jagarcia

Internship Complete

After 120 hours of serving as an intern for the O. Winston Link/Historical Society of Western Virginia Museum, I can say I learned a lot of about the skills, techniques, and business behind museums. Experiences I had included: setting up an exhibit, packing and handling artifacts, organizing/moving artifacts, condition reporting, and so much more. I did not expect such a hands-on and involved experience, but I am grateful that I worked with a supervisor who allowed me to get my hands dirty and take on real projects (rather than just giving out busy work). If this internship leaves any impression about working in/for museums, it’s that there is always much to do and the kid-like fascination with history is always useful and enjoyable when working among artifacts. Even with all the headaches that may come from relying on sponsors or donors for funding, dealing with board members, and/or any other obstacle that may arise, working in a museum allows historical enthusiasts to get creative to tell stories that are meaningful to the museum or to the locality/person the museum represents. The museum’s nature to embrace creativity is an appealing factor when I consider my future career choices and possibilities; this was an incredible experience that I look forward to looking back on in my professional future.

Archival Work

“Everything is a priority here.” When my supervisor, curator Ashley Webb, said this to me, the message really resonated as I put on my gloves to sort through archival artifacts. Although museums may seem like history set in stone, there is much work going on behind the scenes every day to organize and be able to present and use these pieces of history to tell the stories of the past. The museum’s most recent exhibition is an example of the importance of being able to access the museum’s organized possessions to contribute to future exhibits. When the museum received the Lewis Hine collection on loan, our supervisor and curator created a part in the Hine exhibition for photographs by Hine that the museum already owned, adding local historical commentary on Virginia history. This internship excites me to work in the field of public history because this field requires hard work that is rewarded through the use of creativity and the field’s contribution to history.

New Collections Space

The History Museum’s collections’ space (where artifacts are stored) moved from Center in the Square to the Jefferson Center last week and the entire experience has taught me a lot about the stresses of  inventory management. When I would help pack certain items for the move, the amount of items in the museum’s possession that are not accessioned or labeled made the job of marking their packages very tricky. The movers responsible for this endeavor also severely underestimated the amount of time and effort it would take to move everything from the museum’s collections’ space in Center in the Square, potentially adding more financial stress to the move and definitely adding more schedule conflicts. Observing the museum at such a tumultuous and obviously stressful time is an interesting experience because it showed me that no matter how much planning one may try to put in place, outstanding obstacles and challenges will almost always present themselves. As one can see from the photograph above, moving the artifacts was also only one part of a multi-month long process of moving and organizing the museum’s collections. Managing all of what the museum owns seems like an unapproachable task, but noting the way processes are deconstructed and handled develop a greater sense of how to approach such monumental chores.

Working at a smaller museum with so much in its possession is fun because there is always work to be done. Many of the museum’s records have not been updated in years, so much of my and my fellow intern’s time will be spent working with the museum’s accession software this summer. At times it seems like there is so much work to do, but not enough people to do everything. Ashley, the museum’s curator and our supervisor, has often mentioned the limitations of a smaller budget and staff. This experience expands upon a high school volunteer job I had with the Melrose Branch Library in Roanoke City which also had its limitations regarding support. The diligence of the passionate staff in both experiences made an impression on me as I observed the way they cared about their positions greatly despite any struggles with financial limitations. These positions have taught me valuable lessons in learning to work with what is given and thinking creatively. Experiences like these inspire me to work with a sense of purpose and pride in serving the public.

Hanging Pictures for an Exhibit

With a fellow Roanoke College intern, the O. Winston Link/Historical Society of Western Virginia has offered hands-on experience with both photographic and historical sources. The Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Ashley Webb, worked with us on setting up an exhibitions of photographs by Lewis Hine which was set to debut on Friday of my first week (my first day was 06/12). I attended the exhibit and felt a sense of pride in the parts I helped with such as lighting, hanging, and making labels for pieces. A lot more mathematics and planning goes into hanging photographs than one would assume.

Collections

The second photograph is from our Collections room in Center of the Square in downtown Roanoke. With the museum being moved out of the space, my fellow intern and I will at some point be dealing with many artifacts in this storage space. We spent much of this week soft packing framed photographs and even packaging artifacts like clothing. Ms. Webb has already informed us that we will be working with military uniforms and other textiles throughout the summer for the move. This week I also handled negatives from O. Winston Link and worked with the electronic catalog system. I very much look forward to this internship and all the skills and practices I will be familiarized with and exposed to.