Shriver to Critics: Museum Must Change

I am delighted that the idea of a California Women’s History Museum has generated so much discussion in newspapers, on radio stations and in my local coffee shop.

You might be surprised that I am delighted, given that many of the articles and letters to the editor have been critical of my role in this undertaking -- suggesting that I might be trying to “shut out” men from California’s history, or implying that I am involved in some sinister power grab at a flourishing history museum.

Those things are not true, but I remain delighted at the talk. That’s because people are finally discussing the role of women in shaping this state -- missing in the curriculum our fourth-graders study and, before this year’s “Remarkable Women” exhibition, largely unseen at the California State History Museum as well.

I am a journalist and facts are part of my life, so I want to set a few facts straight.

First, I would never have proposed the idea of a California Women’s History Museum if the current history museum was a viable, financially sound museum. It is not. It has been in desperate straits since its inception. It has lacked an identity, it has lacked a focus, it has failed to attract an audience and it has never had a sound business plan. In fact, the board chair told me, it will be out of money by the end of the year. It is not a state-financed museum; taxpayers do not pay its operating costs. It must raise money through donations, memberships and attendance fees.

Last year, before the “Remarkable Women” exhibition, only 60,000 people had visited the museum. That’s compared with 600,000 who visited the California State Railroad Museum around the corner and 225,000 who visited Sutter’s Fort approximately a mile away. The history museum’s board, with all due respect, has never been able to make it soar -- something its members admit.

That’s why they came to me asking for help after I became first lady. I was happy to work with them, to help think of ways to reinvigorate their museum.

That’s why I proposed the “Remarkable Women” exhibition. Since it opened in May, the museum’s attendance has been up 59% over the same period last year. Thousands have learned about Patricia Bath, who pioneered laser cataract surgery; architect Julia Morgan; EBay President and Chief Executive Meg Whitman; Jane Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University; labor activist Dolores Huerta; the women of the African American-governed town of Allensworth and hundreds more.

Talk to any of the women who have gone through the museum and you will hear: “I never knew that” and “This makes me so proud.”

Facing the reality that the museum’s board had no money to continue into the new year, and no plan for changing its current situation, members asked me if I had any other ideas that could help. I suggested that they might tell the state’s history through the eyes of California’s women. That would give the museum a clear vision, identity and marketing strategy -- things every museum in the country needs to survive in these competitive times. I did not have in mind shutting men out of the story, as at least one newspaper has suggested. A revitalized museum would complement the state archives housed there.

It is the board that decides on the museum’s direction, not me. When I proposed the idea I said: “This is your museum. If you think you can save it, in its current state, God bless. If not, here is an idea you might want to consider. Whatever you decide, it’s fine with me.”

The board voted overwhelmingly to support the idea. It wasn’t done in secret. The board wasn’t hijacked.

Now three board members have resigned, and people are debating the merits of this idea. Fair enough, but to date no one, including none of those who resigned, has stepped up to save this museum.

Some are saying women haven’t done enough to warrant their own museum. Some suggest that I am taking money away from needy programs in order to launch an expensive government-financed museum. Both statements are inaccurate.

Whatever the outcome of this debate, I firmly believe that the stories of California’s valiant, pioneering, innovative women deserve to be told, whether in a California Women’s History Museum or in a broader history museum.

Unfortunately, the museum may have to close its doors before it gets to tell any of California’s history -- a history built by men and, yes, women.