|
 The
idea for the Museum grew out of a conversation Shelley and Barry
Spector had with Edward L. Bernays in 1992. The walls of his Cambridge
home were covered with scores of photos, letters, awards and historical
memorabilia commemorating his career. It was also the physical documentation
of the birth of modern day public relations.
"[After
I die,] this house will be turned into a museum," Bernays declared
with understandable pride. Yet
no actual plans to that end were ever made. So, in the days following
his death in March 1995, the Spectors went up to his home along
with Eddie's daughters and grandsons, a curator from the Library
of Congress, and Larry Tye, Bernays's biographer. There, they gathered
evidence that told the story of Bernays's long career. Because Bernays
bequeathed these artifacts to the Library of Congress, the Spectors
photographed numerous examples of the campaigns and triumphs which
lined his halls. This photographic record became by late November,
1997, the first materials that established The Museum of Public
Relations.
The
online Museum of Public Relations, www.prmuseum.com
was immediately designated a USA Today Hot Site, and has
since won another half dozen awards.
Since
its initial exhibit of Edward L. Bernays, the Museum has added exhibitions
on Arthur W. Page, the well known pr director of AT&T, Carl Byoir,
founder of one of the industry's most successful firms, and Moss
Kendrix, the first African-American advertising and public relations
practitioner to alter the image of Afrcan-Americans in the media.
Today,
the Museum receives an more than 90,000 hits a month.
|
