It’s been a very busy time the past few weeks here at the Salem Museum: we premiered a new exhibit, we held a camp for young historians, and I’ve also began and completed a couple of projects!
The premiere for the Grace Smyth exhibit was a great success. We had a huge turnout and everyone enjoyed her art and what it meant to them. Many of the people present personally knew Ms. Smyth and spent the night talking about the great times they had with her. Apparently she was a great influence in the community by getting kids involved in the arts as well as using her travels, she enjoyed travelling the world, to educate people on other cultures.
After this we held a Young Historian’s camp for the week. From Monday until Friday we taught twelve kids some of the basics of being a historian as well as other fun activities. We were also lucky enough to have some Civil War reenactors come down and teach the kids about the life of a soldier. The kids also learned skills that I didn’t even learn until college. We taught them the difference between primary and secondary sources as well as how to write with a quill pen. The kids even brought in some personal belongings in order to to create their own museum exhibit; unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of it. It was a great experience for the kids and the museum and hopefully the camp will continue next year.
Other than that I have been assisting with various things around the museum. I have cataloged various newsletters that the museum has received, deconstructed and labelled old picture frames, and several other small tasks. Overall I am extremely happy to be interning with the museum.