Cooperstown Graduate Program

Lore & Background

The Cooperstown Graduate Program was formed in 1964 by Louis C. Jones in a joint effort between the State University of New York at Oneonta and the New York State Historical Association (NYSHA), which operates the Fenimore Art Museum. Jones, a folklorist, wanted a museum training program that centered 'ordinary people' and taught practical administrative skills. This was a conscious rejection of the University of Delaware's Winterthur Program in American Material Culture, which focuses almost exclusively on decorative arts and curation. The two programs remain friendly rivals.

The program's mascot, a plastic flamingo, comes from this rivalry; the plastic flamingo represents the material culture of ordinary people versus the highbrow decorative arts represented by Winterthur. The Cooperstown Graduate Program is considered the most lasting and successful legacy of Jones's experiments in integrating public folklore and academic training, known as 'the Cooperstown Idea.' Historically, the program offered a graduate degree in American folk culture, while a separate program—the Cooperstown Conservation Program—offered degrees in art conservation. The folk culture program was discontinued in 1979, while the conservation program moved to Buffalo State College in 1987.

The Cooperstown Graduate Program is noted for its large oral history archive, oral history training, and the integration of oral history into the digital humanities.

Reader's Guide

The Cooperstown Graduate Program holds significance as the first and oldest dedicated museum studies program in the United States, shaping the field of public history. Founded in 1964 by folklorist Louis C. Jones, it emerged from a deliberate rejection of the elite focus of the Winterthur Program, instead emphasizing the material culture of ordinary people and practical administrative skills. This philosophy, known as 'the Cooperstown Idea,' integrated public folklore with academic training and remains the program's most lasting legacy. The program's mascot, a plastic flamingo, symbolizes this commitment to everyday material culture versus highbrow decorative arts. Historically, the program also offered degrees in American folk culture (discontinued 1979) and art conservation (moved to Buffalo State University in 1987). Today, it provides a Master of Arts in Museum Studies with concentrations in science and history museum studies. The program is particularly noted for its large oral history archive, oral history training, and integration of oral history into digital humanities, contributing to its role in the development of public history in the United States.

Did You Know?

• The Cooperstown Graduate Program is the first and oldest dedicated museum studies program in the United States.
• Its mascot is a plastic flamingo, representing the material culture of ordinary people in contrast to the highbrow decorative arts of the rival Winterthur Program.
• The program was founded in 1964 by folklorist Louis C. Jones.
• It is located in Cooperstown, known as the 'village of museums.'

Origins and the Cooperstown Idea

The Cooperstown Graduate Program traces its roots to 1964, when folklorist Louis C. Jones spearheaded a collaborative venture between SUNY Oneonta and the New York State Historical Association, an institution that later became the Fenimore Art Museum. Jones envisioned a training ground for museum professionals that placed everyday people at the center of its curriculum and emphasized hands-on administrative competence. This was not merely an academic exercise; it was a deliberate philosophical counterpoint to the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware, which concentrated almost entirely on decorative arts and elite curation. Jones's approach, later dubbed the Cooperstown Idea, sought to weave public folklore into rigorous graduate-level preparation. The program stands as the most enduring and successful outgrowth of that experimental vision, preserving Jones's conviction that museums belong to the communities they serve rather than to a narrow curatorial elite.

A Plastic Flamingo and a Friendly Rivalry

Few academic institutions carry a mascot as whimsical yet pointed as the Cooperstown Graduate Program's plastic flamingo. The bright pink bird is a playful emblem of the program's long-standing, good-natured rivalry with the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware. Where Winterthur champions the highbrow world of decorative arts and exclusive curation, Cooperstown proudly represents the material culture of ordinary, everyday people. The flamingo, a quintessentially suburban and democratic object, encapsulates that philosophical divide in a single image. Despite their competing visions for museum education, the two programs maintain a cordial relationship, and the rivalry has become a source of institutional identity rather than animosity. This spirit of lighthearted competition is further enriched by Cooperstown's setting in a small village widely recognized as the village of museums, a locale that reinforces the program's commitment to accessible, community-centered history rather than exclusive, object-focused scholarship.

Academic Scope and Institutional Evolution

As the nation's first and oldest program devoted exclusively to museum studies, the Cooperstown Graduate Program offers a Master of Arts degree with specialized concentrations in both science museum studies and history museum studies. Its academic portfolio, however, was once considerably broader. In its earlier decades, the program also conferred graduate degrees in American folk culture and art conservation. The folk culture track was eventually discontinued in 1979, while the art conservation program was transferred to Buffalo State University in 1987. These shifts narrowed the program's focus but did not diminish its influence. Today, the CGP is particularly recognized for its substantial oral history archive, its dedicated training in oral history methodology, and its pioneering integration of oral history practices into the emerging field of digital humanities. This combination of practical administrative education and scholarly depth in public history has cemented the program's role as a cornerstone in the development of the field across the country.

Shaping Public History in America

The Cooperstown Graduate Program occupies a singular place in the American academic landscape as an institution born from a specific intellectual conviction: that museums should serve ordinary people and that practical administrative training deserves the same rigor as traditional scholarly pursuits. Louis C. Jones's experiments in merging public folklore with graduate-level academic preparation produced what is now regarded as the most lasting and successful legacy of his broader vision, commonly referred to as the Cooperstown Idea. The program's influence extends well beyond its own student body. By anchoring itself in Cooperstown, a community celebrated as the village of museums, and by building a nationally noted oral history archive, the CGP has shaped how public history is practiced and taught across the United States. Its emphasis on accessibility, community engagement, and hands-on skill-building set a template that distinguishes it from more object-centric programs and continues to inform the broader conversation about what museums are for and who they ultimately serve.