Historical Fort Missoula

By definition, a Collections Assistant is the Curator’s right hand.  We live and breathe the collection.  It is our job to know the who’s, what’s, where’s and why’s of the thousands of artifacts placed into our care.  I always say what you see on display at a museum doesn’t even scratch the surface of what’s stored in the basement.  In my time at HMFM, never has this been more apparent to me than right now with the complete inventory that is taking place.  Each day an intern or volunteer says “Do you know what I found?”  This leads to what we in the museum world like to call “curiosities”: items that are bizarre, disturbing, rare, or do not fit with the museum’s mission or purpose.  HMFM plays host to hundreds of such curiosities, and as the inventory progresses there are sure to be even more discoveries.

A disassembled gallows sits in the warehouse at the edge of our 32 acre grounds.  Bread ties of all colors rest comfortably among acid free paper in the photo document room.  Just down the hall is a textile room with a box labeled “Ladies Underwear”.  A bottle of whiskey purchased in 1919 is stored half-full and corked, hidden away in the basement since 1979.  After some recent thought about these lost treasures, and how we could bring them to the public, HMFM decided to use “The Window to the Museum” for a series of curious collections exhibits.  Thus, “Season of the Seldom Viewed HMFM Collections” is born.

This is how we operate at HMFM.  The germination of a small thought or idea can become a 6 month long exhibit series.  What is most attractive about museum work is the ever changing duties.  There is not a “typical day” around here.  One day we are using power tools, hauling lumber, and painting.  The next day we are at Perkins at 7 a.m. to meet with the Society of American Foresters, and then researching the history of household irons that afternoon.  The possibilities here are endless.  Anyone who is lucky enough to pass through the “Staff Only” gate by the front door, and up into the Collections Department will know what I am talking about. 

What’s a collections assistant to do when a major exhibit is successfully installed and done?  Start research on another smaller exhibit of course!  HMFM has a small window just before the Main Gallery called “Window to the Museum”.  We fill it with various small scale exhibits, and also allow local artists, collectors, or educational groups to use it on a month to month basis.

The “Window to the Museum” is beginning a series of monthly exhibits called “Season of the Seldom Viewed HMFM Collections”.  This series will run from May 2012 through January 2013.  There will be a new collection on disply monthly so be sure to swing out to the museum often and check it out!

May: “The E “steam” ed Iron Collection”: Exhibit of our household irons ca. 1900-1950.

Here are a few photos of the various irons that will be on display:

1900s Cast Iron Sad Iron- precursor to self-heating irons such as those with fuel or electricity. Imagine ironing with this 8 pounder!

1900s Mrs. Pott's Sad Iron- Mrs. Potts patented her idea of a removable handle for the sad iron in 1871. Most sad iron bases weigh 4 to 8 pounds.

1905 Charcoal Iron- large hollow chamber for placing hot charcoal inside to heat iron. This guy weighs about 6 pounds (empty).

We even have child's size sad irons! This one is complete with a working removable handle and weighs about 9 ounces.

This is my favorite iron, a fuel powered (yes that's a small fuel tank with a pilot light in the rear) "Cool Blue Handle" iron manufactured by Coleman from 1929-1948.

Travel Size "Knapp-Monarch Gad About" Electric Iron- foldable handle with detachable cord, weighing in at 2.5 pounds.

It was an amazing opening so a big thank you goes out to everyone who helped make the exhibit a success.  An even bigger thank you goes out to the over 200 people who attended the opening on Saturday!  The positive feedback from those who were the first to see the exhibit was all the reward we in Collections needed to know it was a job well done.  Media coverage from The Missoulian and KPAX TV helped garner even more interest in the opening, bringing crowds of people out to the museum.

For those of you who couldn’t make it out Saturday, the “United We Will Win!” exhibit will be up until January 2014.  There are 47 original, framed WWII posters displayed from The Historical Museum’s collection.  The other 605 posters are in an online exhibit, with detailed information to help students research, and let people see all the WWII posters and their varied imagery.  The online exhibit is on The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula website, http://www.fortmissoulamuseum.org/WWII/index.php.

Here are some great photos from the opening, and to see even more go to our Facebook page online photo album, https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150676753586493.383297.278771411492&type=3&l=c7a236e3dc

Museum volunteer Katie Matthew views a "Back Them Up!" poster at the exhibit opening.

