Museum Studies in Motion
Museum Studies Volume 2, Issue 1
at the
September 2009
University of Delaware
be at the center of things
Summer Internship Report
Celebrating the American Spirit on Cape Cod Anne Reilly, History of American Civilization Each summer thousands of vacationers descend on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Some choose to eat seafood and spend a day at the beach, others to roam charming villages in search of a hidden bookshop. I commuted to the Cape every day to intern at Heritage Museums and Gardens, a place that I’ve loved since visiting it often as a youngster growing up in nearby Plymouth. Heritage is located on 100 acres in Sandwich, the oldest town on the Cape. J. K. Lilly III founded the museum in 1969 as a place where the public could enjoy several of his family’s collections. Beautiful gardens and woodland landscapes stretch between three museum buildings that house a wide array of American artifacts, including antique automobiles, military miniatures, firearms, folk art, and an early twentieth-century carousel that visitors can still ride today. I interned in the Education and Public Programs Department. My duties included completing online marketing for museum programs, providing support at special events, including the Annual Auto Show and the Cape Cod Scottish Festival, and assisting with three summer camps for children. In such a small space I cannot summarize everything I learned this summer, but I will try to
Inside this issue
Summer Internships Director’s Message Alumni News Meet our Faculty Fall Field Trip Call for Internships Stay Connected Happy Hour Alert
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articulate what made the greatest impression on me. Despite the personnel and budget cuts that have become all too familiar in these challenging economic times, my experience at Heritage showed me that it is the attitude of the staff members that determines the success of a museum. The people I worked with are passionate about all dimensions of Heritage and do not hesitate to volunteer for a task that falls outside of their job description. I saw a curator selling event tickets, gardeners painting children’s faces, and educators driving golf carts to transport visitors. More than lessons on planning events or working with curriculums, I appreciate this simple truth: there can be no engagement with the public without enthusiasm from professionals. For more about Heritage Museums and Garden, visit www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org. 1
Director’s Message I’m now in my second year as director of the Museum Studies Program, and the learning curve is not quite as steep as it was in September 2008. The last academic year was devoted to assessing the program’s short-term needs and enhancing our ability to communicate with students, colleagues, alumni, and interested museum professionals through our new website, newsletter, and weekly e-postcards. Tracy Jenzstch and I worked to improve our recordkeeping on students, and we continue to work on improving our communication with other units on campus. We also decided that Museum Studies students needed a stronger identity as a cohort and opportunities to network with professionals from area cultural institutions: hence our periodic social hours. Watch for information about our fall social hour on October 9. This fall, our core courses include the introductory seminar and a new course on managing archives and paper collections. I’m pleased that Terry Snyder, director of the libraries at the Hagley Museum and Library, has been able to teach this class, which strengthens our program’s focus on collections. In the spring, we will offer the popular Museums and Technology course, as well as Historic Properties, which will be taught by our alumna Karie Diethorn, chief curator at Independence National Park. This year, my to-do list includes convening an advisory group of faculty, area professionals, and current students to discuss how we can better prepare our graduates for their first jobs in the changing world of cultural not-for-profit organizations. Developing partnerships with local museums, archives, and historic sites remains a priority. My goal is to offer a set of core courses that will incorporate real-world projects, helping to build the capacity of these organizations while strengthening the portfolios of our students. Planning for 2010-2011 is underway, too. I intend to restore to the rotation our courses on museum curatorship and collections management and 2
Exciting Alumni News? Share your achievements, research, new developments, and adventures with the Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware.
