What was said in 1994 on American Naval and Maritime Museums?
Maritime historian Ben Labaree wrote on the American maritime field while naval historians Ken Hagan and Robert Shulman focused on American naval history. Generally, the authors were upbeat and optimistic on maritime and naval museums, although Hagan and Shulman wrote that museums are a thriving industry, although the future of some [of the naval] museums was under a cloud. Referring to the state of maritime history at the higher education level when saying that America’s maritime past is rapidly disappearing, Labaree wrote that the bright spot on the scene was America’s maritime museums. This is what I believe exists in 2004. While today’s twelve official naval museums come under the authority of the Navy (as well as some receiving financial support from foundations), the vast majority of maritime museums, then and today, are private, non-profit entities, and thus depend heavily on endowments, gifts, and membership. Labaree also said in 1994 that increasingly, museums are reliant upon
