Lake George, N.Y. -- Robert Flacke Sr. can remember the days when Fort William Henry's multimedia exhibit consisted of two Kodak carousel-style color slide projectors that kept breaking down.
The history-heavy tourist attraction on the southern end of Lake George upgraded years ago to a video display, an improvement that looks positively futuristic amid all the aging, dusty exhibits sprinkled throughout the privately owned reconstructed French and Indian War fort and museum. Many of the displays look like they haven't changed since the place was built more than a half century ago.
In an effort to boost numbers of visitors, museum and historical sites around the country are searching for new ways to update old exhibits amid a time of economic uncertainty and declining support for museums in general and history museums in particular.
"History is tough to sell," said Flacke, president of the Fort William Henry Corp.
Updating exhibits often is one way to attract more visitors, but it's expensive, especially for smaller museums and lesser-known historic sites.
"A lot of smaller institutions are getting off the treadmill of trying to change things every few months," said Anne Ackerson, director of the Museum Association of New York. "This history museum world is kind of scratching its head, trying to find out how to make themselves relevant, bring in audiences and engage those audiences on resources that they simply don't have."
History hit hard
The problem is particularly felt by history-related museums, which make up about 40 percent of the nation's 17,500 museums of all genres. Some 850 million visits are made to American museums each year, part of the $192 billion spent annually on cultural tourism in the United States. Even with all those visitors and all that money being spent, many history museums are struggling.
"It's tough for all museums everywhere," said Ford Bell, president of the American Association of Museums, which represents nearly 3,000 nationwide. The Washington, D.C., association's annual survey of a cross-section of museums found that more than 70 percent were experiencing some type of economic distress, he said.
To keep costs down, many museums are holding off on renting traveling exhibits and instead delving into their own collections to present new displays, Ackerson said. Others are looking at innovative ways to boost funding and give their museums a fresh look.
The Wright Museum ties black history to other cultural events, including recent performances by the Dance Theatre of Harlem, subject of a featured exhibit and the highlight of a September gala that raised more than $400,000 for the museum, spokesman Ted Canaday said.
"You can't just say, 'We're a history museum' and only push the historic aspect," he said. "You have to show people how the history impacts people right now, how it impacts the choices they make, and one of the best ways to do that is through the arts."
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