be told, but rather the American experience as seen through and lived by a family during this period of growth of America.
Source:
www.straushistoricalsociety.org
Film:
"This short film is a profile of the vest pocket park located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, a block north of the house where Isidor and Ida Straus settled with their family in 1884.
Commentary by Joe Arbo, gardener for Friends of Straus Park, Gilbert Tauber of the Bloomingdale History Group and creator of oldstreets.com, and Joan Adler, Executive Director of the Straus Historical Society."
Oaths of Office
"The duty imposed upon him [the president] to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, follows out the strong injunctions of his oath of office, that he will 'preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.' The great object of the executive department is to accomplish this purpose; and without it, be the form of government whatever it may, it will be utterly worthless for offense or defense; for the redress of grievances or the protection of rights; for the happiness, or good order, or safety of the people."
- Joseph Story, (1851). “Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States”
When an individual pledges to the oath of office, they are affirming a commitment to a set of ideals and obligations transcending themselves. Be it an oath to provide equal opportunity to students, to ensure public safety, to treat everyone with compassion, or to uphold the duties of public office, oaths of office are meant to symbolize the individual's ascendance to a higher cause. The individual is acknowledging that he or she is not loyal to an appointee or a figure of power, but rather an intangible spirit to protect the public from a government distorted by private whims and interests. The oath of office is meant to convey that the individual is in service to the public because the public represents the common good of society. An oath is also not just an affirmation to the loyalty of the public, but also a pledge to exceed the requirements of his or her position. The oath is a promise to fulfill the duties of a position, but also to be the strongest representative one can be for the general public. When oaths are disregarded, the public suffers as well.
In the following gallery, you will see oaths from all sectors of society, including school boards, police departments, fire departments, emergency medical services, human resource organizations, and elected officials. The commonality of an oath of office across differing positions underscores the country's understanding that a public position is not one to be taken lightly, but with the utmost seriousness and dedication. Without oaths, our understanding of what it means to serve the people risks decay and ultimately non-existence.
Teaching Guides
The following exercises and lesson plans are intended to help students - in a wide range of humanities and social science courses - develop skills in primary source analysis, historical research, and media literacy.