AHM Internship – Week 11

This was a very exciting week at Anthracite Heritage Museum as we finally started to put together the whole exhibit. As stated, this was exciting because of the months of preparations and work that was put into this exhibit and now we are finally seeing the the end result.

Throughout Tuesday, while most of photographs were being hung up, I was doing checks on the frames, making sure that each frame had at least two command hook strips.

After that, I assisted the curator, John, with hanging each photograph. We were able to do this easily with by using two wooden stands that were built to the height we wanted each photograph to hang on the wall. All we had to do was set each frame on the top of the stand, and hold it in place while we leveled it. Then we had to take the back of the command hook strips off, reposition the frame again, and attach it to the wall. This was a relatively easy process and it only took about two days to hang the frames. The next part that I did was attach the labels. I did this by using the level. I would place the level underneath the frame, then place the label underneath the level which would keep the label level while providing an appropriate amount of space between the frame and label. Next week, is the week to a first round of checks of what we need to make for the exhibit.

AHM Internship – Week 10

This week at Anthracite Heritage Museum, I began the technical work of putting together the whole exhibit. All photographs are in their frames and almost everything is ready to be put on the walls. This week, I learned how to make the wall labels for each of the photographs. This was something completely new to me. The process involves double and triple checking the labels and making sure there are no misspellings and other errors. Then each label needs to be spaced with at least two inches on the word document. Once this is done, the whole word document can be printed out on the appropriate paper. Now comes the tedious part.

There is a product called positionable mounting paper, which is a adhesive that gets transferred from its original paper source to the back of the labels. To do this, I take one sheet of labels which has about three labels (two when it comes to Lewis Hine’s discursive titles) when spaced out. Then I roll out the mounting paper to expose the adhesive and position the paper, preferably the right-hand corner. After that, using a box cutter, I cut out paper and smooth is out repeatedly, using a flat tool that comes with the mounting paper, in different patterns. Then I pull the backing of the adhesive off slowly, transferring the adhesive to the back of the paper.

The next part of this process becomes harder. I first adhere the paper to the foam core and again smooth it out while checking for markings. Once finished, I use the box cutter and cut out the area of foam core that has the paper on it. I next divided the labels into sections (three or two depending on the amount of labels on the paper) and proceed to measure out the amount of space needed. Each label should about an inch to 3/4 of an inch of white space surrounding it. This can become tedious as it may take multiple measurements to make sure the cut is just right. An experienced person can do about 10 in one hour, finishing our exhibit in about 1 day. I am not experienced and took most of my day to do one sheet of foam core (about 12-15 labels).

AHM Internship – Week 9

The date for the opening is approaching quickly. We are about one month away from our opening date. While last week I worked on the catalog, I am now working on some of the finer details of the exhibit such as framing, matting, and making sure the prints came out perfect. However, one persistent issue that has plaguing the whole process was the actual color of the photos that were being printed. For some reason, all of the prints that we obtained from the Library of Congress (LOC) database were showing up on Photoshop normal, but then when they printed, the image had tints of green, blue and some even red. Throughout the past few weeks I have been researching this issue to find a solution. Through many trials and errors, the curator at AHM and me were able to find temporary solution. When I would upload the photograph on Photoshop, I would have to switch the mode that the original photo was in. This worked for the majority of the LOC photographs and allowed me to print all of them. Next week, I will be shown how to create the labels for the photographs so that we can put them on the exhibit walls.

AHM Internship – Week 8

This week at AHM left me putting the final details of the catalog layout together. I spent this past week doing the tedious job of making sure every photo has a caption, in a specific order, and in a specific section. This took up the bulk of my time as it needed to be checked multiple times to insure accuracy. The next step on this process was putting everything in order according to the way everything will be hung in the exhibit. This was much easier as once I had everything created, I was then able to switch some of the sections. The last part of building the exhibit catalog included putting in the finish pieces such as headers, title and cover page, as well as rear cover page. The finish project looked perfect (at least to me), and I cannot wait to see the final product. I was so happy to be part of this experience as I was able to learn the details of making an exhibit catalog while figuring out my own organizational skills in the process.

AHM Internship – Week 7

Another busy week at AHM as we are putting together the catalog for the exhibit. The catalog is a representation of the whole exhibit, minus any last minute details/objects that we choose to put in the exhibit. This will be published and distributed to those who wish to buy it as a souvenir of the exhibit. However there are several things I needed to do in order to put this exhibit together.

