A Grizzly in the Mail and Other Adventures in American History

June 15, 2014

Grove (chief, Museum Learning, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum; coauthor, The Museum Educator's Manual) draws upon his more than 20 years as an educator and museum administrator in American history to create an engaging account about the subject's fascination and significance as conveyed through artifacts, documents, pictorial records, and oral traditions. Iconic quotations from authors and participants in the American pageant introduce chapters in which Grove dramatizes the particulars in America's chronology through anecdotes, disabusing the general reader of common misconceptions such as the identity of the inventor of the cotton gin (not Eli Whitney) and the designer of the "Star-Spangled Banner" flag (not Betsy Ross). By engaging in a dialog with the reader, as he does with museum visitors, the author displays his enthusiasm as a practitioner and manager at the museums where he honed his craft, among them Colonial Williamsburg as an intern, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of American History, the Missouri Historical Society, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, and his current venue. VERDICT This semiautobiographical journey of a versatile, peregrinating public historian is instructive and inspirational for museum docents; informative for history buffs, especially those interested in the background of educational institutions outside the academy; and helpful for administrators of public programs. All readers will appreciate the author's learning techniques for eliciting questions, sparking the imagination, and promoting transcultural understanding, as well as his acknowledgement of cultural sensitivity, multiple perspectives, and changing interpretations.--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Lib. of Congress, Washington, DC

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2014
A practitioner of "living history" recounts, among odd bits of America's past, some of his life story so far. This personal take on the art of historiography is about the professional career of Grove (co-author: The Museum Educator's Manual, 2009), who is currently chief of "museum learning" at the National Air and Space Museum. The author first tasted living history at Colonial Williamsburg and learned how to mount interactive museum presentations at Washington's Smithsonian Institution, where he was once able to sneak a ride atop a refurbished high-wheel bicycle. We hear of notables, like Marcus Garvey and John Brown, who are represented in the National Portrait Gallery, where Grove also assisted. He also offers a history of the gallery's venerable building and a chronicle of the goings-on at Harpers Ferry. In the Museum of American History's "Hands on History Room," Grove was able to demonstrate the mechanics of a cotton gin and tell how conservators tend to the original Stars and Stripes. He joined the Missouri Historical Society to celebrate the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's journey of discovery. Thus, we are introduced to legendary Sacagawea, mourn over the murdered buffalo and hear about the smelly grizzly pelt required for a display. The author chronicles his presentation of instructive relics at the National Air and Space Museum and provides some information about how Charles and Anne Lindbergh prepared for their adventures. Though he's not fond of battlefield re-enactments, Grove thoroughly enjoys re-creating the past with appropriate objects. Essentially about the author's career in educating with artifacts, his account makes snippets of American history accessible to casual readers, who may learn of the utility of mules, the history of airmail and such miscellanea. Touches of American history, up close and personal, from an educator's scrapbook.

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