People enjoy food, drinks, and coversation at the "United We Will Win!" exhibit opening.

A youthful Museum-goer enjoys the "Make your Own Poster" interactive.

A packed Heath Gallery during Saturday's exhibit opening.

The Paoli Family views one of the Norman Rockewell posters on display.Museum volunteer Katie Matthew views a "Back Them Up!" poster at the exhibit opening.

Curator Nicole and I at the exhibit opening.

With only one short week left until the grand opening of the “United We Will Win!” WWII poster exhibit, it is crunch time for the collections department.  Interns are pulled off their inventory projects to assist us with manual labor, Curator Nicole is busy tying up loose ends such as lighting, final text panel printing, and I’ve been putting together a 1940s office and small propaganda pamphlet display case.  AND if you happen to find yourself out at Missoula International Airport, be sure to stop by baggage claim to see the HMFM display case with WWII related artifacts and posters!

Here is a sneak peek at some of what you’ll see at the “United We Will Win!” exhibit opening SATURDAY, APRIL 21st 1-4PM~ refreshments will be served.

Make your own WWII poster with our fun magnetic interactive.

We've created our own scrap pile as a way to help people visualize what sorts of items would have been scrapped during WWII. It demonstrates what was needed to make something for the war effort (e.g. 1 old rubber tire = 12 gas masks).

Rosie versus Rosie: Information about the origins of "Rosie the Riveter" and which is the TRUE Rosie...it's debatable.

Propaganda pamphlet display, and glimpse of 1940s living room for listening to F.D.R's "Fireside Chats"

1940s Office of War Information office- we like to think of it as "Patty's office".

"United We Will Win!" Title Poster: original screen print created for the museum by local artist Matthew LaRubbio.

The installation of our “United We Will Win!” World War II poster exhibit has begun.  It is thrilling to see the posters on the walls, just as we visualized after MONTHS of preparation, organizing, and strategic planning!  I think the best way to tell the story of installing a major exhibit is through photos:

Organization is key.

Nicole measuring to perfection.

Blake hard at work as usual.

Drilling machine Blake.

Nicole hangs a poster, while Blake takes a break from drilling.

Cathy Jo ensuring everything is nice and level.

Having fun while working hard!

Heath Gallery slowly coming together!

Hanging teamwork.

It's official, we have posters on the walls!

Although we as a team in collections enjoy physically handling artifacts (with signature white gloves of course!), the reality is not everyone has the opportunity to handle the thousands of objects here.  Furthermore, we live in a digital age where most people gain information via the Internet, and a number of people primarily experience things digitally.  Physically coming to a museum, for example, is no longer absolutely necessary to experience what a museum has to offer.  While nothing replaces seeing something in person, one can interact with collections in a digital format.

HMFM is working on bringing its collection to the public in this digital, online form with the inventory photograph documentation (see this previous post).  We are also bringing the WWII “United We Will Win” poster exhibit, and the entire WWII poster collection to the public digitally.  Intern Blake and I have been working tirelessly to scan and digitize all 653 WWII posters in our collection.  It’s a process that requires the use of a large scanner at the Missoula County Surveyor’s office, unspeakable amounts of hard drive space, and meticulous attention to detail.

Example of a scanned WWII poster (16.25" x 22.5")

All of our WWII posters will be available on our HMFM website when the exhibit opens April 21 (exhibit posters available for sponsorship are currently displayed on our website).  I hope you will take moment to browse our collection online, and experience this fantastic portion of our collection for yourself!

Training Day: As collections prepares the WWII posters for exhibition, the education department must also prepare its docents (tour leaders) for the exhibit.  Education experts from the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, MT came for an all day, in-depth Visual Teaching Strategies workshop.  Over 15 docents, and three museum staff members attended the session to learn a new way to look at WWII posters.

VTS workshop with HMFM docents.

Instead of focusing on the historical information related to the posters, VTS treats each poster as a work of art to be pondered over.  In an effort to encourage critical, creative, organic thinking the proven method of VTS requires participants to communicate what they see in the poster, and effectively back up these claims with evidence from the poster.  This teaching method will be valuable when docents lead tours, especially school groups, through the exhibit.  We hope it will foster thoughtful discussion, and encourage interest in the posters and WWII itself.

