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Cooktown Museum

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108-513: Cooktown Museum (formerly James Cook Historical Museum ) is a heritage-listed former convent and school and now museum at Furneaux Street, Cooktown , Shire of Cook , Queensland , Australia. It was designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built from 1888 to 1889 Hobbs & Carter. It was formerly known as St Mary's Convent and School. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 (under

216-407: A gable over the western bay and as a truncated hipped form at the southern end. The original decorative ridge cast-iron work and roof vents have been removed from the truncated section of roof. Later dormer windows have been installed with four along the east elevation, one on north side and two on the west elevation. There are verandahs on the east and west elevation. The west or front verandah

324-459: A Cooktown landmark since its construction in the late 1880s. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The place has a strong association for the people of Cooktown and district with the town's earlier prominence in Queensland's history. This was evidenced by the public outcry in the late 1960s when

432-453: A contractor when necessary. The cultural property stored in museums is threatened in many countries by natural disaster , war , terrorist attacks or other emergencies. To this end, an internationally important aspect is a strong bundling of existing resources and the networking of existing specialist competencies in order to prevent any loss or damage to cultural property or to keep damage as low as possible. International partner for museums

540-492: A convent school at Cooktown. There was an existing primary school, staffed by lay teachers, attached to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Cooktown, but Bishop Hutchinson envisaged a grander establishment which could offer a superior education, both religious and academic, to the girls (future wives and mothers) of Far North Queensland . It was to operate as both a day school and a boarding school for girls. St Mary's Convent and School

648-471: A culture. As historian Steven Conn writes, "To see the thing itself, with one's own eyes and in a public place, surrounded by other people having some version of the same experience, can be enchanting." Museum purposes vary from institution to institution. Some favor education over conservation, or vice versa. For example, in the 1970s, the Canada Science and Technology Museum favored education over

756-718: A full-time director to whom authority is delegated for day-to-day operations; Have the financial resources sufficient to operate effectively; Demonstrate that it meets the Core Standards for Museums; Successfully complete the Core Documents Verification Program". Additionally, there is a legal definition of museum in United States legislation authorizing the establishment of the Institute of Museum and Library Services : "Museum means

864-459: A museum and on display, they not only got to show their fantastic finds but also used the museum as a way to sort and "manage the empirical explosion of materials that wider dissemination of ancient texts, increased travel, voyages of discovery, and more systematic forms of communication and exchange had produced". One of these naturalists and collectors was Ulisse Aldrovandi , whose collection policy of gathering as many objects and facts about them

972-554: A museum is successful, as happened in Bilbao, others continue especially if a museum struggles to attract visitors. The Taubman Museum of Art is an example of an expensive museum (eventually $ 66 million) that attained little success and continues to have a low endowment for its size. Some museum activists see this method of museum use as a deeply flawed model for such institutions. Steven Conn, one such museum proponent, believes that "to ask museums to solve our political and economic problems

1080-402: A museum's collection typically determines the museum's size, whereas its collection reflects the type of museum it is. Many museums normally display a "permanent collection" of important selected objects in its area of specialization, and may periodically display "special collections" on a temporary basis. The following is a list to give an idea of the major museum types. While comprehensive, it

1188-509: A notable person, or a given period of time. Museums also can be based on the main source of funding: central or federal government, provinces, regions, universities; towns and communities; other subsidised; nonsubsidised and private. It may sometimes be useful to distinguish between diachronic museums which interpret the way its subject matter has developed and evolved through time (e.g., Lower East Side Tenement Museum and Diachronic Museum of Larissa ), and synchronic museums which interpret

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1296-508: A palace of Henry VIII , in England opened the council room to the general public to create an interactive environment for visitors. Rather than allowing visitors to handle 500-year-old objects, however, the museum created replicas, as well as replica costumes. The daily activities, historic clothing, and even temperature changes immerse the visitor in an impression of what Tudor life may have been. Major professional organizations from around

1404-505: A port deteriorated in the 1890s, as production from the alluvial diggings on the Palmer Goldfields declined. Bishop Hutchinson died in 1897, and his successor, Bishop James Murray , is understood to have paid off the debt on the convent building by conducting a lecture tour in the United States. In 1906 Bishop Murray moved his residence to Cairns, which had eclipsed Cooktown as the principal port of far North Queensland. Despite

1512-407: A public, tribal, or private nonprofit institution which is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational, cultural heritage, or aesthetic purposes and which, using a professional staff: Owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; Cares for these objects; and Exhibits them to the general public on a regular basis" (Museum Services Act 1976). One of the oldest museums known