I first needed to gather all of the items that are going to be in the exhibit. This includes all of the section introductions, and all photographs and accompanying captions. Then I need the specific order of the photographs as they will be placed in the exhibit. This was probably the hardest part, as I first needed to get those involved to send me their order. After getting all of information, it then needs to assembled in a particular order, which is what I will spend the greater part of next week on.

AHM Internship – Week 6

This week at Anthracite Heritage Museum, I was able to finally start the printing process of the photographs for this exhibit. It’s one thing to sit and talk about the photographs that will be included but to do the hands-on work and actually print them is another thing. This means that the exhibit is actually almost here. It is so exciting, since I have been working on this project since May. Now we are all getting into gear as we only have a little more than a month until the exhibit opens. The photographs I have printed out so far, have come out beautiful. I cannot wait to see what they look like matted and framed.

However, now that we getting closer to the opening, it is requiring a little multi-tasking as now everything needs to start being wrapped up such as the catalog for the exhibit, preparing the actual exhibit space, and going over and last minute details that have yet to be addressed. So far, everything is getting completed and we are on schedule and hopefully, barring any curves, we will stay on schedule.

AHM Internship – Week 5

I was able to travel this week during my internship. I got to visit the Lackawanna Historical Society and the Times Tribune building in Scranton. The Lackawanna Historical Society was very interesting as it is an early 20th century house and it doubles as a museum as a research center. It seemed weird to be doing research in an old kitchen.  The Times Tribune was probably my favorite as I have never been inside a newspaper office. I was surprised to learn that it looks just like it would on TV, with a floor of several cubicles and phones constantly ringing.

The purpose of my trips were to look for photographs for the exhibit. The ones that I obtained were very interesting as they picture mine cave-ins and and mine fires.

Two of the most interesting were the ones I obtained from the Times Tribune. They feature a search of a mine accident. Women and children were gathered waiting to see if they’re husbands and fathers were going to come up alive or dead. This was everyday life in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the 20th century. This section of the new exhibit is going to be my favorite as it really focuses in on the dangers of mining.

AHM Internship – Week 4

This week at AHM I did more manual labor than I probably will do my whole internship. After contacting and setting up appointments with various outside sources for photographs to include in the new exhibit, I  put my painting skills to use and began working inside the exhibit.

To get ahead of some of the renovation that needs to be done in the exhibit space, I began painting the borders around the top of walls. This included spending a great deal of time on a later, trying not to get paint all over the place. While the final color for the exhibit needs to be chosen, getting some of this work done now will help down the road as we need to give the room at least forty-eight hours to dry and be able to use.

In a week, it will be officially two months before the exhibit is set to open and the anticipation is building within everyone at AHM and inside myself. After working on this exhibit for so long and seeing the pieces come together, I cannot wait to see the final product.

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AHM Internship – Week 3

My latest week at Anthracite Heritage Museum saw the end of an era. The last artifact located within the current exhibit space from the last exhibit was finally broken down and packed for shipment. Inside the previous exhibit, stood a large gatling gun that was used by the PA State Militia.

During the Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902, the PA State Militia offered prominent security figures to keep chaos from breaking out during negotiations. This specific artifact was on loan from the PHMC Military Museum for the last 16 years. I was able to assist in the work that took place such as packing the wheels. 

During this we found an amazing discovery; one wheel was shorter than the others and thus not an original. This was not known to anyone, including the Curator of AHM as everyone thought that each wheel was the same! After marking this discovery down in the condition reports, I helped to pack the items in their respective crates. The gatling gun will be officially leaving at the end of the month, marking the official end to the previous exhibit and the beginning of the new one.

AHM Internship – Week 2

My second week at Anthracite was very interesting. We received an inquiry from a person trying to learn about his family’s history in the mines. Through this, I learned how to trace a mine company’s history by using data books published by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor. These books trace the mine companies that were in operation for that year, where their mine was located, how much they produced, how much they shipped, and any accidents and how many victims, if any. Using the mine company’s name and time period he provided, I was able to research the mine company’s history. Using the data books, I was able to speculate the company’s opening year and it’s closing year.  I was able to also able to track where the company moved when it closed a specific location and other details. I was very happy when I completed this inquiry as I was able to use limited information and tell a story about this specific company. I hope that this information will help advance the individual in his search for his family’s history.

It’s also time to start preparing the exhibit hall for the new photography exhibit!