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I spent the majority of my time this summer interning at the Long Island Museum, and not all of it was mentioned in my last few blog posts. As for the things I’ve done that were unmentioned previously; here is a list:

• I spent time in two other LIM camps, the first being a full week of “Making Mythological Monsters (in clay)” and the second having a focus on fashion design
• I attended not one, but two Summer Thursdays at the museum, where I…
  • helped small children design flower pots and plant flowers inside
  • spent time looking for the ice cream man that the museum hired, who didn’t show up
  • worked with various organizations, like the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind
  • gave two tours to volunteer students at the museum
• Worked more on the mailing list, which still seems endless
• Created worksheets for small children (and their parents) to do as they toured the galleries
• Took photos of kids participating in Camp LIM, the museums own summer program (and fighting with the printer to, well, actually print the pictures)
• Created a scavenger hunt, inside of a new exhibit on Lumen Martin Winter, for a company as a team building exercise
• Sorted through and labeled artwork, submitted by the public, for the Juried Art contest
• Worked as a team with the Education Department to figure out how to make pin-on buttons

And while not all of these things seem to be the point of my History internship in the Education department at a museum, I genuinely enjoyed the various activities because they all showed me what it’s like to work at a museum, not only in the Curatorial Department or the Education Department, but the museum as a whole.

However, my main focus on the last few weeks was mentioned above: my education program for middle schoolers. I had the chance to finalize the program, which you can see here. Not only that, I was able to do the program once unofficially, as in I gave the tour to the Education Department, who were very helpful with the advice they gave and the tips they shared, and then twice officially.

Beth worked with a group called ‘The Mutt Club’, which is a group of students who through their local library organize adoption events, raise money, and gather supplies for shelter pets, to come and be a trial run of my program. The group was already going to attend the last Summer Thursday, and they were more than happy to participate in a museum program. Unfortunately, I was not able to do the whole thing (as the program is designed to last around two hours), but only the three middle sections.

It was a great experience presenting to actual middle schoolers (although their ages ranged), even during the summer. The two groups that I did the tour with seemed to enjoy it, and a few of the kids even asked questions afterwards. Overall, my experience at the LIM this summer, and working within the Education Department, was really great. I feel like I learned a lot, and all of the knowledge was valuable for me both as a History major, and a Secondary Education minor.

My time at the museum these past two weeks has been shorter than normal because of the holiday (July 4th). I spent my time either doing administrative work, researching, or participating in the start of Camp at the museum. Camp at the museum is not typical, and so far I’ve enjoyed it. Rather than a full summer of various activities, you’re given the choice of week-long programs. You can participate in only one or you can do all of the programs, if you’d like.

The program that I was able to assist with and observe was Cartooning. The educator for this was Mike Lynch, who has cartoons published in the Wall Street Journal, Baron’s, Reader’s Digest, and various other mass media outlets. Initially I was underwhelmed by his teaching style, a very basic: give the basics and let them do whatever. However, I found the kids in the group really responded and enjoyed the relaxed approach. During the time that I wasn’t assisting him, Mike allowed me to flip through the various sketchbooks he’d brought with him. Some of them were quick, small things while others were long and drawn out over pages. For the most part I found them humorous, while other times they were sketches of every life. During the breaks, where he had the kids doing activities or finishing up a piece of work, we talked comics and history. I explained to him that I had used Maus, a illustrated novel on the Holocaust, in a class as a textbook. He then talked to me a lot about the author, Art Spiegelman, and how it was his belief that nothing could compare to the work. At the end of the week, we began to set up for an Art Show. We hung up the kids works across the wall in a display of their portfolio, allowing the kids to have their own little museum exhibit.

Besides this, I’ve began to edge out the finer points of my research. This education program is going to focus on the divide in class that grows from urbanization and industrialization, with the introduction of mass immigration during the time period. The last section is going to involve a discussion, and working with primary resources, on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire as a culmination of the Key Points. I had a meeting with Beth, one of the educators at the museum and the staff member who has been overseeing my internship, and she gave me feedback on my Preliminary notes for the project. She was very helpful with her notes, and has allowed me to determine what I really want to focus on. She also said she likes the way this program is going, and was impressed with my notes.