1620-903: A series of standards and best practices that help guide the management of museums. Various positions within the museum carry out the policies established by the Board and the Director. All museum employees should work together toward the museum's institutional goal. Here is a list of positions commonly found at museums: Other positions commonly found at museums include: building operator, public programming staff, photographer , librarian , archivist , groundskeeper , volunteer coordinator, preparator, security staff, development officer, membership officer, business officer, gift shop manager, public relations staff, and graphic designer . At smaller museums, staff members often fulfill multiple roles. Some of these positions are excluded entirely or may be carried out by

1728-565: Is Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum , built by Princess Ennigaldi in modern Iraq at the end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire . The site dates from c.  530 BC , and contained artifacts from earlier Mesopotamian civilizations . Notably, a clay drum label—written in three languages—was found at the site, referencing the history and discovery of a museum item. Ancient Greeks and Romans collected and displayed art and objects but perceived museums differently from modern-day views. In

1836-773: Is UNESCO and Blue Shield International in accordance with the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property from 1954 and its 2nd Protocol from 1999. For legal reasons, there are many international collaborations between museums, and the local Blue Shield organizations. Blue Shield has conducted extensive missions to protect museums and cultural assets in armed conflict, such as 2011 in Egypt and Libya, 2013 in Syria and 2014 in Mali and Iraq. During these operations,

1944-517: Is accessed via a set of stone stairs from the western verandah. This doorway is flanked on each side by double-hung windows with shallow arched heads and hood moulds over. The apex of the western gable roof has cast-iron panels fixed between a collar tie supported by decorative timber brackets and a king post running up to the roof and supporting a cross. The central hall contains a fine timber staircase. Rooms of various dimension run off central corridors at ground and first-floor levels. The rooms in

2052-610: Is an institution dedicated to displaying and/or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers and specialists. Museums host a much wider range of objects than a library , and usually focus on a specific theme, such as the arts , science , natural history or local history . Public museums that host exhibitions and interactive demonstrations are often tourist attractions , and many attract large numbers of visitors from outside their host country, with

2160-554: Is believed to be one of the earliest museums in the world. While it connected to the Library of Alexandria it is not clear if the museum was in a different building from the library or was part of the library complex. While little was known about the museum it was an inspiration for museums during the early Renaissance period. The royal palaces also functioned as a kind of museum outfitted with art and objects from conquered territories and gifts from ambassadors from other kingdoms allowing

2268-483: Is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular the dramatic rise and fall of Cooktown as a port, supply and administrative centre to the Palmer River goldfields in the last quarter of the 19th century. Its construction evidences the buoyant Cooktown economy of the late 1880s and survives as a highly evocative illustration of late 19th century confidence in the future of Cooktown as

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2376-404: Is not a definitive list. Private museums are organized by individuals and managed by a board and museum officers, but public museums are created and managed by federal, state, or local governments. A government can charter a museum through legislative action but the museum can still be private as it is not part of the government. The distinction regulates the ownership and legal accountability for

2484-438: Is not necessarily a negative development; Dorothy Canfield Fisher observed that the reduction in objects has pushed museums to grow from institutions that artlessly showcased their many artifacts (in the style of early cabinets of curiosity) to instead "thinning out" the objects presented "for a general view of any given subject or period, and to put the rest away in archive-storage-rooms, where they could be consulted by students,

2592-634: Is particularly true in the case of postindustrial cities. Examples of museums fulfilling these economic roles exist around the world. For example, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was built in Bilbao, Spain in a move by the Basque regional government to revitalize the dilapidated old port area of that city. The Basque government agreed to pay $ 100 million for the construction of the museum, a price tag that caused many Bilbaoans to protest against

2700-618: Is pluralized as museums (or rarely, musea ). It is originally from the Ancient Greek Μουσεῖον ( mouseion ), which denotes a place or temple dedicated to the muses (the patron divinities in Greek mythology of the arts), and hence was a building set apart for study and the arts, especially the Musaeum (institute) for philosophy and research at Alexandria , built under Ptolemy I Soter about 280 BC. The purpose of modern museums

2808-492: Is significant for its rarity value: few late 19th century buildings of this substance and decorative detail were erected in centres as remote as Cooktown, accessible only by sea in the 1880s. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The former convent and school is an excellent, highly intact example of a substantial, 1880s boom era brick institutional building with decorative detailing, designed to accommodate

2916-502: Is sited on a hill overlooking the Endeavour River. It is constructed in red brick in a Victorian Gothic style . It has an L-shaped floor plan with a bay projecting to the west on its northern end. Brick cornices surround the building below the ground-floor- and first-floor-window levels and at first-floor level. The roof has a steep pitch and is now clad in corrugated iron replacing the original ribbed pan. The roof finishes as

