This article traces a century of efforts to create a National Museum in Guatemala City. Political instability and natural disasters thwarted these efforts, which nevertheless formed a significant chapter in the country's museum history. The contents of the laws and decrees that ordered the formation of museums provide indications about their political context and aims, while travellers’ reports and museum publications provide a hint at the collections and exhibitions of the first and second national museums, which functioned at the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País (1866–1881) and the Palacio de La Reforma (1898–1917). In addition to local politics, both the country's participation in international expositions and foreign involvement in archaeological research and collecting played a role in museum formation and demise. Special attention is given to the laws and initiatives of the 1920s, which led to the opening of a National Museum in 1930, with a critique of previous work on this important period of Guatemalan museum history.

中文翻译：

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正义与爱国：在危地马拉建立国家博物馆（1831-1930）

本文追溯了一个世纪以来在危地马拉城创建国家博物馆的努力。政治不稳定和自然灾害阻碍了这些努力，但这些努力在该国的博物馆历史上形成了重要的篇章。命令建立博物馆的法律和法令的内容提供了有关其政治背景和目标的指示，而旅行者报告和博物馆出版物则提供了对第一和第二国家博物馆的收藏和展览的暗示，这些博物馆在社会上运作Económica de Amigos del País (1866–1881) 和 Palacio de La Reforma (1898–1917)。除了地方政治，该国参与国际博览会和外国参与考古研究和收藏都对博物馆的形成和消亡起到了作用。