VWH Campbell, Post-Gazette Re-enactments, such as this one in which British troops fired at the French and Indians in the woods at Fort Necessity in Fayette County, are considered important in attracting visitors to historical sites.

By Marylynne Pitz
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Zeus created the museum for his daughters so the muses had a place to experience lively artistic and intellectual pursuits.

But in this Internet age of podcasts, downloaded music and YouTube videos, some museums have turned into mausoleums and are struggling to attract visitors, said Lenwood O. Sloan, director of cultural and heritage tourism for the Pennsylvania Tourism Office.

On Saturday, nearly 100 people, many of whom represent more than 50 historical societies that operate museums, will gather in Allentown, Lehigh County, for the first History Expo to learn innovative ways to keep visitors coming back for more.

During the free, daylong session at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, historians and museum professionals will hear seminars on marketing, building membership, grant applications and newsletter writing. The public is invited.

Museum professionals must ask themselves two questions, said Gary Esolen, a consultant to Pennsylvania's tourism office. "What do we have to offer people that is meaningful to them and can add depth to their experience, and why should someone want to come here?"

Joseph Garrera, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, believes museums should connect local history to national history, because "all American history is local to someone."

But not all historians see the value of this strategy. When the Lehigh museum opened an exhibition about Abraham Lincoln on Presidents Day this year, the leader of a historical society in Pennsylvania asked Mr. Garrera what made the show relevant to residents of Allentown.

"I was dumbfounded," Mr. Garrera said. "He's as much the problem as not. First of all, Abraham Lincoln never would have become president without the state of Pennsylvania" because it had 25 percent of the delegates to win at the Republican convention at the time. "Whoever Pennsylvania goes for is going to win."

Historians have failed to consistently show their audiences why the study of history is relevant, Mr. Garrera said. "History gives a person a sense of perspective and proportion in their own life."

Because of the threat of terrorism, Mr. Garrera said, "I can't tell you how many young people come in here and think that the end of the world is not far off."

But America has survived many threats, he said. When he grew up during the 1960s, "We were looking down the gun barrel of thermonuclear war with hydrogen bombs. I remember the Cuban missile crisis. My knowledge of history gives me a sense of comfort that no, Joe, the world is not getting worse."

While some tourists seek new perspectives, they also desire authentic experiences, Mr. Sloan said. A Travel Industry Association report found more than 90 percent of the people who visit New Orleans tour Jackson Square and are photographed there, but fewer than 10 percent of them step inside the square's museum.

"The square is more relevant than the museum. It's more amusing," Mr. Sloan said.

Mr. Esolen said older attractions in Philadelphia, such as the Betsy Ross House and Christ Church, "have been struggling to keep numbers up. Museum people are becoming aware of that and are aware that they have to do something."

Some visitors to Philadelphia embark on The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia, which takes them past the Betsy Ross House, Christ Church and Elfreth's Alley, a national historic landmark and one of the oldest continuously inhabited streets in America.

"Some people, having walked past and having heard a word or two about the place, are perfectly satisfied," Mr. Esolen said, adding he has heard complaints that the walking tour is siphoning away potential visitors and revenue to Philadelphia's historic sites.

At the expo, Edith Walsh, administrator of the history and museum grant program for the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, will give a presentation on grant writing. She outlined the task for museums this way:

"I think the biggest challenge is to be continually supported either by the public or the government or both. Museums need to be on the cutting edge. They have to have an audience that wants to keep coming back. You can't have an exhibit for five years. You have to have something that interests the public continually."

Washington's Crossing Park, which straddles Pennsylvania and New Jersey, has experienced declining attendance for years. But last year, the park attracted an additional 5,000 visitors because it participated in New Jersey's state history fair, Mr. Garrera said. The event featured re-enactors from the American Revolution and the Civil War.

To help draw more interest in history, Mr. Garrera said, Pennsylvania next year will host its own state history fair on the 3 1/2-acre Lehigh museum site in Allentown.

"Vermont has one. New Jersey started one four years ago," he said. "New Jersey had 5,000 people at their history fair last year."