DEFINING MEMORY: Local Museums and the Construction of History in America's Changing Communities (American Association for State and Local History Book Series)

Defining Memory uses case studies of exhibits from around the country to examine how local museums, defined as museums whose collections are local in scope or whose audiences are primarily local, have both shaped and been shaped by evolving community values and sense of history. Levin and her contributors argue that these small institutions play a key role in defining America's self-identity and should be studied as seriously as more national institutions like the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Amy K. Levin is director of women's studies and a professor of English at Northern Illinois University, where she is also a member of the faculty of the museum studies graduate certificate program.