One hundred times now, I’ve come to you via the last page of The Bend with a little history about our city, in hopes it interests you and makes you curious to learn more. This time, I want to introduce you to one of the greatest teachers I never knew.
Aalbert Heine was the first director of the Corpus Christi Junior Museum, which we now know as the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History. He was a leader in the museum field during his 27-year tenure and published articles that were ahead of his time. In an era of everything being behind glass, he argued for the inclusion of hands-on artifacts, especially for teaching children. When he said, “A visit to the museum should be a day to observe the world from as many angles as possible,” he meant that literally and figuratively.
In a time before the internet, Heine introduced the children of Corpus Christi to the world—all of it. From the cultural practices of Guatemala to enormous spider crabs from Japan to yes, even a mummy (now resting in its homeland of Peru, after repatriation in 2019), children learned from the real items shown at the museum.
I have had the pleasure of reading a lot of Heine’s writings, from the operational memos about building maintenance to his philosophical museology writings, and one stuck with me. In a memo about volunteering, Heine stated: “Whatever person or group you talk to, be pleasant—be stimulating—be scientifically correct.”
It’s simple advice but wise. It’s fun to learn new things, and we don’t need someone to trick us into learning. We just need to find the right teacher and the right presentation. Heine was that teacher for so many people during his career, and his legacy lives on at the Corpus Christi Museum and in all who have learned there for the past 68 years. Thank you for opening your mind to learning and experiencing the history around you, both at the museum and in this column. I hope you all have found these 100 stories pleasant, stimulating and (historically) correct. It’s been a pleasure, and I’ll see you next month.
