Welcoming everyone
How we can make everyone feel welcome
As an American museum – and as the only one of its kind outside the United States – we have a responsibility and an opportunity to celebrate and represent our diversity. We don’t want to tell just one side of a story, particularly one of privilege representing only a few people. The history of America includes rich and varied cultures spanning many centuries. This legacy challenges us all to review and better understand both our past and our present as we look to present a more inclusive offer at the Museum and a more thorough representation of the world around us.
We know that we have more work to do to bring more diverse stories to light, to ensure that all sides of American history (both historic and contemporary) are told, and to provide relevant programming for our audiences. We have outlined where we are in this journey below, and we will continue to review and supplement this plan as we look forward.
The story of our founding as an institution is an inspiring one to tell. The Museum was founded for cross-cultural exchange by an Anglo-American partnership between Dr Dallas Pratt and John Judkyn, who were partners in both their personal and collecting lives. Dallas wanted to share with the British public the aesthetic charm of early American furniture and decorative arts and their historical background. John wanted to inform the British of the outstanding American achievements in these arts and crafts and promote Anglo-American understanding.
As we look to the future, we can take inspiration from Dallas and John’s original vision. While keeping the original decorative and cultural focus of the collection at the heart of our museum, we will also emphasise an ever-important cross-cultural exchange so that we can expand opportunities for dialogue while inspiring new generations.
Initiatives already established to support our goals, include
Ensuring our permanent galleries, special exhibitions and events programme represent diverse perspectives and feature a wide range of voices
Celebrating our LGBTQ+ heritage as an institution and the diversity of our staff and communities
Participating as a partner in the Pathways to Wellbeing programme, which supports people with experience of mental health issues through creative programmes delivered in inspirational settings.
Offering a range of visitor services such as:
Significant investments in making our site as accessible as possible with wheelchairs available around the site, a tramper for hire and the recent creation of lifts, accessible ramps, and pathways
Noise cancelling headphones that can be borrowed from our ticket office to support autism and other SEND needs
Large-print format and closed-captioning on newly commissioned films and hearing loops
An Advisory Group composed of external and internal members with various backgrounds and expertise who provide advice on updating of content in our permanent galleries.
A pilot project with Somerset Sight to offer a special tour of the house for blind and partially sighted visitors. The tour took place before the public opening time and offered our guests vivid descriptions of the period rooms with the opportunity to handle objects relevant to each room. We now offer the option of having Audio Descriptive Tours as a bookable offer.
Training for staff members and volunteers to ensure that all visitors feel welcome
If you have ideas about what we can do – and if you would like to be involved – then please be in touch at reception@amercianmuseum.org. We would love to hear from you, and we look forward to sharing progress on our initiatives as we continue to look to the future.