Anthracite Heritage Museum 2/7/22-2/9/22

Interns' Corner, ,

Kendall Williams

Due to the reopening of the museum for the season approaching, I was tasked with continuing the process of cleaning artifacts. The majority of the artifacts that I was responsible for cleaning were those related to the silk and garment industry in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The machines were used in factories that produced silk, material, and clothing in the first half of the twentieth century. It was important to make sure that I was careful while cleaning the machines for multiple reasons.

One reason was to make sure that I got dust from all parts of the machine, in some cases, in hard to reach areas. If dust was left to sit on them, it could attract moisture and cause the machine to rust, damaging it. It also was important to take note of where I was cleaning and if the surface was oily. Many of the machines still have remaining oil from when they were in use, and while we did not want to remove it, we did not want to spread it onto other parts of the machine.

When I was not cleaning, the curator, John Fielding, taught me about the process of accessioning and deaccessioning items in the collection. I did not have computer access in order to be able to log items on their digital item management site, but John showed me how the process would go so I had an idea for how it would work later.

We also discussed fulfilling requests from the public who were seeking information. Often times, those who had relatives who worked in the mines will reach out for information about them, asking for documents or other materials. We went through the process of trying to fulfill requests, which was valuable within itself to do. While unfortuante, it is not uncommon that information has been lost because documents have not been saved. In many cases, it is difficult to find what some people request because it simply does not exist in the collection. This is not uncommon in archival collections, and it was interesting to see how even with such well documented mining history there is here, that there still are gaps in the collection.

Anthracite Heritage Museum 1/19/22-2/2/22

Interns' Corner,

Kendall Williams

At my first week of my internship at the Anthracite Heritage Museum, I was given a brief overview of the collection, the exhibit space, the archives, and the general day to day activities that the curator preformed there. We began our work by fulfilling a small project for Proctor and Gamble, who reached out to the Museum for small exhibits featuring photos and information about prominent black historical figures from the Wyoming Valley.

As we continued the project on into the next week, and I assisted in putting together the photographs and information for the exhibit posters, which included scanning, printing, and arranging the items. I also learned more about the history of prominent black families from the area and on their individual communities. After we had finished the project, we moved onto parts of the collection that are displayed in the exhibit area.

The remainder of the second week following into the third week, I learned more about proper artifact care. We discussed how to properly handle artifacts, such as where to support them when picking them up, when to wear gloves, and how to clean the artifacts. In order to prepare for the museums reopening in the spring, we had to ensure that the artifacts in the exhibit space were cleaned.

I had the opportunity to work on many different artifacts, like a sculpture, machinery, and textiles. Proper care had to go into cleaning the artifacts, and it must be done gently. In order to prevent any damage to the items, I had to ensure that any built up dust from being on display was removed. This is to make sure that moisture is not attracted to any of the artifacts, which would cause rust or rot to occur. I also learned how to properly clean textiles, which is even more delicate than cleaning machinery.

My first few weeks served as a wonderful introduction to much of the work that a curator does; collection care and public outreach are very important in that profession, which is something I saw at the Anthracite Heritage Museum.

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