Katherine Sanford (WPEAC, 2003) was recently promoted to Program Coordinator for the Balboa Park Learning Institute, part of a collaborative of 24 arts, science and cultural institutions located in San Diego’s historic, urban Balboa Park. www.bpcp.org. Michael A. Hudson (Hagley, 1987) is Director of the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). The American Foundation for the Blind recently decided to transfer their Migel Library to APH. The gift will give APH one of the largest collections of non-medical research material on blindness in the world. http://www.afb.org/enews.asp
exhibition development, along with the seminar on museum education and public programs. Of course, one of the biggest “to-dos” on my list is fundraising to build the Edward Alexander Endowment. As with all university endowments, this small fund took a big hit in the last year, dropping in value by more than thirty per cent. This summer, I was able to provide our interns with (very) small stipends to help defray their living expenses during their summer internships; unfortunately, I know already that Museum Studies will be unable to provide those funds next year. Museums, historical societies, historic sites, and other cultural agencies are all facing serious financial pressures, and I am well aware that these are taking a toll on daily operations. At the same time, cultural organizations continue to need that shot of energy, enthusiasm, and talent that our graduates offer, and the staff of the Museum Studies Program is committed to providing a thoughtful, creative introduction to careers in cultural institutions. Kasey Grier, Director Museum Studies Program
Meet Our Faculty
A Program in Motion
Rosemary Krill It was the first day of class for MSST 800: Introduction to Museums: History and Challenges. The students chatted with each other for a few minutes, answering the question, “If this were the last day of class and this course met all your expectations, what would it have been like?” Here’s what they said: The course should examine the history of museums, share best practices, reveal differing perspectives, connect public gardens and museums, examine the role of public engagement, and encourage open dialog. Luckily, this little exercise in front-end evaluation succeeded. What the students wanted closely resembled what the syllabus had in store for them! Each class period attempts to contain segments about history, practice, and challenges in the museum field. We have discussed the development of historic preservation in the U. S. and the flowering of historic sites. We have learned from Justina Barrett, a Philadelphia of Museum Art staff
member (and UD graduate), about the practice of research (basic, programmatic, visitor-based, and conservation) that informs her work at Mount Pleasant in Fairmount Park. We have discussed the sustainability debate about historic sites, using articles published only months ago in History News. Another resource we turn to is Museums in Motion, written in the 1970s by Dr. Edward P. Alexander, founding director of UD’s Museum Studies Program. Dr. Alexander’s carefully researched museum history, his clear understanding of museum functions, and his commitment to our professional organizations still underpin my work. I recognize them as I work with the museums studies students at UD and with the students and research fellows at Winterthur, where I am part of the Academic Programs department. The book was revised in 2008 by his daughter, Mary Alexander, who generously visits MSST 800 each year, to share her common-sense advice about getting started in a museum career, just as her father did for me decades ago. Rosemary Krill teaches Introduction to Museums and is an alumna of the Museum Studies Program.
Fall Field Trip: An Intro to Museums
Robin Valencia, American History For two exploratory days, new Museum Studies students at University of Delaware gathered for introductory tours of a sampling of local museums in the Wilmington/Newark region. Our group toured the Read House in New Castle, Delaware Historical Society Museum and Library, Delaware Art Museum, Greenbank Mill, Hagley Museum and Library, and the Winterthur Estate. Visiting this wide range of museums and historic sites allowed us to imagine where and how our careers as future museum employees are headed.
New Internships
The Museum Studies Program is always interested in learning about new internship opportunities. Please contact Tracy Jentzsch (jentzsch@udel.edu) if your organization is interested in sponsoring one of our students.
One thing the trip emphasized was the extreme importance of volunteers. In such a tough economy, most museums are struggling to keep their doors open. With dedicated staff at all the sites we visited, the hope for stability in the future is bright. The behind-the-scenes glimpse of everyday operations, as well as the opportunity to meet the incredible people that ensure the success of these institutions, are invaluable experiences as we continue our training in the field. 3
Summer Internship Report
Serving Seniors as an Education Intern
Laura Olds Schmidt, Historic Preservation I am currently an education intern at the Chester County Historical Society (CCHS), under Beth Twiss Houting, an alumna of the UD Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. Because I am working one or two days a week, my schedule is a bit scattered; hence, so are my projects. These projects have included setting up and manning events; transcribing oral histories taken during the recent Chester County Quilt Documentation Project; packing the stored collection for a move; research and grant writing. Soon I will design some outreach educational programs. My long-term project is to help CCHS better serve the local senior community. For this project, I conducted a survey, by phone, of activities and programs directors at group settings for seniors. The data collected informed my outline of new programs and refinement of existing programming at CCHS for an outreach series for seniors. I am currently finishing a grant proposal for the series that will be submitted to three funders during the fall and winter. The program series will be piloted and implemented upon funding, and I may work on this phase as well. For more about Chester County Historical Society, visit http://www.cchs-pa.org
Join us for our upcoming Museum Studies Happy Hour on October 9, 5-7 p.m. at La Tonalteca in Newark. This is a chance for students, alumni and other members of the museum community to network.
Stay Connected About Us The name we have chosen, Museum Studies in Motion, is a tribute to the energy, enthusiasm, and groundbreaking scholarship of Edward P. Alexander, the first director of the Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware. Alexander’s book Museums in Motion became a foundational text for museum studies courses throughout the United States. It is still in print, in a new edition revised and expanded by his daughter, Mary Alexander. About the Office The Museum Studies Program maintains an office in Kirkbride Hall, co-existing with UD’s History Media Center. Within the office there is a library, an internship and announcements board, and computers for use by MSST students and alumni. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.4:30 p.m. About Connections The Museum Studies at the University of Delaware also publishes a weekly email with announcements about conferences, internships and job opportunities. To subscribe, email hmohaupt@ gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter. We are UDMuseumStudies. Become part of our Facebook group, Museum Studies at the University of Delaware Students and Alumni. Link up with our Linkedin group, Museum Studies at UD Students & Alumni. The Museum Studies Program at the University of Delaware 201 Kirkbride Hall 114 S. College Avenue Newark, DE 19716 302-831-1251 http://www.udel.edu/ museumstudies/ Kasey Grier, director, kcgrier@udel.edu Tracy Jentzsch, staff assistant, jentzsch@udel.edu Hillary Mohaupt, graduate assistant, hmohaupt@gmail.com
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