3024-565: Is supported on paired cast-iron Corinthian columns which divide it into five bays. Each bay is finished with arching decorative cast-iron brackets . The paired columns at first-floor level rise in Doric detailing to support the verandah roof. The rear or eastern verandah is infilled but retains its original detailing of single columns cast-iron first-floor balustrade and deep vertical timbered valance at ground-floor level. The former single-storeyed hipped roof brick kitchen building remains to

3132-409: Is to collect, preserve, interpret, and display objects of artistic, cultural, or scientific significance for the study and education of the public. To city leaders, an active museum community can be seen as a gauge of the cultural or economic health of a city, and a way to increase the sophistication of its inhabitants. To museum professionals, a museum might be seen as a way to educate the public about

3240-417: Is to set them up for inevitable failure and to set us (the visitor) up for inevitable disappointment." Museums are facing funding shortages. Funding for museums comes from four major categories, and as of 2009 the breakdown for the United States is as follows: Government support (at all levels) 24.4%, private (charitable) giving 36.5%, earned income 27.6%, and investment income 11.5%. Government funding from

3348-518: The Age of Enlightenment saw their ideas of the museum as superior and based their natural history museums on "organization and taxonomy" rather than displaying everything in any order after the style of Aldrovandi. The first "public" museums were often accessible only for the middle and upper classes. It could be difficult to gain entrance. When the British Museum opened to the public in 1759, it

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3456-466: The American Alliance of Museums does not have such a definition, their list of accreditation criteria to participate in their Accreditation Program states a museum must: "Be a legally organized nonprofit institution or part of a nonprofit organization or government entity; Be essentially educational in nature; Have a formally stated and approved mission; Use and interpret objects or a site for

3564-578: The Magdalene Asylum at Wooloowin , Brisbane (1888–89), and the Sisters of Mercy Convent at South Brisbane (1889). The tender for St Mary's Convent and School at Cooktown was let about May 1888 to Brisbane contractors Hobbs & Carter, who had erected the much admired Cook Monument at Cooktown in 1887. When Bishop Hutchinson returned from Ireland in June 1888 with five Sisters of Mercy to staff

3672-538: The National Endowment for the Arts , the largest museum funder in the United States, decreased by 19.586 million between 2011 and 2015, adjusted for inflation. The average spent per visitor in an art museum in 2016 was $ 8 between admissions, store and restaurant, where the average expense per visitor was $ 55. Corporations , which fall into the private giving category, can be a good source of funding to make up

3780-617: The Newark Museum in a series of books in the early 20th century so that other museum founders could plan their museums. Dana suggested that potential founders of museums should form a committee first, and reach out to the community for input as to what the museum should supply or do for the community. According to Dana, museums should be planned according to community's needs: "The new museum ... does not build on an educational superstition. It examines its community's life first, and then straightway bends its energies to supplying some

3888-629: The Titanic Belfast , built on disused shipyards in Belfast , Northern Ireland , incidentally for the same price as the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and by the same architect, Frank Gehry , in time for the 100th anniversary of Titanic 's maiden voyage in 2012. Initially expecting modest visitor numbers of 425,000 annually, first year visitor numbers reached over 800,000, with almost 60% coming from outside Northern Ireland. In

3996-675: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. uses many artifacts in their memorable exhibitions. Museums are laid out in a specific way for a specific reason and each person who enters the doors of a museum will see its collection completely differently to the person behind them- this is what makes museums fascinating because they are represented differently to each individual. In recent years, some cities have turned to museums as an avenue for economic development or rejuvenation. This

4104-834: The interpretive plan for an exhibit, determining the most effective, engaging and appropriate methods of communicating a message or telling a story. The process will often mirror the architectural process or schedule, moving from conceptual plan, through schematic design, design development, contract document, fabrication, and installation. Museums of all sizes may also contract the outside services of exhibit fabrication businesses. Some museum scholars have even begun to question whether museums truly need artifacts at all. Historian Steven Conn provocatively asks this question, suggesting that there are fewer objects in all museums now, as they have been progressively replaced by interactive technology. As educational programming has grown in museums, mass collections of objects have receded in importance. This

4212-432: The most visited museums in the world attracting millions of visitors annually. Since the establishment of the earliest known museum in ancient times , museums have been associated with academia and the preservation of rare items. Museums originated as private collections of interesting items, and not until much later did the emphasis on educating the public take root. The English word museum comes from Latin , and

4320-499: The 1860s. The British Museum was described by one of their delegates as a 'hakubutsukan', a 'house of extensive things' – this would eventually become accepted as the equivalent word for 'museum' in Japan and China. American museums eventually joined European museums as the world's leading centers for the production of new knowledge in their fields of interest. A period of intense museum building, in both an intellectual and physical sense

