Talk:docent
Etymology for the "US meaning"[edit]
Re:
(chiefly US) A tour guide at a museum, art gallery, historical site, etc.
Let us elaborate using e.g.
It’s hard to pinpoint when guides were first called “docents,” but historians note the title gained traction at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts around 1900. Historically, being a docent required understanding a museum’s holdings and providing footing to its visitors; school groups became the bread and butter. None of which has changed much. Except docents then were often paid museum staff. Not unlike today, they arrived as museums were redefining themselves.
from the recent ideological debate: Chicago’s Art Institute fired its volunteer docents and caused a furor heard nationwide. The fight is really about the future of museums unless you know a better source.