The administrative work I’ve been completing are the School List (a master list of all the schools that we send information on educational programs to at the beginning of the year), more worksheets for various groups that are touring the museum (adults and children alike, as I’m trying to develop the children’s Eye-Spy further), and doing a variety of mailings for the camp session that the museum puts on.

 This is a photograph of Mike Lynch’s work. I didn’t have my phone at the time, so I couldn’t take pictures of anything that happened or of his work or of the kids work. I wish I had, because one of the cartoons was very memorable. One of the kids, in a game called “Who What Where” had picked Abraham Lincoln, Swimming, and Garbage Dump. He drew the President doing exactly that, in his tall hat, while reaching for the 14th Amendment. Lincoln, according to the kid, was trying to save it from being destroyed/crushed like a car at the dump.  Prior to drawing the picture the kid asked me if Lincoln had done anything important, like passed any amendments. (He was in fourth or fifth grade, I was willing to let it slide.)

These past two weeks, I’ve spent the majority of my time working on Administrative work, my own project, and small assignments for the museum. Besides this, I also did another In The Moment, this time with the Prohibition Exhibit and was joined the educators on a tour given by the curator on a new exhibit on Lumen Martin Winter’s and his artwork.

I’ve been continuously gathering more information I feel is relevant for my Industrialization program at the museum. I was able to go with the curator of the museum and find relevant documents. One section of the permanent collection at the museum is the Graves’ Workshop, a carriage building and repair shop that began pre-1850’s and through the early 1900’s. This section of the museum was donated to the museum by the Graves’ family, and the actual building was reconstructed inside of the museum on Long Island. I looked through the curators notes on the reconstruction, a family genealogy, photos of the Graves family, etc. The ledgers of business were also donated to the museum, and I have to chance to look through those too. Details of this were mentioned in a Memorandum piece in the file, such as “an 1878 customer Harris Guildford paid for his new Portland Sleigh with several cords of wood, 4 bushels of potatoes, and 7.5 pounds of butter, in addition to cash payments. […] This practice doesn’t seem to have lasted into 1900’s–customers in these ledgers paid primarily by cash or check.” While I haven’t had the chance to look through the ledgers yet, I find the opportunity (if I find I need to for my program) one that I would hate to miss.

Besides doing the research for this, I’ve been asked to design one page front-and-back small worksheets for children that go along with the permanent collection. I began by doing and “eye-spy” worksheet for two of the exhibits within the Carriage Museum;  Going Places and Streets of NY. All of them are written in rhyming riddles, which was done on accident. My favorite one that I have written, out of the ten, is for the U.S Mail/Postal service carriage; “Unlike the other vehicles here, I have glass to protect the inside of me. I am special because I make special deliveries. Through wind, through rain, through snow, I’ll make it to your home. What am I?” I think they will be a great tool to have for children who are following along with their parents and learning at the museum. I also think I’m going to have a make-your-own Wall Label and a word search with clues from an art exhibit that was recently added to the museum as a temporary piece.

This new exhibit was filled with work from Lumen Martin Winters. I really enjoyed the tour because it gave me a chance to look at all of his artwork, and like the Prohibition tour, see the reasoning behind the displays. The curator, Jonathan, gave background information on a few pieces, pointed out his favorites, gave reasoning for the layout, and explained about the artist. My favorite piece that I saw was hanging, suspended from the ceiling. Lumen, the artist, worked in a lot of different media styles and liked to recycle. The piece was one that he had done, disliked, drawn a chalk mark through, flipped over and pained on the other side. On one side, the disliked side, was a landscape of a mountain range. The other side, which he enjoyed, was of a wisteria plant. I thought both pieces were beautiful, but I really thought his resourcefulness and recycling was interesting.

This time, the In The Moment tour was only for 2 seniors, which made it a little… slow. They were less talkative than the other group, and didn’t seem to be too interested in the Prohibition exhibit (although with prompting they did talk and begin to be more expressive). I thought this experience was good for me, because even though I was not the docent/educator for the group, it was a chance for me to get an example of what to do with a group of adults that is unresponsive to the material being given to them.

