Where Do We Go From Here?

       Now that my internship at the Nevada State Museum is over and I am facing my last two semesters of my program, the big question looms on the horizon: where do we go from here? After my time at the museum, I think that I can finally gotten a good grasp and a partial answer to this question. I think the proper answer is where do we NOT go from here?? Throughout this experience I have met with conservators, curators, registrars, museum directors, historic society members, publishers, writers, docents, educators and history enthusiasts and I have seen pieces of each of their work. The beauty of studying history, particularly public history, is the breadth of material and avenues that you can embark on after graduation. It really is an inviting and exciting field! While I don’t know exactly if next year I will find myself dressed in nineteenth century garb, detailing everyday life in a historic home or restoring one hundred year old undergarments, that’s the beauty of it isn’t it? The public history profession can take you anywhere you want to go. 

Sincerely,
Allison

Skat, Skins and Hands-On Time in the Gallery

         The day of reckoning has finally arrived: today was my final day at the museum. It seemed fitting that for my last day I got to spend the entire time amongst the exhibits in the permanent gallery. Today Stacy and I set up a “hands-on” table to give the museum patrons a rare chance to actually touch something in the museum. These touchables included: gray fox skin, gray fox skull, coyote skin, coyote skull, coyote paw print molds, coyote skat (i.e. poop) and a western diamondback rattlesnake skin.

 

           I had such a great time watching the kids and adults alike enjoy stroking the soft pelts of the animals, cringe at touching the rattlesnake’s rattle and wince when I suggested they pick up the “skat.” It was fun to see the excitement in the faces of the children and to rattle off a list of fun facts about the animals that Stacy fed to me. For instance, did you know that the gray fox is part of the dog family, and it is the only member of the dog family that can climb a tree? Or that rattlesnakes can have venom that is either heliotoxic or neurotoxic, the former meaning that it attacks the soft tissue of its victim and the latter that it affects the nerves. I’m not very studied up on my natural history and science so I felt pretty smug with my ammo of factoids.

        Being in the gallery for the day not only gave me a chance to walk around and really get the opportunity to read each and every display label during the downtime but it gave me some great insight into catering towards the public. For example, Stacy and I would note who came to touch the objects, what kind of questions they asked, or even if they asked any questions at all. This information we can use to determine other types of hands-on exhibits that the public might like and what the general interests are. Some of the questions that always made me chuckle were the “is this dead? HOW did it die? of natural causes?” incessant child’s “but why.... [insert explanation]... but WHY??”
         At both the end of the day as well as the figurative “end of the day” at my internship I feel such a greater appreciation for the professionals who run museums and for the importance of their work. I am humbled at the work that goes behind each and every exhibit as well as the many programs that the museum runs. There is so much that goes on “behind the scenes” to make history come to live for the public. I am grateful for the people that I got to meet along this journey and for all of the insights and knowledge that I was privileged to glean from them.

         Now every time I see an exhibit or wander the halls of a new museum I cannot help but pause and think about how and from where pieces were acquired, how they were cared for, and how the museum is using them to tell a story. Especially now I can barely resist the urge to wonder if the bones of a fossil are real or even where the catalog tag is hidden on each item. My experiences working behind the scenes at the Nevada State Museum revitalized my love for historical education and opened my eyes to the importance and complexities of museums. Although as a sophomore in college I would have walked right past a museum on the street, now I eagerly jaunt inside with a fresh perspective in tow.

Final Cataloging Project

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and the end of my time at the Nevada State Museum is rapidly coming upon me. How is it already August? I feel like I just started getting cozy in here.

A few weeks ago I started scavenging for usable showgirl pieces for our exhibit. The search turned out both good and bad. Positive: I found some pieces that had not yet been cataloged. Negative: We are not going to use any of them in our exhibit. Bummer. So, the last week or so I have been knee-deep in showgirl headdresses, boas and g-strings. It’s not everyday that you can say you spent your day sewing labels into someone’s used underwear. Like I said, the life of a museum intern is quite the adventure! 

          So for this last and final project I have been doing my usual cataloging procedure. Identify, describe, measure, label and enter into PastPerfect. With these headdresses it was quite a challenge to maneuver inside the headpiece and find a place that I could reach with my needle and thread. Luckily with pieces like these, any label that is sewn in will be obstructed by its placement on a mannequin. Although this worn but lovely pieces will not make it into our final exhibit, they are outstanding examples of the glitz and glam our that embodied showgirl style in Las Vegas. What a perfect ending to my time cataloging with Michelle in the museum archives as I move forward with preparations for our Vegas Style exhibit this Fall.

Conferences, Organizations and How to Get Involved in Historical Societies

         I don't think I've ever had a dull moment at the museum this summer. My last day in the archives was just as exciting as the day I started. Today we had the pleasure of meeting with Martha Grimm of the Costume Society of America. <http://www.costumesocietyamerica.com/>. The Costume Society of America is a wonderful organization made up of all types of professionals such as conservators, curators, professors, academics, students, museum staff and the list goes on. They are devoted to the study of textiles and promote this more recently flourishing area through their many symposia, publications and projects. They will actually be holding a symposium here in Las Vegas at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in May 2013. 

