Former Scout Leader Takes Charge of a War Museum

By Sandy Asirvatham

A Civil War museum founded in 1865 by Union officers plans a big makeover by the end of the 21st century's first decade.

ALSO SEE: BIO: About Sharon A. Smith, president, the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia

Currently housed in a small Philadelphia townhouse, the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum is poised to streamline its name and to move by 2010 into a much larger space in a circa-1795 building that once housed the First Bank of the United States. The National Park Service owns this historic landmark and has offered it to the museum on a long-term lease.

The museum's pending transformation will be overseen by its new chief executive, Sharon A. Smith. The overhaul will involve $25-million in government and private funds to renovate and design exhibits in the new space and an additional $5-million to preserve and expand the museum's collection. The museum is receiving $1.5-million from the city of Philadelphia for the project, with up to $15-million available to the institution as a matching grant once money is raised from private donors, according to E. Harris Baum, the museum's board chairman.

After serving for 10 years as chief executive of the Girl Scouts of Southeastern Pennsylvania — where she participated in two mergers and helped build membership from 14,000 to 20,000 girls — Ms. Smith is no stranger to leading organizational change. At the Scouts, she battled the public's antiquated view of the charity's activities; today's Girl Scouts, she notes, "do science, travel all over the world, take on important community projects, and when they sell cookies they really do learn about how business works." And she fought to find donors to support programs for her group's largely inner-city clientele.

The newly renamed Civil War Museum of Philadelphia — the old name mistakenly led visitors to think the organization held an extensive collection about the Underground Railroad, she says — will also face challenges regarding image and fund raising.

History museums, she says, are not nearly as popular among donors as art institutions, although organizations that spotlight the Civil War are probably better supported than others.

"There's a lot more focus these days on the Civil War, and especially on making the history more inclusive of all the actors," she says, noting that the museum tries to tell not only soldiers' stories but also those of abolitionists and freed slaves in Philadelphia. "As a result, we're getting a lot more African-American visitors and international visitors."

A key to attracting support and visitors, she says, is the museum's "living history" presentations, in which actors re-create the lives of common soldiers or major historical figures such as Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, or Harriet Tubman. "If we can get a donor in the door [to see a re-enactment]," she says, "they do get excited about our mission."

Mr. Baum praised Ms. Smith's dedication, intelligence, and directness and said it had not been easy to find a leader with both a passion for the historical mission and the necessary business acumen. Originally, Ms. Smith had been recommended to Mr. Baum for some consulting work. During their first meeting, however, Mr. Baum says, he became convinced she was right for the top job.

"I thought, Whoops, this is not going to be an engagement," he says. "This is going to be a marriage."

Neither Ms. Smith nor Mr. Baum would disclose how much Ms. Smith will earn, but her predecessor made nearly $95,000, according the organization's most-recent informational tax return.

In an interview, Ms. Smith talked about her new job.

What's unique about this particular collection of documents and artifacts?

Our collection is particularly interesting because it documents the experience of many individuals, allowing us to tell a story about who they were, how their lives were impacted by the war, where they served, and what happened to them — in addition to material that helps describe battles and tactics.

For example, we can tell the story of an individual because we have his uniform, his weapon, his personal items such as a pocket watch or deck of cards, his diary or scrapbook, a photograph or portrait of him, and his obituary 10 or 20 years after the war, describing what he did with his life.

Looking at these things and hearing the story is compelling and personal and brings alive the events and the people, making a connection across time.

Why do history museums get overlooked by donors?

Honestly, we have not done a good job of teaching history in schools. When I started thinking about whether this was the right job for me, I remembered sitting in a classroom in the ninth grade, trying to remember one battle from another. I had to memorize these facts for an exam, but it wasn't taught in a way that would make me excited for it. I think that's a problem still today.

How will the new Civil War museum try to solve this problem?

Primarily, through living-history programming, the use of actors to bring alive the interpretation of either an event or a personality in a way that increases its immediacy for the people in the room. We want to bring in the life of the common solder, the lives of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, bring in the dialogue between Lincoln and the people around him. This allows you to really open the doors to a much more complex, nuanced story.

What were your most pressing tasks at first?

The board and staff had been working on a plan to move the museum since 2005, so when I arrived the intention was in place. A lot of the work had been started, we had identified the location, we had started the negotiations with the National Park Service, and an architect for the renovations had been selected. But the former executive director had been gone for about 10 months, so a lot of stuff was just hanging.

We had also started an interpretation plan — in effect, the story the museum will tell — but had not completed it. So my focus at first was on both the business and the strategic plan. Additionally, the board was tired and needed to be rejuvenated and re-energized. We added some people to the board and strengthened its governance.

I've been doing a lot of reading and talking to people. Since I've been in the Philadelphia nonprofit community for a long time, I knew who would be influential and helpful.

How will this job allow you to take advantage of your academic training in history?

I was going to be a political-science professor and teach democratic theory, and one of the treats of this job is being able to think about those issues again. So the job does connect back to that driving force for me. But honestly, I'm spending more of my time doing other kinds of things — the usual nonprofit-director tasks.