Below are two photos from these two weeks; they are from the Prohibition Exhibit and my research, respectively.

 This is a photo of the Prohibition Exhibit. It’s a scene of the fashions worn during the day, and what an upper class speakeasy would have looked like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a photo of pictures that had been photocopied of the Graves family. This is Norman, the founder of the original company, and his wife. This was located in their file at the museum.

I spent the majority of my time these past two weeks working on my proposal for my educational program. For the most part, designing this is like working on a lesson plan for a classroom, however there are some things that are different. I have to work with what the museum already has in their permanent collection and base my choices off of that. The museum currently has educational programs for students that range from grades 1 through 6. I’ve been tasked with creating a program for older children, and based on the collection at the museum I’ve chosen 7th and 8th grade classes. The focus, currently, is on Industrialization and the changing industries with carriages. A lot of my research and inspiration has come from the pieces that are at the museum and the curatorial staff’s collection of information.

The education programs currently being utilized, and the one I’m creating, are geared towards supplemental educational opportunities for schools during the year. The programs work with the curriculum that is already being implemented, and give school kids a chance to learn outside of the classroom. My favorite example of this is the Wagon’s West program that is done at the LIM; where students learn about westward expansion in the United States. During this program they’re allowed to handle replicated items to pack a reproduction of a prairie schooner, giving them more than a brief lecture and information that they would normally get in school. It’s an unique experience to remember, rather than classroom based education which is an everyday experience. It’s also during this internship that I learned this topic of westward expansion has been more and more glossed over in the everyday classroom, as the amount of information in the NYS curriculum that students are supposed to learn grows.

Despite this focus on my own program, I was able to work an event for the Museum. They had a night event, from 6 to 8 where they gave free admission to the Prohibition exhibit to all attendees. They had a local brewery, Port Jefferson Brewery and a local pizza place at the event. Samples of beer were free, but pizza and cans of beers were available for purchase. The alcohol worked with the prohibition theme, and attracted a younger demographic. This is key because one goal of the museum, is to appeal to a generational gap. Typically, the guests at the museum are children 8 and below, and people above the age of 45, the museum wants to bridge the gap and no longer ‘have a missing generation.’ During this event, I sold beer and answered any questions the patrons had on the exhibit. I had been on the curators tour, as mentioned in a previous blog post, so despite not seeing it for a while I had a good understanding of the exhibit. I really enjoyed doing this event because it gave me a chance to see a museum’s public event in motion, as typically the programs that I’ve seen were scheduled and educational with an angle. This was the public coming to view the exhibit because of their interest (and the combination of the food and drink).

Along with the event, I’ve began to spend more time helping set up, work with, and even observing ‘In The Moment’ at the museum. The ‘In The Moment’ program works with people that are suffering from Alzheimers and Dementia. Generally, the layout for the program is that a group of people with the affliction visit the museum’s exhibits and are led in discussion (with open ended questions) on the topic. Some talk about memories that the objects invoke, or ask questions. They’re accompanied by two educators from the museum (one paid educator and one volunteer, normally) and their loved ones or caregivers. After this visit the group comes back to the museum (maybe one to two weeks later, for a second visit) and does a project relating to the exhibit. They’re given pictures of specific objects in the exhibit, to jog their memory if they’ve forgotten, and do an art project of some sort. The group that I had the chance to observe had gone on a tour of the Leiber exhibit (the husband and wife exhibit; with his multiple art projects and her handbag collection), so the group was able to decorate wooden frames and little ornaments with small fake jewels. The outing is meant to be a fun experience for the individuals with Alzheimers or Dementia that come, but also act as a social outing. The group is encouraged to talk and work with the people around them. At the end of this program, they got to take home their art work, a small polaroid picture of them with their creation, and a envelope with 4 or 5 photos of things from the exhibit. The picture of objects from the exhibits are labeled with a title, a date (from when the object is from), and sometimes a creator. During this week I had the time to do some administrative work and part of my internship was printing, labeling, and putting together these envelopes. I really enjoyed working with this group today, as they were all sweet and enjoyed the project. They all seemed to find various things to focus on, and find different details and notice different things. However, it was a sobering experience as I’ve never worked with anyone who has Alzheimers or Dementia.

