There are several components and intricacies that it takes to operate a museum that are often unknown to the general public. In most cases these institutions rely mostly on the dedication of their staff, whose passion for the arts out weigh the their pay scale. These intuitions encounter several problems that range from funding, lack of resources, old of date technology, procedural issues, and even theft. Sheila Connolly in her book Fundraising the Dead explores these dynamics through the perspective of Eleanor Pratt the director of development for a small, yet prestigious historical society in Philadelphia.
The story revolves around Eleanor Pratt, who is known by Nell and her daily duty as the fundraiser for the society. Eleanor is a honest, hard working,and passionate employee for the society. Nell's primary objective is to aid in the success and growth of the society and its collections. This is hindered when it is discovered that many of the society's most valuable artifacts have been stolen. After careful research and detective work of her own she discovers that the thief is someone that works within the institution. The problems is finding what has been taken, and by whom through a flawed and out of date system in the institution.
Connolly touches upon major issues with the procedure and operation that most museums, libraries, archives, or other institutions still use. The biggest issue that they face is managing such a vast amount of material with limited staff and limited funding. Many of the instutions that have been faced with theft often do not want to take action for fear of public ramafactions. The reputation of a instutions is just as important as the actual collections within them. Another major theme of the book is the idea that the people who have passion and love for arts are being taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives. This theme of one person manipulating another under false pretenses for personal gain is all throughout the book. Overall Fundraising the Dead is well written and enjoyable book. It over romanticizes the problems with museums, but most importantly get issue to the forefront. I would recommend it to anyone with interest in public history.
