"Farm Fresh: Keeping Museums Fresh in the 21st Century"
June 12-16, 2005

ALHFAM and Living History Farms turn 35 years old in 2005. We invite you to celebrate our shared anniversary at this year's Annual Meeting and Conference!

We've chosen the theme "Farm Fresh: Keeping Museums Fresh in the 21st Century". The conference will explore the ways living history museums are able to keep their long standing programs, events, and everyday operating processes meaningful in a new century. Presenters are invited to discuss innovations in collections, membership development, fundraising and programming to offer fresh opportunities for institutions to grow while making significant contributions to their communities. In this era of modernization, museums must decide what aspects of their own past are worth keeping and which need to be refreshed. We are exploring the latest trends in all areas of the living history museum field, especially those addressing how to evaluate traditional programs and routines in the light of those trends.

A majority of the four-day conference will utilize facilities at Drake University, a private, coeducational university on a 120-acre campus in Des Moines. We'll also include a variety of interesting and informative workshops and trips using nearby museums, historic sites, businesses and attractions. Your site day at Living History Farms gives us with a chance to show off the museum and our award-winning "Get Your Grip on History" program, which gives every guest a free pair of work gloves and a changing, daily schedule of hands-on activities from June through August.

Please come to the heart of the Midwest for a "farm fresh" conference celebrating the people and places that bring history to life!

- ALHFAM 2005 Conference Committee