The picture below is one from the envelope’s that are given out in ‘In The Moment.’ This is from the Prohibition exhibit. These will be used in a program on the 21st of June, which I will be attending. The label on the back says ‘Ford Model T Touring Car 1927.’ For the exhibit, the car was driven by it’s owner down the LIE and into the building through garage doors.

 

The museum continues to be really interesting, especially as I begin to create what I hope to be my education program. It’s going to be geared towards 7th and 8th graders and focus on Industrialization and the development of urban areas instead of rural ones. The museum has a section called Streets of New York that I hope to use in tandem for this project with another smaller section in the museum which focuses on the development of the Studebacker and also a carriage shop (the Graves Brother’s) that was donated to the museum. I want to focus on the shift from master-apprentince towards factories and the supply line.

Besides this project, I was also given the opportunity to watch two different educators perform the same educational programs. The first educator, Kristin, performed School Days very casually. She taught the kids in the program by having them live within the constraints of the time period, such as standing when speaking to the school master and only sitting once allowed, but also allowed them to follow modern conveniences that wouldn’t have been allowed in that era, such as speaking as they did their work. In contrast, the docent (not a permanent educator) acting as the school teacher was very strict and adhered to the rules that would have existed in the 1880’s. I really enjoyed this opportunity because I could see what I would and wouldn’t do and see which educator I would more be in line with when teaching.

Lastly, during these two weeks I was able to teach one of the groups that came to the educational programs. I taught LILA to a group of fourth graders, who were very sweet. I really liked teaching because it’s more interactive than observation, obviously, and it gave me a chance to change the way the program was presented into a way I believe it’s easier to understand and comprehend. The kids were really nice and, once I told them it was my first time teaching the program, were very supportive. A few of the kids were really interested in every aspect of the program, and one stopped to read every single placard at the museum.

I’m really excited for the next to weeks, as I’ll be able to teach LILA again and also observe a new program. The new program (new to me, anyways) is working with people with Alzheimer’s Disease. The people coming are at various stages in the disease and their caregivers. They’re shown objects and work with various objects to trigger long term memories. All of the questions that are asked are open ended, and don’t have exact answers. I can’t wait to see the program.

The beginning of my internship at the Long Island Museum has been very educational so far. Although it is a historical internship, I spend the majority of my time working with the education department of the museum. I really enjoy the combination because this set-up is giving me experience with both my major and my minor of secondary education. I have spent these first two weeks mostly observing docents and educators present to various groups. First, I have observed a variety of the education programs that the museum holds, including LILA, Early to Rise, and Wagons West, which are meant for children in elementary school. I have also seen a docent give a guided tour of the art section of the museum in what is currently holding the Leiber exhibit, in a situation like the Elderscholar program at Roanoke College. Lastly, I went on a short ‘lecture’ with the docents at the museum given by the curator of the newest exhibit at the LIM, which focuses on Prohibition on Long Island (and within New York).

The education programs that I observed were really interesting as the museums educators try their hardest to immerse the children in the time periods that they’re focusing on. For my first day, I observed a program called Long Island Long Ago (LILA) which focuses on Long Island life in the 1850’s. The program is divided into 3 different sections, with 3 rotating groups. However, the entire group of students (the grades can range from 2nd-5th grade) stays together for an introduction. This introduction sets the scene for life in the 1850’s; focusing on farm-life on Long Island (as that would have been the primary workplace for the majority of the population) and discussing the differences of life due to the time-changes (little leisure time, no electricity, etc.). This section is also used to tell the students of their expected behavior and that they will be headed to 3 places: the studio, the barn and shed, and the art gallery known as Edible Eden.

