Deaccessioning is a frequent topic of conversation in even small and mid-sized museums in the twenty-first century. With collections costs soaring, budgets dwindling, and space ever more limited, museums must deaccession to survive and prosper. However, deaccessioning and disposal have become hugely controversial, both among museum professionals and with the general public in the past few decades. Scholars like Stephen Weil and Marie Malaro argue that deaccessioning and disposal were non-issues prior to the 1970s. Is this true? If so, how did museum professionals handle deaccessioning and disposal of objects from their collections before this time?
This thesis explores the long history of deaccessioning in American museums prior to the controversies of the 1970s using examples from the published literature as well as a case study of pre-1970s deaccessioning campaigns at the Passaic County Historical Society in New Jersey. This mid-sized historical society adapted an evolving set of norms and values surrounding museum disposal to their own unique needs in the early twentieth century, long before governments and professional associations mandated compliance to specific sets of standards. I argue that small museum workers today should learn to view deaccessioning as part of a much longer tradition of disposal practices that dates back over a century, and that they should research and use this history in their own institutions to help justify future deaccessioning campaigns.
","abstract_html":"<p>Deaccessioning is a frequent topic of conversation in even small and mid-sized museums in the twenty-first century. With collections costs soaring, budgets dwindling, and space ever more limited, museums must deaccession to survive and prosper. However, deaccessioning and disposal have become hugely controversial, both among museum professionals and with the general public in the past few decades. Scholars like Stephen Weil and Marie Malaro argue that deaccessioning and disposal were non-issues prior to the 1970s. Is this true? If so, how did museum professionals handle deaccessioning and disposal of objects from their collections before this time?</p> <p>This thesis explores the long history of deaccessioning in American museums prior to the controversies of the 1970s using examples from the published literature as well as a case study of pre-1970s deaccessioning campaigns at the Passaic County Historical Society in New Jersey. This mid-sized historical society adapted an evolving set of norms and values surrounding museum disposal to their own unique needs in the early twentieth century, long before governments and professional associations mandated compliance to specific sets of standards. I argue that small museum workers today should learn to view deaccessioning as part of a much longer tradition of disposal practices that dates back over a century, and that they should research and use this history in their own institutions to help justify future deaccessioning campaigns.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lapos, Kristin"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA Museum Professions","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Communication and the Arts","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Martha Easton, Ph.D"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-08-09T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-08-09T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:33:15Z","subjects":["deaccessioning","new jersey","museums","small museums","history museums","collections","Museum Studies","Public History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2215","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Martha Easton, Ph.D"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lapos, Kristin"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-09-23T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication and the Arts"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA Museum Professions"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["deaccessioning","new jersey","museums","small museums","history museums","collections","Museum Studies","Public History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2215"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Deaccessioning is a frequent topic of conversation in even small and mid-sized museums in the twenty-first century. With collections costs soaring, budgets dwindling, and space ever more limited, museums must deaccession to survive and prosper. However, deaccessioning and disposal have become hugely controversial, both among museum professionals and with the general public in the past few decades. Scholars like Stephen Weil and Marie Malaro argue that deaccessioning and disposal were non-issues prior to the 1970s. Is this true? If so, how did museum professionals handle deaccessioning and disposal of objects from their collections before this time?
This thesis explores the long history of deaccessioning in American museums prior to the controversies of the 1970s using examples from the published literature as well as a case study of pre-1970s deaccessioning campaigns at the Passaic County Historical Society in New Jersey. This mid-sized historical society adapted an evolving set of norms and values surrounding museum disposal to their own unique needs in the early twentieth century, long before governments and professional associations mandated compliance to specific sets of standards. I argue that small museum workers today should learn to view deaccessioning as part of a much longer tradition of disposal practices that dates back over a century, and that they should research and use this history in their own institutions to help justify future deaccessioning campaigns.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Deaccessioning in Small Museums: A Historical View and Lessons from the Past"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Martha Easton, Ph.D"],"dc:creator":["Lapos, Kristin"],"dc:date.available":["2016-09-23T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Deaccessioning is a frequent topic of conversation in even small and mid-sized museums in the twenty-first century. With collections costs soaring, budgets dwindling, and space ever more limited, museums must deaccession to survive and prosper. However, deaccessioning and disposal have become hugely controversial, both among museum professionals and with the general public in the past few decades. Scholars like Stephen Weil and Marie Malaro argue that deaccessioning and disposal were non-issues prior to the 1970s. Is this true? If so, how did museum professionals handle deaccessioning and disposal of objects from their collections before this time?
This thesis explores the long history of deaccessioning in American museums prior to the controversies of the 1970s using examples from the published literature as well as a case study of pre-1970s deaccessioning campaigns at the Passaic County Historical Society in New Jersey. This mid-sized historical society adapted an evolving set of norms and values surrounding museum disposal to their own unique needs in the early twentieth century, long before governments and professional associations mandated compliance to specific sets of standards. I argue that small museum workers today should learn to view deaccessioning as part of a much longer tradition of disposal practices that dates back over a century, and that they should research and use this history in their own institutions to help justify future deaccessioning campaigns.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2215"],"dc:subject":["deaccessioning","new jersey","museums","small museums","history museums","collections","Museum Studies","Public History"],"dc:title":["Deaccessioning in Small Museums: A Historical View and Lessons from the Past"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication and the Arts"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA Museum Professions"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:33:15Z"}