JR Huckel & Associates

Election and Induction Services for Halls of Fame

New Blog Post: A Reverence for History

28-09-2011
My wife participates in Revolutionary War re-enactments. Could we use that idea more often at Halls of Fame?

(September 28, 2011) I spent a part of the weekend with my wife at Mount Harmon Plantation in Earleville on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She is a re-enactor portraying the lives and battles of those who created the United States some 235 years ago. It created a jealousy in me in this way – in sport it is a challenge to recreate the way the game was played ages ago. From time to time some Halls of Fame work to create the look of the game, but these recreations tend to be few and far between.

Maybe this should become a more important way that a Hall of Fame seeks to serve its audience and interprets its more static displays. Almost all Halls of Fame attempt to do this virtually through artifacts, photographs and film/video and the interpretation, but rarely do we suit up re-enactors or guests in period attire and recreate the game as it was played at some point in yesteryear.

Is this something we should be doing? Should Halls of Fame provide events that allow the game to be seen as it was played in the past? Should we include visitors? Can we do these with live participants against live opponents or dummy opponents, like a gridiron football dummy or sled?

There certainly is a range of activities that creating re-enactments could engender. How about thinking that through?

Jack Huckel, Founder & Principal of J.R. Huckel & Associates, offers election and induction consulting services to Halls of Fame. Jack served the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum as Director of Museum and Archives for 9-1/2 years after more than 10 years as a volunteer. More information is available at the firm’s web site. He can be reached at jack@jrhuckel.com or 518/852-3033.

Jack is a member of the International Sports Heritage Association, whose Annual Conference, “Survive AND Thrive,” will be held on October 12 – 14, 2011 at the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum in Oakville, Ontario.