Museum Studies team works with Cecil Historical Society collection
From a
nine-piece Quaker wedding gown made in the 1860s to a U.S. Army uniform
worn in the Korean War, the Cecil County (Maryland) Historical Societyās
clothing collection provided plenty of material for University of
Delaware students to put their knowledge of museum practices to work.
About a dozen graduate students in UDās Museum Studies program
spent two weeks this month at the all-volunteer society in Elkton,
Maryland. Calling themselves a SWAT team, the students offered
assistance with researching, cataloging and storing some of the museumās
extensive collection of clothing and textiles.
The program, now in its seventh year, has two purposes. It helps
small museums, which often lack staff and resources, manage their
collections by donating hundreds of hours of work, and it gives the
students intensive, hands-on experience putting their skills into
practice.
Students, who work under the supervision of Katherine Grier, director
of the Museum Studies program and professor of history, and program
coordinator Tracy Jentzsch, also receive credit toward a certificate in
museum studies and get the opportunity to network with professionals and
build relationships for future job placements.
āWeāre all volunteers here, so having the students come in is a huge
help to us,ā said Lisa Dolor, one of the historical societyās curators.
āWhen we heard that we had been selected [as the 2017 SWAT team site],
we decided that weād ask them to work on textiles. Thatās a big part of
our collection, and we donāt have volunteers with expertise in that
area.ā
Paula Newton, the historical societyās president and a retired UD
employee, said having help with inventorying, identifying and properly
storing clothing will benefit the museum in many ways.
āWhen we put together an exhibit, we like to include clothing from
the period,ā she said. āPeople enjoy seeing it, and it helps to tell the
story ā to bring history to life ā but itās been difficult to know
exactly what we have.ā
So much clothing had been donated over the years that the museum has
filled numerous double closets with stacks of 18-by-40-inch storage
boxes containing clothing and accessories.
āAt one time, we were known as Cecil Countyās attic,ā Dolor said.
The museum had already made a good start by organizing and labeling
the clothing collection, Jentzsch said, allowing the students to work
productively and gain a great deal of experience.
Cara Tortorice, a graduate student in fashion and apparel studies,
helped her teammates ā most of them pursuing masterās degrees in history
ā with specialized knowledge about such topics as fabrics and styles.
But she said she also learned a lot from the SWAT team experience.
āIāve worked with the [UD] Historic Costume and Textiles Collection
for years, but this collection is different because a lot of the
research hasnāt been done before,ā she said. āThis project is letting me
use lots of skills I didnāt use before.ā
For Sam Christensen, a history graduate student and Hagley Scholar
whose interest is in aviation history, the SWAT project was very
different from work he previously did at the Air Mobility Command Museum
at Dover (Delaware) Air Force Base, where he focused on the aircraft
themselves. But his knowledge of the military was put to good use in
Cecil County, where many veterans and their families had donated old
uniforms.
āThis project is great because itās so hands-on,ā Christensen said.
āIt really gives you an opportunity to apply what youāve learned.ā
In addition to examining and cataloging items in the collection, the
team entered the information into a collection management database known
as Past Perfect.
āThis means that researchers will have the information they need
about what items they have and will know where to find them,ā said
history graduate student Sharon Hess as she worked at a computer. āThis
might be the least fun part of the job, but itās the most important part
of working to keep historic artifacts safe for future generations.ā
The SWAT team service project began in January 2011. From then until
2015, it was funded by an Institute for Museum and Library Servicesā
Sustaining Places grant.
Article by Ann Manser