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.
