FAQ

Q- What is the mission of the Historic House Museum Professional Interest
Committee?

A-

Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee
Mission Statement

The mission of the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee (HHMPIC) is to assist historic house museums with issues common to all museums, and those unique to the historic house environment.

The HHMPIC acknowledges that

Historic houses operating as museums face many of the same challenges as do o the r more traditional museums in terms of governance, staffing, volunteer recruitment, development, revenue generation, community outreach, security, collections management, interpretation, security, preservation and maintenance. Historic House Museums also face unique challenges that include the task of maintaining social relevance when the house’s historical relationship to its previous owners and or other inhabitants is adversely affected by the passage of time, and the passing of those individuals.

The HHMPIC recognizes that

For many historic house museums, particularly the smaller house museums, budgetary and human resource constraints preclude consideration of success-oriented strategies designed to overcome challenges, and requiring significant resource allocation.

The HHMPIC will endeavor

To facilitate amongst all interested house museums a collaborative spirit that; promotes advocacy for historic house preservation and education, the adoption of museum standards, encourages innovation, and produces problem resolution strategies directed towards the long term success of the historic house museum.

The HHMPIC will foster

The professional growth of historic house museum staffs by:

• working to developing a broad and active communications network
• encouraging the development of collaborative working groups to promote historic scholarship, educational programming, collections care and community outreach initiatives that promote appreciation for the historic house museum
• sponsoring historic house museum-related sessions and workshops at the AAM annual meetings

The HHMPIC will better establish

The historic house museum’s role in the museum field by crafting a formal definition for the historic house museum that:

• a cknowledges the inherent strength in the diversity of the house museum experience, as defined through each museum’s mission, approach to interpretation, house size, and locale
• Includes as part of the collective house museum community all manner of house museums, avoiding the exclusion of any particular genre of house museum that would otherwise meet eligibility criteria as defined in the complete definition
• endorses and fully supports the mission and established policies of the American Association of Museum.

The goal of the HHMPIC in accomplishing these objectives is to provide support for historic house museums, and the mission and objectives of the American Association of Museums (AAM).

Q-What does the Historic House Museum Professional interest Committee
membership look like?

A- The Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee has a
membership of more than 330 members (combination institutional and
individual memberships), representing a myriad of large and small
historic house museums, historic sites and museum-related commercial
enterprises across the United States and abroad. 

Q- I want to join the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee, what do I need to do?

A- Thank you for your interest in the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee.

For you as an individual, or for your museum to join the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee it is necessary that you first be a member of the American Association of Museums (AAM), or that your museum be an institutional member of AAM.

If either you or your institution is not already a member of AAM then please go to the American Association 0f Museums website and locate the "Join Us" button at the top of the home page. Use the Join us button to locate the individual/institutional membership application forms.

You can print out the applicable membership form and complete it. On the application form there is an area where you can indicate you also want membership in the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee.

If either you as an individual, or your museum is already a member of AAM you only need to fill in your name or your institution's name and your individual or institutional membership number, and then go far ther down the application form and check off the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee.

Then you can ei ther fax the application form to AAM including credit card payment to include the PIC annual dues of $10.00, or you can mail the application in to AAM with credit information for the payment or use a check for payment.

You will receive confirmation of your membership in AAM and the Historic House Museum Professional Interest Committee. You can then apply for access to the members section of the historic house museum website.

Q- I have a question which is not listed here, what should I do?

A- Please feel free to contact us, and we will get back to you as soon as possible