4428-665: The British Museum for its possession of rare antiquities from Egypt, Greece, and the Middle East. The roles associated with the management of a museum largely depend on the size of the institution. Together, the Board and the Director establish a system of governance that is guided by policies that set standards for the institution. Documents that set these standards include an institutional or strategic plan, institutional code of ethics, bylaws, and collections policy. The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) has also formulated

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4536-640: The Catholic Church called for the place to be demolished. As the James Cook Historical Museum, the place has become a major Cooktown tourist attraction. The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history. The place has significant associations with the work of the Augustinian fathers, in particular Bishops Hutchinson and Murray, and

4644-569: The Endeavour River in 1770. [REDACTED] This Misplaced Pages article was originally based on "The Queensland heritage register" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 7 July 2014, archived on 8 October 2014). The geo-coordinates were originally computed from the "Queensland heritage register boundaries" published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 5 September 2014, archived on 15 October 2014). Museum A museum

4752-612: The Henderson and Audaer Ranges. The river flows generally east from the Great Dividing Range to the Coral Sea. The Right Branch of the river rises northwest of Hopevale at an elevation of 335 metres (1,099 ft) and flows generally south by east for 48 kilometres (30 mi) before reaching its confluence to join with the Endeavour River northwest of Cooktown , and west of the river mouth . The South Branch of

4860-651: The Sisters of Mercy, in the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and with the American military during the Second World War. Since 1970, it has had an important and close connection with the James Cook Historical Museum collection. The Joseph Banks Memorial Garden was established in the grounds of the former convent as a memorial to the work of botanist Joseph Banks and Dr Solander during their 7-week encampment at

4968-603: The Smithsonian Institution, are still respected as research centers, research is no longer a main purpose of most museums. While there is an ongoing debate about the purposes of interpretation of a museum's collection, there has been a consistent mission to protect and preserve cultural artifacts for future generations. Much care, expertise, and expense is invested in preservation efforts to retard decomposition in ageing documents, artifacts, artworks, and buildings. All museums display objects that are important to

5076-866: The South Branch to form the Endeavour River. Having been formed by the South and North Branches, the Endeavour River rises below Flaggy at an elevation of 39 metres (128 ft) and flows generally east towards its mouth with the Coral Sea at Cooktown, flowing through the Endeavour River National Park for the last few kilometres of its course . The Endeavour River has a catchment area of 1,315 square kilometres (508 sq mi). In recent years, tilapia fish, which are considered an " invasive species " in Australia, have infested

5184-697: The United States, several Native American tribes and advocacy groups have lobbied extensively for the repatriation of sacred objects and the reburial of human remains. In 1990, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which required federal agencies and federally funded institutions to repatriate Native American "cultural items" to culturally affiliate tribes and groups. Similarly, many European museum collections often contain objects and cultural artifacts acquired through imperialism and colonization . Some historians and scholars have criticized

5292-543: The United States, similar projects include the 81,000 square foot Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia and The Broad in Los Angeles . Museums being used as a cultural economic driver by city and local governments has proven to be controversial among museum activists and local populations alike. Public protests have occurred in numerous cities which have tried to employ museums in this way. While most subside if

5400-520: The building was returned to the Church in 1945 after the war, the school was not re-opened and the Sisters never returned. Another cyclone damaged the building in 1949 and by 1969 it was considered to be in such a ruinous state that tenders for its demolition were called. Following public protest, the building was donated to the National Trust of Queensland on condition that it be restored to house

5508-402: The businesses destroyed in the 1907 cyclone were not re-established, and an entire block of shops and offices in the main street of Cooktown, destroyed by fire in 1919, were never re-built. St Mary's boarding school closed in the 1930s but co-educational day classes were continued until 1941, when the building is understood to have been commandeered by United States military authorities. Although

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5616-728: The care of the collections. Endeavour River The Endeavour River ( Guugu Yimithirr : Wabalumbaal ), inclusive of the Endeavour River Right Branch , the Endeavour River South Branch , and the Endeavour River North Branch , is a river system located on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland , Australia . The river system comprises three branches that are sourced by runoff from

5724-431: The chosen artifacts. These elements of planning have their roots with John Cotton Dana, who was perturbed at the historical placement of museums outside of cities, and in areas that were not easily accessed by the public, in gloomy European style buildings. Questions of accessibility continue to the present day. Many museums strive to make their buildings, programming, ideas, and collections more publicly accessible than in

5832-404: The classical period, the museums were the temples and their precincts which housed collections of votive offerings. Paintings and sculptures were displayed in gardens, forums, theaters, and bathhouses. In the ancient past there was little differentiation between libraries and museums with both occupying the building and were frequently connected to a temple or royal palace. The Museum of Alexandria

