Smithsonian Museum Exhibit Proposal

Ms. Thomas- American History

Due: November 17th, 2015 (Presentations)
75 points total
(Winning Proposal in each class: 10 extra credit points)
Congratulations! You have been selected to develop a proposal
for a Civil War museum exhibit at the Smithsonian. You and a
colleague will work to put the proposal together in hopes of winning
the bid. Please carefully read the Request for Proposal below and
develop your ideas to present to the Smithsonian. This project will be
worth 75 points, with ten additional extra credit points to the winning
proposal.
Request for Proposal:
The Smithsonian Museum of American History is requesting ideas to
help exhibit the Civil War. We are looking for these Civil War
questions/ideas to be developed into an exhibit:
Was the Civil War inevitable?
What were the social, political, and economic causes of the Civil
War?
Why did the election of Abraham Lincoln increase sectional
tensions between the states?
How did the war affect minorities during the period (women, free
blacks, slaves, immigrants)?
Did Reconstruction work for everyone?
How did the Civil War shape modern American?
^ To answer these questions in an exhibit, you will need to
extensively research each topic to understand each concept and how
best to display it at the museum.
Three Main Parts of the Exhibit Proposal:

1. Research
2. Exhibit Mock-Up
3. Presentation

Research Expectations:
1. Before creating your mock-up exhibit, you are required to
research the Civil War topics and questions to get accurate
information for your exhibit.
2. You need to reference your sources in a bibliography, to uphold
the high tradition and standards of the Smithsonian. Please do
not simply Google something and use the first site that pops
up. Use proper MLA formatting for your bibliography.
Some potential research items you could include in your exhibit:
Primary or Secondary Sources that clearly support or defend
your exhibit
Pictures, quotes, documents, artwork, writings, etc.
Referenced secondary sources
Original writings
Exhibit Mock-Up and Presentation Expectations:
1. After researching the Civil War topics/questions and
brainstorming your exhibit ideas, you will create a mock-up (a
model) of your proposal. To create your mock-up, you can use
Storyboards or Posters, PowerPoint, Hand-written visuals and
writings, 3D, PowerPoint or Prezi, Video, etc. Get creative!
****THIS DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LIFE SIZE. IT CAN BE
DONE ON NORMAL SIZED PAPER****
2. You will present your mock-up exhibit to the class. It should be
no less than 4-5 minutes long to completely explain your models
connection to the Civil War proposal questions.
Creativity:
This is totally up to you and your colleague. We are looking to your
expertise to decide the most effective way to exhibit the material. You

may use any of the standard museum display ideas such as plaques,
display boards, brochures, videos, interactive audio and images, etc.
Schedule/Deadlines:
- You need to post on our class websites Blog page (just Add
Comment), your name(s) and your general plan for
research/exhibit/presentation by Wednesday, November 11th,
2015.
- You will have extensive class time to work on your project with
your partner, including Wednesday and Friday. Use your time
wisely or else you will lose it.
- All three parts of your proposal (research, mock-up, and
presentation) are due on Tuesday, November 17th. Be ready to
present on that day.
Partner/Pairings:
- You need to choose one partner to work with in class. I highly
encourage you to work with someone, but you can choose to
work alone.
THIS ASSIGNMENT IS WORTH 75 POINTS AND WILL BE SCORED
ACCORDING TO THE ATTACHED RUBRIC.