mbreamy

I have just gotten back home from my last long weekend interning with the Historical Society/ O. Winston Link Museum a few hours ago. This past weekend was more so of a week at the museum because of the available time I had due to it being finals weeks, and oh boy was it packed full. This past weekend I was able to turn my exhibit re-designing plan into reality. It took approximately a full day and a half to complete- but I am very happy with the results. When redesigning the exhibit, I had to make some changes to my actual plan. I added a few objects, had to rearrange objects around and add more visuals to tie the entire exhibit together. The crafting was probably the hardest part. Ashley had entrusted me with power tools (aka a drill) to use in order to make holes for L-shaped hooks for which we could hang objects on the wall from. The drilling part was the easiest, because power tools- but the hardest part was hand turning the L-Shaped hooks into the wall. It was by far the most tedious part of the entire project. But through the redesigning process- I was able to utilize my craftiness and critical thinking skills to make “displays” for bone instruments and needles to be hung on the wall. The secret?- Matte Board and fishing line. All in all- I am very happy with how the exhibit turned out and the experience I gained in constructing it.

 

Other than the exhibit- I continued to work on accessioning items in the collections into PastPerfect. Among these items this past weekend were a couple of quilts, a trinket box, and various pins and awards that were donated. I was also able to hang some of O. Winston Link’s photographs in the gallery- believe it or not- math is highly involved in this process. Today we actually visited the Roanoke City Cemetery for research purposes- what a fun internship excursion!  Interning at the Historical Society of Western Virginia was an experience like no other. It was a well-rounded experience at that because I was able to work with all types of objects, learning cataloging and accessioning, and was able to design an exhibit. Ashley was a wonderful mentor and I can not thank her enough for her flexibility with me, especially since I went home and during the ever-looming COVID-19 Pandemic.

My internship at the Historical Society of Western Virginia/ O. Winston Link Museum has not been your average internship in the common sense. Early on in the semester I made the decision to move home because being alone on campus, in the world of COVID was just not the right fit for me. My mentor and curator at the museum, Ashley Webb, was very understanding of my decision and we both agreed that I could participate in a hybrid internship because I believed that a remote internship is not as rewarding as being there in person. I was willing to come to Roanoke practically every other weekend starting in October to fulfill my intern duties, but at home I still had internship work to do. Throughout the semester I have been researching the Saponi Indians, the group that resided here in the Roanoke Valley pre-contact with the European settlers. Through this research I have been redesigning the Native American exhibit within the museum to complete in person during my last long weekend at the museum.

I found that the redesigning process is much different than what I have been doing in this internship and even in my past internships. When redesigning the exhibit I had to come up with a concept that could easily be understood by the visitors and clearly be described through labels. I also wanted an interactive part of the exhibit because a lot of people will interact more with an exhibit if they can touch something pertaining to it. You also want to research objects so that you are providing visitors with accurate historical information and usage of the objects. To plan out the design- I had to draw it up using accurate measurements of the case and see where I would want to place things within the case to really see it visually altogether. I am very excited to see how the actual case turns out, but I am expecting to come across some challenges in the design and having to switch things around.

 

Below is a picture of my drawing of the exhibit case that I hope to bring to life in the museum with notes around that describe the objects- their catalog numbers and other ideas. (I drew it on my iPad using the Procreate App).

As I lay in bed on this Tuesday night, with my dog Apache at my feet, I reflect on my long weekend spent in Roanoke interning with the Historical Society of Western Virginia/ O. Winston Link Museum. I went this past weekend for my second to last long weekend at the museum, working full days on both Friday and Monday, and four hours on Saturday morning. Over the weekend I was tasked with accessioning a “founding collection” of letters from the 1820’s and 1830’s. These letters are considered a “founding collection” because there is not documented donor of them and are connected to the Watts Family who are one of the earliest settlers in the Roanoke Valley. These letters are of particular interest to the curator because they could be good/ interesting to use in the upcoming 250th Anniversary exhibit of Botetourt County. The letters I accessioned were hard to read or make out due to the cursive being an older style than what I was taught in the second grade, which made it difficult to fully understand the purpose or the message that was being conveyed in each letter. Although, most of the letters I came across were more so “I owe you $34” type of messages. This is because Edward Watts was one of the most well off people in the area so lots of people borrowed money from him or purchased things from him. So those were interesting to look at and go through, especially with letters that are a lot older than what I am used.