5940-502: The collection of the James Cook Historical Museum at Cooktown. The new Museum was opened on 22 April 1970 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II , during her visit to Australia to celebrate the bi-centenary of Cook's charting of the east coast . The former St Mary's Convent and School continues to be maintained by the National Trust, and is one of the principal tourist attractions in Cooktown. In the early 1970s, extensions were made to

6048-406: The decline of Cooktown - both in population and significance - St Mary's Convent and School remained an important educational facility for girls in far North Queensland until the 1930s. The building suffered substantial damage during the cyclone of January 1907, which demolished the Catholic Church behind the convent and removed part of the convent roof, but was repaired immediately. However, many of

6156-539: The development of more modern 19th-century museums was part of new strategies by Western governments to produce a citizenry that, rather than be directed by coercive or external forces, monitored and regulated its own conduct. To incorporate the masses in this strategy, the private space of museums that previously had been restricted and socially exclusive were made public. As such, objects and artifacts, particularly those related to high culture, became instruments for these "new tasks of social management". Universities became

6264-406: The eastern end of the hall were the lavatories. A central staircase led from the entrance hall to the upper floor, which contained boarders' dormitories at the north end and dormitories for the sisters at the south end. Upper floor lavatories and bathrooms were located above the ground floor lavatories at the east end of the north wing. Boarders used a second staircase on the rear verandah, rather than

6372-409: The former use and status of an object. Religious or holy objects, for instance, are handled according to cultural rules. Jewish objects that contain the name of God may not be discarded, but need to be buried. Although most museums do not allow physical contact with the associated artifacts, there are some that are interactive and encourage a more hands-on approach. In 2009, Hampton Court Palace ,

6480-697: The funding gap. The amount corporations currently give to museums accounts for just 5% of total funding. Corporate giving to the arts, however, was set to increase by 3.3% in 2017. Most mid-size and large museums employ exhibit design staff for graphic and environmental design projects, including exhibitions. In addition to traditional 2-D and 3-D designers and architects, these staff departments may include audio-visual specialists, software designers, audience research, evaluation specialists, writers, editors, and preparators or art handlers. These staff specialists may also be charged with supervising contract design or production services. The exhibit design process builds on

6588-418: The grand central stair. At the rear, the kitchen, scullery and servant's room formed a detached wing, connected to the main building via a covered way. Stanley had taken account of the Cooktown climate: the rooms were large, light and airy, and there were deep verandahs front and back. The rear verandahs were enclosed with "curtain boards", and the front verandahs were decorated with cast iron. The site selected

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6696-420: The ground floor comprised a central entrance hall, off which opened a large dining room (also used as the school chapel) to the right and a large reception room for visitors to the left. Behind these rooms were two classrooms, each divided by folding doors. Beyond the reception room was the school hall, a large room 44 by 18 feet (13.4 by 5.5 m), which occupied most of the ground floor of the north wing. Beyond

6804-422: The local Guugu Yimithirr people . The naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander made extensive collections of native flora, while Sydney Parkinson illustrated much of the flora and fauna of the region. Botanical specimens were also collected by Allan Cunningham after he arrived on HMS  Mermaid , captained by Philip Parker King on 28 June 1819. Modern Cooktown which has a population of about 2,000,

6912-422: The looting of the collection is to be prevented in particular. The design of museums has evolved throughout history. However, museum planning involves planning the actual mission of the museum along with planning the space that the collection of the museum will be housed in. Intentional museum planning has its beginnings with the museum founder and librarian John Cotton Dana . Dana detailed the process of founding

7020-407: The material which that community needs, and to making that material's presence widely known, and to presenting it in such a way as to secure it for the maximum of use and the maximum efficiency of that use." The way that museums are planned and designed vary according to what collections they house, but overall, they adhere to planning a space that is easily accessed by the public and easily displays

7128-409: The museum landscape has become so varied, that it may not be sufficient to use traditional categories to comprehend fully the vast variety existing throughout the world. However, it may be useful to categorize museums in different ways under multiple perspectives. Museums can vary based on size, from large institutions, to very small institutions focusing on specific subjects, such as a specific location,

7236-617: The museum planning process. Some museum experiences have very few or no artifacts and do not necessarily call themselves museums, and their mission reflects this; the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia , being notable examples where there are few artifacts, but strong, memorable stories are told or information is interpreted. In contrast,

7344-490: The museum's mission, such as civil rights or environmentalism . Museums are, above all, storehouses of knowledge. In 1829, James Smithson's bequest funding the Smithsonian Institution stated that he wanted to establish an institution "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". In the late 19th century, museums of natural history exemplified the scientific drive for classifying life and interpreting

