New direction for Museum On Main New direction for Museum On Main (August 20, 2004)

Team ready to run museum, along with volunteers
by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

It's all about yesterday - and today and tomorrow.

Terry Berry, the new executive director at the Museum On Main Street, said she is fascinated by history because of the insights it gives us into life now and in the future.

"Pleasanton had a diverse population in the 1800s," she said, noting the Indians, Spanish, Mexicans and many nationalities of Anglos. "We are still dealing with diversity."

"The Indians had to deal with pandemic diseases, we are dealing with AIDS," she added. "I had a history professor who said there are patterns in the chaos. We try to understand the past to deal with things today."

Berry, 52, started the new executive director position at the museum two weeks ago. She had already been working unpaid for two years, designing and implementing a new archive program with nine archival volunteers.

Former director Heather Haugen Rizzoli is now director of education, a part-time position she created with her interests in mind.

"We've worked out a very good partnership," said Berry. "Heather is taking over all the educational aspects except exhibit development. That will stay in my office with help from the exhibit committee."

"I'm leading lots of the tours myself," said Rizzoli, explaining that students visit the museum in the third grade, when they study local history. "We also get seniors and Boy Scouts."

Berry has a bachelor's degree in history and a master's in public administration from Cal State University Hayward. She said that her short-term goal is to help the museum board of directors.

"I want to take on the operation base so they can expand their public relations and fundraising," she said.

The museum had about 5,000 visitors two years ago before the board instigated the changing exhibits and its lecture series, she said. It had 2,700 visitors last month alone, and approximately 17,000 last year.

"I think it's going to be 20,000 this year," said Berry. "The changing exhibits are very successful." The current exhibit on the history of railroads in the valley ends Sept. 12, and the next one, to open in early October, is about Pleasanton in the '50s and '60s.

Berry said that several new museum projects are in the works including mini exhibits to use in the display cases at City Hall when there are vacancies.

A monthly e-letter to members will begin Oct. 1, to remind them of upcoming events. The museum has 161 members and is planning a major membership drive in November.

"Another project I really want to do is a school box for teachers," said Berry. "Students come here but transportation is expensive. Ideally we will find a volunteer to do it."

Berry also hopes to start a Web site for the museum. And another long-term goal is monthly continuing education for docents, she said. The museum currently has about 20 docents, and Berry and Rizzoli hope to add 10-20 more.

"We would like them to work regularly, at least one day a month," said Rizzoli, who is in charge of docents. They work as greeters, lead tours and handle the gift shop.

Berry also helped establish the Tri-Valley History Council, a group of history centers, genealogy groups and libraries - 17 in all - that meets once a quarter for networking and support. "We hope to do training together," said Berry. "We're dedicated to raining and professionalism."

Berry is from Oklahoma. She said that since getting married 30 years ago, she and her husband Tommie have moved every two years, including to France. They had lived in California twice before, in San Jose and in Morgan Hill, before moving to Pleasanton nine years ago.

"If we had come to Pleasanton in the first place, we might have wanted to stay," she said. They have five children, including a grown daughter who lives with them and a married daughter in San Ramon.

"I've always loved history but didn't think about the idea of running a museum," said Berry. "I was fortunate that one of the history professors at CSU Hayward became my mentor. He taught Introduction to Public History, which is everything outside of academia."

When she wanted to earn a master's degree, she considered history but realized that studying administration would qualify her to work with history in museums.

"The field of history is the study of change over time," she said, explaining that historians work to discover how people lived and what they thought. "It's impossible," she declared. "That's what makes it so challenging."

History literally changes, she noted, as new insights into the past are uncovered. "That's why we don't think George Washington cut down the cherry tree anymore," she said. "It's the insight into human behavior that's fascinating to me."
About Museum On Main Street

Address: 603 Main St., housed in the former City Hall built in 1914 Telephone: 462-2766 E-mail: valleymuseum@sbcglobal.net Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday; 1-4 p.m. Sunday Admission: $2 per person requested donation Memberships: $25 individual; $15 seniors, students; $35 family Description: Rotating local, regional and California history exhibits. It offers a lecture series, photo and document collections, history library, gift shop, education tours and talks, walking tours, research and special events.

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