The studio is a small section of a large building only slightly designed to look like the inside of a house within the 1850’s (it’s also the same place where the introduction will be given). Inside the studio their is a discussion on household artifacts, in order to allow the children to learn of the gendered chores that children had to complete, like the bellows or a washboard, which the children are allowed to go through guided sections on how they work and hold the artifacts. For example, two children are chosen to hold opposing ends of a small carpet and another child is given the carpet beater. After a small demonstration, the child holding the carpet beater is allowed to lightly hit the carpet 3-5 times. After this, guided questions, such as “Now that we’ve seen the tool work, what is the purpose? Where would this normally be done–indoors or outside? Why do we think this?” help the children learn. It is also in this building that the children are allowed to try the dip pens and ink wells. Each child in the group is allowed to pick a piece of paper with one of the household tools they just learned about and write the tools name, plus their own, with the dip pen. After this, the children learn a bit of dancing, one of the few leisurely activities of the time, from the 1850’s. They also briefly discuss other activities done for fun during the time, such as tag or hoop and stick.

The shed and barn are two buildings, which are from Long Island in the 1800’s and only moved onto the property of the museum as relics, which are used to teach about transportation and daily activities on the farm from this time period. The shed focuses on transportation; discussing the differences of carriages and wagons, how the vehicles of the time moved without an engine (horses), and how to take care of the animals that were required for work (grooming and care of hooves). The barn, in contrast, is where the children learn about farming and the tools that were required. This covers chores with farming, rather than the household chores, such as feeding the animals, mucking the stalls, clearing fields, etc. The tools used for farming are also shown to the children, such as the scythe (taped so that the children [and docents] can’t cut themselves on the sharp blades) and the flail. Each schoolchild is allowed to use the flail to crack open some wheat, giving them a hands on activity.

The art section of LILA is a small section of the gallery, known as Edible Eden. It focuses on local painter, William S. Mount, and his work. The paintings are all of food, farming, agriculture, etc. The students were given ‘magic bags’ that had a item in it. Each item was featured in one or more paintings, in small groups the children were charged with finding a painting that their item appeared in. They would then present on the painting, after gathering information from earlier activities and the image, discussing life on Long Island.

Early to Rise is another educational program. The first half is the studio and barn and shed portion of LILA (without the dip pen section), while the second differs. The second half is inside of a schoolhouse, another artifact from Long Island that has been donated and relocated for the museum. During this portion of the activity, children are role-playing the life of a student in the 1850’s on Long Island. They experience an arithmetic lesson on slate boards and write a few lines with a dip pen. They also discuss the differences of school in modern times compares to them (homework was bringing a log for the fire whereas today it is actual schoolwork, students went to school in the winter and summer only because they were farming during the other seasons, etc.) This schoolhouse was one of my favorite sections because each student is given a name tag that has the name of a real student that went to school on Long Island during the 1850’s in this schoolhouse. Some of the names are familiar as their families have a lengthy historical influence on Long Island, and to see proof of their accomplishments.

The Wagon’s West tour is the third and final program that I have viewed. For grades 4th-6th, it covers westward expansion and the Oregon Trail. The program is divided into three portions (plus an introduction): Leaving and Traveling, the Blacksmith shop, and Packing and Loading. The introduction to the program gives a brief overview of the journey that the children will be making during this program (from Illinois to Oregon). This covers the timing of the trip (Spring, and 6 months–why?), where their journey will take them (over mountains, across the prairie, etc.), and why they were moving to Oregon Territory (incentives of land, better farming, fresh start, etc.).

The first section is packing (leaving), the students are given the opportunity to pack children’s luggage (one for boys, one for girls), parents luggage (which included items like a memory blanket, the family bible, dishes, etc.). This activity shows the limited belongings that people traveled with, and why you bought things go sentimental importance (you would never see the town you were leaving, or the people inside it, ever again). Kids then pick which items they would choose out of a variety of options; after being given cards that ask them to “pick something fun/useful/full of memories/will help them learn.” They then present, one at a time, on why they chose this item. The second portion of this section is traveling. Students listen to a brief presentation of carriages, which is filled with guiding questions. They will discuss the stagecoach portion of the trip; how emotional and physically demanding the trip is, the necessary supplies, the limitations of the trip, etc.