HMFM Docent Angie, practicing a VTS discussion.

Ask yourself these three questions when you walk through the WWII poster exhibit:

1. What’s going on in this picture?
2. What do you see that makes you say that?
3. What more can you find?

“UNITED WE WILL WIN” GRAND OPENING APRIL 21st 1 pm- 4 pm!

Inventory:  A complete collections inventory is in full-swing and all hands are on deck.  We have been plugging away at a full-scale inventory of all collections items (over 50,000 artifacts) for over 6 months.  It involves a physical evaluation of each item, as well as photographing, and updating our museum database.  As you can imagine, it’s overwhelming at times.

Here is an example of a collections piece that has been inventoried:

Photographed collections piece

We have several outstanding interns and volunteers who have taken on this project with us.  Their contributions to the museum are priceless!

Interns:

Meghan Baker, Browman Fellow

Meghan is finishing up her senior year at UM with a B.A. in Anthropology and History.  She’s been with the museum for almost a year, and is currently working here as a Browman Fellow.

Blake Reynolds, Browman Fellow

Blake is new to Montana and the museum.  He’s majoring in History at UM, and is also a Browman fellow this semester.

Sarah Carrier, Student Intern

Sarah finishes her B.A. in History this spring, and has worked for the museum for two semesters as a student intern cataloging items from the Photo/Document room.

And Volunteers:

Katie Matthew, volunteer

Katie lends a helping hand twice a week, and her project involves inventorying our textile rooms.

Victor Machart, HMFM superstar

Victor is a long-time museum volunteer, docent, valuable Friends of the Museum member, HMFM board memeber, and incoming Vice President.  He and is also helping to inventory.  His focus is on our basement collections.

Sherwood Moore, volunteer and docent

Sherwood is a volunteer working on inventory in the photo/document room, and he will also be a docent this year.

OH MY!

Day Two: Arrived bright and early for the labor intensive part of de-installation. This is the day we are happy to have our “muscle”, Intern Blake.

Intern Blake disassembling a display case.

While Nicole and I can hold our own, there are just some things petite 5’2” women need a little extra help with.

Nicole and Cathy Jo holding their own.

Now that all artifacts are removed from the Heath Gallery, we can start recreating the space. In other words, bringing down the walls, roofs, and any other structural pieces that won’t be part of the April 2012 “United We Will Win” WWII poster exhibit.

Nicole, Cathy Jo, and Blake bringing down the walls.

I’ve had two cups of coffee and am running the power drill to remove screws to take down walls…Nicole can only laugh nervously.  While I merrily operate the power tools, Curator Nicole operates as the brain of the de-install. She’s logistics, strategist, and problem solver.

One by one, plexi walls come down. Before we know it the Heath Gallery space is transformed. It is becoming easier to visualize spatially where posters will go, and how the upcoming exhibit will flow. By 5 o’clock quitting time all we can do as a group is take a step back and say “wow”. We’ve just deconstructed a major exhibit in 2 days. In case you are wondering, yes that’s pretty amazing.

Even more photos of the de-installation:

Interns Katie and Blake, with Curator Nicole.

We're done...whew!

Day one: We waste no time in getting into the Heath Gallery to begin the de-installation of the successful Fires of 1910 exhibit which was up from 2009-2012.  It was a great three years, but like all good things it must come to a close. The excitement of a fresh new exhibit is palpable. Both myself and Curator Nicole, can hardly wait to break out the power drill, hammer, and get cracking. First, we must carefully remove all artifacts from the exhibit.

About 80% of the Fires of 1910 exhibit artifacts came from private or other institutional loans. Museums work together in this way so that the public can be privy to more than just the local museum collection. Bringing in outside artifacts allows us to tell the story as accurately as possible.

I am always impressed with the organization and painstaking documentation it requires to create, maintain, and display a successful exhibit. Nicole and I spend the rest of the day sorting through artifacts, ensuring each one is accounted for and will be returned to the rightful owner. Taking down the exhibit has another component which includes photo documentation of anything from our collection. Intern Sarah photographs each HMFM artifact from the exhibit and then it is returned to its home, usually in the basement collections.

End of day one is a brief pat on the back (all artifacts removed except for the giant stuffed Smokey the Bear!), and a game plan for day two. Note to self: wear sneakers and jeans, we’re going to get dirty!