7452-471: The name James Cook Historical Museum). This substantial, two-storeyed brick building was erected in 1888–1889 as St Mary's Convent and School. It was the inspiration of the first Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown, Bishop John Hutchinson ; designed by former colonial architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, of Brisbane ; and staffed initially by Sisters of Mercy from Dunvargan in Ireland. Bishop Hutchinson

7560-446: The need for an educational institution for girls in far North Queensland which offered a superior education to that available in small local state schools, and St Mary's was patronised by families of all denominations. It was the first girls' high school in the area and gained a strong reputation for the quality of its music curriculum. World-acclaimed Queensland singer Gladys Moncrieff was educated there. The significance of Cooktown as

7668-455: The northern end of the building provide large museum display space. Walls are plaster over brick and ceilings lath and plaster with moulded decorative cornices. James Cook Historical Museum was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The former St Mary's Convent and School, erected 1888-89,

7776-525: The only people who really needed to see them". This phenomenon of disappearing objects is especially present in science museums like the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago , which have a high visitorship of school-aged children who may benefit more from hands-on interactive technology than reading a label beside an artifact. There is no definitive standard as to the set types of museums. Additionally,

7884-415: The past. Not every museum is participating in this trend, but that seems to be the trajectory of museums in the twenty-first century with its emphasis on inclusiveness. One pioneering way museums are attempting to make their collections more accessible is with open storage. Most of a museum's collection is typically locked away in a secure location to be preserved, but the result is most people never get to see

7992-570: The personal collection of Elias Ashmole , was set up in the University of Oxford to be open to the public and is considered by some to be the first modern public museum. The collection included that of Elias Ashmole which he had collected himself, including objects he had acquired from the gardeners, travellers and collectors John Tradescant the elder and his son of the same name . The collection included antique coins, books, engravings, geological specimens, and zoological specimens—one of which

8100-685: The preservation of their objects. They displayed objects as well as their functions. One exhibit featured a historical printing press that a staff member used for visitors to create museum memorabilia. Some museums seek to reach a wide audience, such as a national or state museum, while others have specific audiences, like the LDS Church History Museum or local history organizations. Generally speaking, museums collect objects of significance that comply with their mission statement for conservation and display. Apart from questions of provenance and conservation, museums take into consideration

8208-422: The primary centers for innovative research in the United States well before the start of World War II . Nevertheless, museums to this day contribute new knowledge to their fields and continue to build collections that are useful for both research and display. The late twentieth century witnessed intense debate concerning the repatriation of religious, ethnic, and cultural artifacts housed in museum collections. In

8316-414: The principal port and town of far North Queensland. Construction of the convent and school also demonstrates the importance attached by the colonising culture to establishing (religious) education, considered a "civilising" influence in remote districts of Queensland during the frontier phase of our history. The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. It

8424-442: The private collections of wealthy individuals, families or institutions of art and rare or curious natural objects and artifacts . These were often displayed in so-called "wonder rooms" or cabinets of curiosities . These contemporary museums first emerged in western Europe, then spread into other parts of the world. Public access to these museums was often possible for the "respectable", especially to private art collections, but at

8532-400: The project. Nonetheless, over 1.1 million people visited the museum in 2015, indicating it appeared to have paid off for the local government despite local backlash; key to this is the large demographic of foreign visitors to the museum, with 63% of the visitors residing outside of Spain and thus feeding foreign investment straight into Bilbao. A similar project to that undertaken in Bilbao was

8640-484: The public presentation of regularly scheduled programs and exhibits; Have a formal and appropriate program of documentation, care, and use of collections or objects; Carry out the above functions primarily at a physical facility or site; Have been open to the public for at least two years; Be open to the public at least 1,000 hours a year; Have accessioned 80 percent of its permanent collection; Have at least one paid professional staff with museum knowledge and experience; Have

8748-407: The public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing." The Canadian Museums Association 's definition: "A museum is a non-profit, permanent establishment, that does not exist primarily for

8856-708: The purpose of conducting temporary exhibitions and that is open to the public during regular hours and administered in the public interest for the purpose of conserving, preserving, studying, interpreting, assembling and exhibiting to the public for the instruction and enjoyment of the public, objects and specimens or educational and cultural value including artistic, scientific, historical and technological material." The United Kingdom's Museums Association 's definition: "Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artifacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society." While

8964-513: The rear of the building to house the museum collection. The grounds have been landscaped as the Joseph Banks Memorial Garden, planted with about 40 of the 186 plants catalogued by Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander during their 7-week stay at the Endeavour River in 1770 . Each of these 40 plants is peculiar to the Cooktown area. In December 2021, the museum was renamed Cooktown Museum. The former St Mary's Convent

