Integration versus segregation: Newspaper diversity and museum formation in US local communities 1872–1976

Motivated by general theoretical ideas about the societal consequences of diversity among organizations, I examine how the diversity of organizational forms in a local community shapes the formation of its museums. I argue that the diversity of organizations that cut cross major community segregation lines helps to integrate a community and consequently enhances its ability to act collectively, in this instance to create a museum to serve the community. In contrast, the diversity of organizations that are confined to the major segregation lines widens community cleavage and decreases the community’s ability to establish a museum collectively. Empirically, I investigate how diversity in the local press affected the formation of museums in American counties from 1872 to 1976. The findings provide empirical support for my theory. I find that the diversity of general appeal newspapers has a positive relationship with the formation of museums, implying the integrating effects of general appeal newspapers that cut across boundaries of race and ethnicity, the dominant segregation lines in US communities. In contrast, there is a negative relationship between ethnic newspaper diversity and museum formation, showing the segregating effects of ethnic newspapers by race and ethnicity. I conclude the study with a discussion of its implications for a general research program on how organizational diversity shapes social interaction patterns in a community, and consequently influences the community’s civic engagement for public good.