 

On Friday we took a short field trip over to the Taubman Museum to view all the exhibits they have on display. The Taubman had a wide array of exhibits including photography, contemporary art, folk art, and a jewels. My favorite exhibit was the Latinx exhibit. The art in the showroom covered various mediums, but they all had strong message behind them. Also in this exhibit all of the labels were in both English and Spanish, which has been more commonly used throughout the museum world. Taking the time to view what other museums are doing, whether it be their format, labeling, resources, or programs is critical to the role of museum professionals, especially curators. Museums are there for one to view and to learn from, in every aspect. Viewing other museums may spark an idea to incorporate a certain aspect in another. So, in a sense, museums inspire other museums and the cycle keeps repeating itself because our society is ever changing. I predict there will be more bilingual labels in museums in the future and more technological interactions because we are in a technical era. Overall, the museum was fantastic and I had a fun weekend at the Historical Society taking in a larger scope of material than what I normally would.

 

Long weekends come and go, but the experiences you gain from an internship stay with you forever. One thing about internship experiences, is that your experience is unique to you and you only. This past weekend I traveled to Roanoke to do the in-person part of my internship, interning all day Friday and Monday, and half a day on Saturday. This past weekend was a little different compared to other times interning. I was tasked to add to the accession records donations from 2011 that had been put away to be dealt with at a later date after the Museum moved from Center in the Square. While tasked with this job, I found it difficult to really decide on which items should stay or go- because it either fit within the museum’s scope or it did not, or it was a question if the specific item would add to any narrative that the museum may present. For the two boxes I went through of donations from 2011, almost everything was kept and added into the accession register, although some items were missing as it was expected since it is nine years after the fact.

My other tasks this weekend was going through and cataloging letters between a mother and daughter, for whom the mother resided in Roanoke, between 1929-1932 and photographing a large donation of China from the Lewis-Gale family. The letters between the mother and daughter pair are interesting in that they offer insight on what life was like in Roanoke back in the girth of the Great Depression and the most pressing problems and worries families faced during that time. Some commonalities of the letters included family updates and recollections of life back home, who was sick, who was have the most difficulties, weddings, babies, etc. Earlier this month, the Lewis-Gale family had donated a plethora of China that was owned by the family throughout the years, with the oldest pieces being dated back to the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. The china was in superb shape and you can see how the different styles of china and the designs/colors used on the porcelain changed with the trends of the 20th century. Although I am not at my internship weekly, I am very thankful with the flexibility and willingness of my mentor, Ashley Webb, during this time. I am truly enjoying the different things I am tasked to do and the variety of objects I get to handle.

 

This semester I am interning with the O. Winston Link Museum/ Historical Society of Western Virginia with Curator Ashley Webb. Although I started off the semester on campus being able to go to my internship in person, I made the decision to continue the rest of the semester at home in Richmond. Because of this decision, my internship has become hybrid. I go into the Museum about two long weekends a month and spend the rest of the time doing research and planning a redesign of one of the already existing exhibits in the museum. This past weekend I was able to physically go into the museum.

During my internship, I mostly participate on accessioning new objects received via donations and gifts, cataloging objects that have not made it into PastPerfect, and working on exhibits whether it be planning, labeling, or designing. This past weekend (Friday, Saturday, Monday) I spent cataloging a Virginia College yearbook from 1927 and accessioning a gift concerning the Deyerle Family. The Virginia College yearbook, “The Ole Virginny” was interesting to look through. It was fascinating to see the different styles women wore, whether it be their dress or hair, and how they interacted with one another at the school. As some may not know, Virginia College was an all women’s college located in Southern Roanoke, but due to the depression it closed its doors for good in 1929. This yearbook exemplified the many traditions the college had, their students, and the lifestyles of those students. Although the yearbook was dip in the past, the Deyerle family accession sparked my interest the most. The Deyerles were one of the first families to settle in the Roanoke Valley in the late 18th century, early 19th century. The name “Deyerle” became particularly well known through Benjamin Deyerle, who built houses throughout the Roanoke Valley in his Greek revival styles. One of his well known homes sits right on the Roanoke College campus, the Monterey House. Benjamin Deyerle also built six other well known homes in the Roanoke Valley, which include Lone Oaks (his family home), Mount Airy, Montvale, Belle Air, Pleasant Grove, and White Corners. The Deyerle family is tremendous in size and often have family reunions in Roanoke where a house tour is included.

So far with this internship I have been able to dive deeper into archival and collections work, gaining a breadth of experience with handling, marking, cataloging, and accessioning objects into a database. This helps me realize the greater work that goes on behind the scenes of a museum, especially one the size of the O. Winston Link Museum/Historical Society of Western Virginia with a staff of just two people. With that, one gains a newfound appreciation for the work put into the exhibits and into the museum as a hold.