9072-497: The rear on the north side; additions have been made adjacent to this to service the museum. On the western bay there are three centrally positioned long, narrow windows at ground-floor and first-floor levels, and above these a round vent with hood mould . On the north elevation there are sets of four double-hung timber windows symmetrically positioned at the ground-floor and first-floor levels; these have window hoods with scalloped fascias . The central timber doorway with side lights

9180-474: The river rises near Alderbury at an elevation of 109 metres (358 ft) and flows generally east for 20 kilometres (12 mi) before forming confluence with the North Branch to form the Endeavour River. The North Branch of the river rises below Honeysuckle Flat at an elevation of 160 metres (520 ft) and flows generally west and then south for 20 kilometres (12 mi) before forming confluence with

9288-578: The river, causing concern that the stocks of native fish will suffer. The river basin remains largely unmodified and the water quality is rated as good. James Cook named the river in 1770 after he was forced to beach his ship, HMS  Endeavour , for repairs in the river mouth, after damaging it on Endeavour Reef . Joseph Banks named the river the Endeavours River but the form Cook used, Endeavour River, has stuck. Cook and his crew remained for almost seven weeks and made contact with

9396-578: The ruler to display the amassed collections to guests and to visiting dignitaries. Also in Alexandria from the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (r. 285–246 BCE), was the first zoological park. At first used by Philadelphus in an attempt to domesticate African elephants for use in war, the elephants were also used for show along with a menagerie of other animals specimens including hartebeests , ostriches , zebras , leopards , giraffes , rhinoceros , and pythons . Early museums began as

9504-482: The school, the convent building was far from complete, but work continued rapidly and the building was occupied by May 1889. Stanley's original design was for a two-storeyed brick core with two transverse wings, but when officially opened by Bishop Hutchinson on 12 May 1889, only the core and north wing had been completed, at a cost of nearly £ 5,000. The intention was to complete the second wing as funds permitted, but this did not eventuate. The substantial brick building

9612-451: The subject matter which now include content in the form of images, audio and visual effects, and interactive exhibits. Museum creation begins with a museum plan, created through a museum planning process. The process involves identifying the museum's vision and the resources, organization and experiences needed to realize this vision. A feasibility study, analysis of comparable facilities, and an interpretive plan are all developed as part of

9720-421: The tropical Cooktown climate and to cater for both convent and school purposes. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The building is well maintained, retains its aesthetic appeal, and makes a significant contribution to the Cooktown townscape. Situated prominently on the ridge running south from Grassy Hill, the place is visible from the sea approach to the town, and has been considered

9828-494: The type of collections they display, to include: fine arts , applied arts , craft , archaeology , anthropology and ethnology , biography , history , cultural history , science , technology , children's museums , natural history , botanical and zoological gardens . Within these categories, many museums specialize further, e.g., museums of modern art , folk art , local history , military history , aviation history , philately , agriculture , or geology . The size of

9936-471: The vast majority of collections. The Brooklyn Museum's Luce Center for American Art practices this open storage where the public can view items not on display, albeit with minimal interpretation. The practice of open storage is all part of an ongoing debate in the museum field of the role objects play and how accessible they should be. In terms of modern museums, interpretive museums, as opposed to art museums, have missions reflecting curatorial guidance through

10044-766: The way its subject matter existed at a certain point in time (e.g., the Anne Frank House and Colonial Williamsburg ). According to University of Florida Professor Eric Kilgerman, "While a museum in which a particular narrative unfolds within its halls is diachronic, those museums that limit their space to a single experience are called synchronic." In her book Civilizing the Museum , author Elaine Heumann Gurian proposes that there are five categories of museums based on intention and not content: object centered, narrative, client centered, community centered, and national. Museums can also be categorized into major groups by

10152-428: The whim of the owner and his staff. One way that elite men during this time period gained a higher social status in the world of elites was by becoming a collector of these curious objects and displaying them. Many of the items in these collections were new discoveries and these collectors or naturalists, since many of these people held interest in natural sciences, were eager to obtain them. By putting their collections in

10260-475: The world offer some definitions as to what constitutes a museum, and their purpose. Common themes in all the definitions are public good and the care, preservation, and interpretation of collections. The International Council of Museums ' current definition of a museum (adopted in 2022): "A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to

10368-519: The world. Their purpose was to gather examples from each field of knowledge for research and display. Concurrently, as American colleges expanded during the 19th century, they also developed their own natural history collections to support the education of their students. By the last quarter of the 19th century, scientific research in universities was shifting toward biological research on a cellular level, and cutting-edge research moved from museums to university laboratories. While many large museums, such as

