Yeshiva University Museum

Purpose: Supporting Lifelong Learning Public programming at Yeshiva University Museum (YUM) in its original north Manhattan location focused on the needs of the predominantly minority, low-income population of this underserved neighborhood, with emphasis on ongoing school and youth programs. YUM's new quarters in lower Manhattan make the museum accessible to a much larger audience that is more diverse in terms of age and ethnicity and more responsive to a variety of adult programs. In concert with its mission and strategic plan, the museum has been working to increase its capacity to inspire lifelong learning by expanding public programming in its new location. To this end, the museum will add a permanent staff member for public programming; conduct pre- and postproject demographic evaluations to diversify the audience; and strategically plan an approach to public programming that will appeal to a wide variety of people. These steps are important to institutional development. The public programming staff member supported by this grant will work on YUM's exhibition "A Perfect Fit: The Garment Industry and American Jewry." This exhibition will provide an excellent starting point for audience outreach. It breaks new ground in scholarship, as it unifies research in several fields to explore a widely acknowledged but little examined area of the development of the United States as a great industrial nation during the crucial years from 1860 to 1960.