After this, the group travels to the blacksmith shop .(Once again, a local shop on Long Island that was donated and moved to the museum property.) At this portion of their journey, they’ve made it to St. Joseph. A blacksmith shows the group his job, how wheels are made (and the variety of parts), and the blacksmiths importance during the mid-1800’s. The children that I observed for this portion enjoyed the activity and exploring the shop, although it wasn’t as interactive.

The last section, loading, involves a replica of a prairie schooner. The docent makes sure to differentiate between artifacts and replicas, and explains why the children are allowed to explore and interact with the schooner. Here in this section the children pack a schooner replica (there are two; one full size and a smaller version [1/5th of the normal size] that the children are allowed to pack). They put in their belongings, the food they require, a mixture of necessary supplies, etc. This allows for the students to see the required items, and see how their wasn’t enough room for them to ride in the wagon, rather they walked along side. This time is also used to explain the size of food per person (ie. 200lbs of flour per person) that was bought along, and how the trip is dangerous. The docent I observed talked about compromised water supply, the chicken cage attached to the wagon, the plunder box, etc.

After these portions, this educational program has a wrap-up. They ask the students to detail the information that surprised them, if they would want to be one of the people moving during westward expansion, and if they have any questions. With the older groups, at the end, 10% of the group is separated from the rest. The docent explains that this is the portion of people that would not have survived the trip.

Besides the educational programs for children, I was also able to observe adults in the museum. The adult tour of the art museum that I observed was for the Leiber Exhibit, which is located near the Edible Eden gallery. The Leiber Exhibit focuses on the married couple of Gus and Judith Leiber, and is a combination of their works. Gus’s work is art in the most thought of terms; a variety of paintings, sketches, sculptures, and printmaking. Judith’s work, however, are handbags. The gallery goes through their lives (both are still living); discussing their upbringing, how they met (during the Holocaust–Judith from Hungary and Gus a soldier from Brooklyn), coming to America together, and their artistic journey. It was a beautiful exhibit, each piece well matched, and although the pieces did not follow a time-line it still worked as an overarching story of their lives. The seniors, who had booked the tour, seemed to enjoy it and were engaged the entire time. However, most of their focus on Judith’s handbags and only some of them seemed to be interested in Gus’s work.

Lastly, I was able to see a curator teach the docents about a new exhibit at the museum. The prohibition exhibit moves from pre-prohibition and the temperance movement to the illicit alcohol on Long Island (and within the city) and ends when prohibition does. The curator gave details about the exhibit that were not on the placards, explained the process of picking out each item, giving various details about the set-up of the exhibit, and discussing why he chose the theme for the exhibit. I found the experience really interesting because it was much more information than I would have gained from just casually strolling through the exhibit by myself, I learned about planning an exhibit (and going through the necessary processes), and the topic of prohibition was one that had only been glossed over in the most brief terms in lower-education.

He taught me, and the docents, some things that I had never known about or thought about: such as legal alcohol prescriptions (written by doctors for serious medical ailments), the KKK’s involvement in prohibition, and rum running boats off the south shore of Long Island. What I found equally interesting and disturbing was the KKK’s involvement, such as their push for prohibition as they believed that alcohol was ruining society (such as they believed in immigration, different races, and different religions ruining society). I hadn’t known that their had been a local chapter on Long Island, or that, because the group as known as a Social Club, that they posted ads in the paper for luncheons or gatherings.

As for other work that I did when I was not observing, I did small administrative duties. I laminated and photocopied some things, put together documents on upcoming educational programs, updated mailing lists for local schools, etc. These weren’t as exciting, or as immersed in history, but these tasks allow me to prepare for research positions, higher up museum positions, or administrative work as an educator.

I’m really enjoying my internship so far, although I hope it will continue to grow and become slightly more interactive. The staff member that I’m working under, Beth, is very helpful. My goal for this internship is to do research and design an educational program for students above 5th grade, currently I’m aiming for 7th. We’re planning to meet on next Thursday to discuss my ideas so far, and to talk about basic research questions.