Martha was in town meeting with several museums in the Las Vegas area to decide on the recipient of their Angels Project. They are deciding between the Nevada State Museum, the Hoover Dam museum in Boulder City, and the Clark County Museum in Henderson. Their Angels project consists of a few dozen volunteers from across the country. The goal is to not only assist in the preservation and conservation of museum collections but to also educate museum staff and professionals about these methods for their use in other museums. They perform such service as packaging and preparing pieces for storage, basic repairs and conservation, steaming and vacuuming garments, making cloth hangers etc. It sounds like a dream project and it would benefit the Nevada State Museum tremendously to have such an endeavour there. Crossing our fingers! For more information about this project see their website at http://www.costumesocietyamerica.com/angelsproj.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnB2bydv_E0&feature=plcp  

This YouTube video gives a taste of their Angel’s Project program.

    Martha’s visit to our collection gave me some insight into ways to get involved within the history profession. There are a plethora of societies and organizations out there that cater to any kind of interest - whether it be western history or historic garments. Membership in these organizations offers the ability to network with other professionals and scholars, oftentimes find research funding and scholarship and get involved in projects and conferences across the country. As a historian there are a lot of resources out there and exciting groups to join!

Showgirls: The Saga Continues

Sometimes great opportunities and chance meetings just come out of the blue and today was one of those days. Remember how I have been working in the archives cataloging several of the museum’s showgirl’s pieces? Well as luck would have it, today I had most of the pieces out on the work table as I merrily sewed labels onto each piece. While working in the afternoon I had the opportunity to meet with Lisa and what a rare treat it was!

    Lisa is working on a book for Arcadia, a publishing company that produces picture books of Las Vegas. Her current project is to compile photographs and information for their latest book: one on the history of showgirls in Las Vegas. It was her lucky day because I had a smorgasbord of showgirls pieces already out and ready for her to look at. What are the chances? 

    After taking a few pictures of some pieces (I even made it into one of the pictures - I could be in a book, I'd be famous ! :) ) I had a chance to find out a little more about how she does that she does. As we all know, the job market, especially for history majors, is a little hard. Even within academia, the pickings can be kind of slim. Lisa suggested other avenues for employement such as teaching (she teaches at CSN) or publishing. She actually works a few jobs as she both teaches, takes pictures for Arcadia's book, and is working on writing her own book on Las Vegas showgirls. She is quite a talented woman.

    Although it sounds like several books are coming out of the woodwork about showgirls, it is a neat experience in academia that we can all share our knowledge together. I discussed my experiences seeing Grant Phillipo’s showgirl collection as well as my knowledge from working on our exhibit and spending some time in the UNLV special collections archives. She likewise gave me names of other sources she has referenced, such as previous showgirls she has interviewed. It is a great network if you can find people to talk to and make some connections.

    One of the last great treasures that Lisa bestowed upon me was some advise about being published. Especially if you want to succeed in the history profession or want to go on for the PhD, you need some experience and  publications on your CV. THe more you can cram on that baby the better. Lisa told me about a book on deceased Nevada women that is coming together right now. To be included you just need to write a 800 word essay on a woman in Nevada. Opportunities abound it just depends on who you know and what you can find out about.

The Do’s and Dont’s of Museum Storage

Little did I know before starting this internship but there is quite a lengthy list of things you should and should not do when storing artifacts in the museum basement. Certain precautions must be made to ensure their reservation. Here are a few “do’s” and “don’ts” that I have used first-hand in my work:

Do use buffered or unbuffered acid-free tissue paper

Do use specialty glue and paper tags

Do lay garments flat

Do put tissue paper around each item if there are multiple in a box

Do stuff paper in shoes, hats, sleeves and pant legs of garment pieces

Do store pieces in a controlled environment with limited exposure to draft, wind, sun etc. - remember “cold, dark, dry!”

 

Don’t hang garments on hangers

Don’t place artifacts in storage containers other than the acid-free museum boxes

Don’t handle any pieces without wearing gloves - oils from your skin can ruin artifacts

Don’t sew a label in a visible place, try to conceal it 
Don't put boxes on the floor, store them on a shelving unit

Don’t do anything that is not reversible

The Springs Preserve: Comparing Exhibit Styles

They say that you always need to know your competition, right? When it comes to museum work, maybe it is more appropriate to say that, like any great artist, you can gain inspiration from looking at the work of others. Whichever way you want to spin it, today Stacy and I headed over to the Springs Preserve next door to check out their exhibits.  

Despite the fact that I drive straight past it every time I go to the museum, I have never been to the Springs Preserve. All we had to do was flash our museum badges and we were in. Being a student, free access into anything is exciting – really.

If you haven’t been to the Springs Preserve before, you really need to go! They have so many fun things to do both for children and adults alike. The main exhibit that we went to “check out” was their new exhibit on venomous snakes, Envenomators: The Venomous Snakes of North America

I really enjoyed the way that they constructed the display cases. All of them had little flaps - that I will admit reminded me of toilet seat covers - that had trivia about snakes. Ranging from true and false to multiple choice, they offered a hands-on way for the public to “interact” with the exhibits. They were not only educational but fun to try and guess the answers to the questions. Several other highlights included seeing a live rattlesnake, some videos of snakes and last but not least a giant metal snake that you could crawl inside of. 

After checking out our competition, we spent the remainder of the afternoon, enjoying their outdoor display cases and animals exhibits. Designed like rock formations, they created animal enclosures that look like they are built into the rocks. They had quite an extensive collection of animals from ants to scorpions, tortoises to foxes. Seeing at it was oh, around 90-100 degrees on the day that we went, many of the animals were hiding in their holes. Something that I particularly liked about their exhibits is that they inserted a glass panel into the animal's’ “hide-outs” so you could sneak a peek at them even when they were trying to beat the heat! The San Diego Zoo could probably learn a thing or two from the Springs Preserve.