John C. Rumm, PhD

Ernest J. Goppert Curator of Western American History

Phone: 307.578.4050
Fax: 307.578.4076
johnr@bbhc.org

As Curator of Western American History at the Buffalo Bill Museum, Dr. John C. Rumm is overseeing the reinstallation of the museum's permanent exhibit, scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2012. The reinstallation represents the first major change to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center's flagship museum in nearly three decades.

Prior to his appointment, Rumm was the first Editor-in Chief of the Papers of William F. Cody Project, and continues to be closely associated with the project.

Rumm came to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center from Philadelphia, where he held senior-level positions with the Civil War & Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia, the National Constitution Center, and the Catholic Heritage Center of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. As Director of Exhibits at the National Constitution Center, he managed the Center's 60,000-square foot permanent exhibition, administered its changing exhibits program, and curated a major traveling exhibition on Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Constitution during the Civil War.

As a heritage management and corporate communications specialist in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area, Rumm curated exhibits, wrote books, conducted oral history interviews, undertook strategic planning, and administered anniversary celebrations for scores of clients in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to that, he spent nearly twelve years with the Smithsonian Institution—first as an assistant editor with the Joseph Henry Papers Project and then as a senior exhibit coordinator with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service—and was an archivist at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware.

Rumm earned his MA in the History of Technology and his doctorate in American History at the University of Delaware where he also received a certificate from the Museum Studies Program. He held a four-year fellowship from the Hagley Graduate Program, jointly administered by the University and the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation. He received his BA in the History of Science and Technology from Ohio State University.

Areas of Responsibility/Expertise

• Buffalo Bill Museum interpretive planning and reinstallation
• Buffalo Bill's Wild West/Buffalo Bill Combination
• Settlement and development of the American West
• Gilded and Progressive Era American history
• Historical representation and memory
• Public history
• Environmental history

---

Lynn Houze

Assistant Curator, Buffalo Bill Museum

Phone: 307.578.4006
lynnh@bbhc.org

Lynn Houze joined the staff of the Buffalo Bill Museum as Curatorial Assistant in January 2000. From March 2001 to April 2002 she was the Acting Curator of the museum. Her recent projects at the Historical Center include Project Manager for two 2011 exhibits: Dressed Just Right; An Evolution of Western Style from Functionality to Flamboyance, and Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: Arts and Crafts of the Heart Mountain Internment Camp. Currently, she is working with the rest of the Buffalo Bill Museum staff on reinstallation plans for the new museum, which will reopen in spring 2012.

In addition to being knowledgeable about William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Houze has studied the history of the town of Cody for almost twenty years. She has written two photo history books on the town of Cody and co-authored another.

Houze has a Masters of Library Science from George Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tennessee, and an A.B in History from Hood College, Frederick, Maryland.

Share