10476-540: Was "encyclopedic" in nature, reminiscent of that of Pliny, the Roman philosopher and naturalist. The idea was to consume and collect as much knowledge as possible, to put everything they collected and everything they knew in these displays. In time, however, museum philosophy would change and the encyclopedic nature of information that was so enjoyed by Aldrovandi and his cohorts would be dismissed as well as "the museums that contained this knowledge". The 18th-century scholars of

10584-435: Was a concern that large crowds could damage the artifacts. Prospective visitors to the British Museum had to apply in writing for admission, and small groups were allowed into the galleries each day. The British Museum became increasingly popular during the 19th century, amongst all age groups and social classes who visited the British Museum, especially on public holidays. The Ashmolean Museum , however, founded in 1677 from

10692-496: Was charged with organizing the Louvre as a national public museum and the centerpiece of a planned national museum system. As Napoléon I conquered the great cities of Europe, confiscating art objects as he went, the collections grew and the organizational task became more and more complicated. After Napoleon was defeated in 1815, many of the treasures he had amassed were gradually returned to their owners (and many were not). His plan

10800-426: Was designed by former colonial architect FDG Stanley, one of Queensland's most prolific late 19th century architects. In the 1880s he designed a number of other Catholic churches and institutional buildings, including St Patrick's Church at Gympie (1883–88), additions to St Mary's Church at Maryborough (1884–85), dormitories at St Vincent's Orphanage, Nudgee (1886–87), Holy Cross Church at Bundaberg (1886–88),

10908-764: Was never fully realized, but his concept of a museum as an agent of nationalistic fervor had a profound influence throughout Europe. Chinese and Japanese visitors to Europe were fascinated by the museums they saw there, but had cultural difficulties in grasping their purpose and finding an equivalent Chinese or Japanese term for them. Chinese visitors in the early 19th century named these museums based on what they contained, so defined them as "bone amassing buildings" or "courtyards of treasures" or "painting pavilions" or "curio stores" or "halls of military feats" or "gardens of everything". Japan first encountered Western museum institutions when it participated in Europe's World's Fairs in

11016-618: Was on the crest of the ridge running south from Grassy Hill, above the main street of Cooktown, with a spectacular view over the Endeavour River estuary. By the 1890s the imposing building had become a Cooktown landmark, regularly featured in visiting journalists' descriptions of the town. Bishop Hutchinson had made the establishment of the convent school at Cooktown a personal project, donating much of his own money and borrowing from his relatives in Ireland, but substantial funds were raised locally as well. The community clearly recognised

11124-525: Was one of three Irish Augustinian Fathers who arrived in Cooktown in 1884 to take charge of the Pro-Vicariate of North Queensland , established in 1876 and extending from Cardwell to Cape York Peninsula . In the mid-1880s it was appropriate that the Augustinians were based at Cooktown, rather than Cairns , as the former was emerging as the principal town and port of far North Queensland. Such

11232-649: Was realized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (this is often called "The Museum Period" or "The Museum Age"). While many American museums, both natural history museums and art museums alike, were founded with the intention of focusing on the scientific discoveries and artistic developments in North America, many moved to emulate their European counterparts in certain ways (including the development of Classical collections from ancient Egypt , Greece , Mesopotamia , and Rome ). Drawing on Michel Foucault 's concept of liberal government, Tony Bennett has suggested

11340-807: Was the Louvre in Paris , opened in 1793 during the French Revolution , which enabled for the first time free access to the former French royal collections for people of all stations and status. The fabulous art treasures collected by the French monarchy over centuries were accessible to the public three days each " décade " (the 10-day unit which had replaced the week in the French Republican Calendar ). The Conservatoire du muséum national des Arts (National Museum of Arts's Conservatory)

11448-620: Was the most imposing structure in Cooktown, pre-dating the Queensland National Bank building in Charlotte Street by about two years. The footings were of concrete and the plinth was constructed of Cooktown granite. Most of the bricks were obtained from Campbell & Sons' brickworks in Brisbane, and shipped to Cooktown. Much of the skilled labour required for the construction also came from Brisbane. Internally,

11556-464: Was the rapid progress of Cooktown during the second half of the 1880s that the Pro-Vicariate of North Queensland was constituted the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown in 1887. Father Hutchinson was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic and was consecrated a Bishop in August the same year. In late 1887 Bishop Hutchinson returned to Ireland to recruit more priests and to encourage an order of sisters to establish

11664-480: Was the stuffed body of the last dodo ever seen in Europe; but by 1755 the stuffed dodo was so moth-eaten that it was destroyed, except for its head and one claw. The museum opened on 24 May 1683, with naturalist Robert Plot as the first keeper. The first building, which became known as the Old Ashmolean , is sometimes attributed to Sir Christopher Wren or Thomas Wood. In France, the first public museum

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