AHM Internship – Week 5

Anthracite Photographers, Interns' Corner

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

Anthracite Photographers, Interns' Corner

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

Anthracite Photographers, Interns' Corner

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

Anthracite Photographers, Interns' Corner

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!

AHM Internship – Week 1

Anthracite Photographers, Interns' Corner

My first week interning at Anthracite Heritage Museum was spent learning about some the operational duties that occur during the course of running of a museum. Maintaining archives and constantly updating them is an important task and one that I am happy to experience throughout this semester. However, this is something I will not finish as it takes time and I will only be able to work on it when I’m not working on the new exhibit AHM is currently working on. It could take years to fully update archives in an museum due to the vastness of their collections. I learned that I will also participate in other projects such as “Railfest 2018” which is a celebration of railroads and anthracite history in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I helped conduct a vendor table, explaining some of the work AHM does and some of the upcoming events such as the opening of the new exhibit. I was happy to participate, as I was able to meet other organizations in the area and learn about some their programs, like the Lackawanna Historical Society, and Lackawanna Community Library in Taylor. I cannot wait to learn what exciting opportunities AHM offers me during my time there.

SURF project summary- AHM exhibit

Anthracite Photographers

In the summer of 2018, Sarah Sporko received a fellowship through Misericordia’s SURF program to assist Dr. Black with a photography exhibit she was preparing for the Anthracite Heritage Museum in Scranton, PA, a PHMC-sponsored institution.  Below are some excerpts from Sarah’s final presentation to the Misericordia community in August, 2018.

Photographers of the Anthracite Coal Region
By: Sarah Sporko

I worked in collaboration with Dr. Black and a team at Anthracite Heritage Museum to produce an exhibit on labor photography, currently titled “Anthracite Photographers and Photographers of Anthracite.” This will be replacing an exhibit that was installed in 2002.  The exhibit will feature photographers from the Anthracite Coal Regions as well as several photographers that were not from the Region. It will also feature personal photographs.  The work is still continuing and will be completed towards the end of November / early December when the exhibit opens.

Here are some of the responsibilities I had during the project:

  • Research information on Lewis Hine and Labor Photography
  • Research Rights and Reproduction permissions from Library of Congress and other organizations
  • Research and compose biographies for photographers
  • Take Down existing exhibit and prepare area for new exhibit
  • Create layouts for photographs along with labels according to PHMC guidelines

Throughout the project, I learned many things, including:

  • More historical information about the Anthracite Coal Region
  • Research Skills
  • How to collaborate with other people on projects
  • How to work with a government-run nonprofit
  • Curatorial Work
  • How to produce an exhibit (i.e. what is involved)
  • More about myself (How this affects my future)

Week 14 LCHS

Interns' Corner

           It is my last week here at Luzerne County Historical Society. During my last week, I mainly did research requests and organized some files the society already had. For instance, one research request I worked on was for Ross Township, Pennsylvania. I had to research Mt. Spring’s Lake for any clues as to whether the lake was man made or not. None of the information Luzerne County Historical Society had would not assist the researcher. However, with working on the request I came across some interesting information. For example, there is a 2003 article pertaining to the dam in Mt. Spring’s Lake. The article stated that individuals felt that the dam should be reconstructed due to the dam’s disintegration over time. There were other information pertaining to the history of the dam I came across that I thought were intriguing too, which increased my interest in the topic overall. The Librarian/Archivist informed me from what she heard that the individuals in Ross Township were contemplating to destroy the dam altogether. In all, I did not know much about Ross Township, but because of the request I got to learn about the township that I live close to.

My overall experience at the Luzerne County Historical Society was great. I got to learn a lot of information about families that lived in Luzerne County, as well as different townships and facilities. The Librarian/Archivist was great at assisting me with any questions I had pertaining to any of the assignments I had and most importantly, about her career that I am interested in pursuing. Furthermore, the Executive Director there was great at assisting me with what path I should take or graduate classes that would be beneficial for me in the field. I hope in the near future I will be able to go back and volunteer there.

Week 13 LCHS

Interns' Corner

This week at the Luzerne County Historical Society, I have completed cataloging the Welles Collection and have started on another collection, the Cist collection. My assignment is to locate where objects are in the collection. I was given a list on items under categories, and I have to put the box’s identification code beside the object. As I was marking off objects on the list, I have come across some interesting things. The gentleman with the last name Cist (that the collection came from) was an artist. So, in one of the boxes there are drawings Cist had done that are quite good. There are two small watercolor paintings of landscapes that have nice variations of colors. There are drawings of arms, hands, a full body drawing, and so on. Those particularly caught my attention because of Cist’s ability to draw. I am someone who loves to draw and paint, but I could not draw or paint a human figure. Whenever I attempted to draw a full body picture, it would not come out the way I pictured. Thus, I was slightly jealous because of Cist’s talent in that aspect of things to draw or paint.

Additionally, this past week before I started the Cist collection assignment, I assisted the librarian/archivist with research requests. I was excited for that because as I have said in my last post, I enjoy doing research requests for people. But this research request was different than the previous one I did. This time I had to go through microfilm with images of court records regarding deeds and marriage records. This last research request was difficult in comparison to the other because all of the images were dark on the microfilm. However, I was still able to locate the necessary information in order to get what I was looking for because the microfilm was still readable. Working with microfilm was a new experience for me, as well as working with the technology for it. Thus, I have learned a new skill, which is exciting. This coming week, I am looking forward to continue looking through the Cist collection and finding more interesting things before I end my internship.

Week 12 LCHS

Interns' Corner

Throughout this week at the Luzerne County Historical Society, I have cataloged a part of the Welles Collection that has a large assortment of letters Edward Welles wrote to family members, friends, and acquaintances. Most of the letters I came across were written in an elegant style that was difficult for me to read. Thus, I could not understand what Edward Welles wrote to his wife, Stella Welles. However, there were typed letters Edward Welles wrote to acquaintances, friends, and family members. Many of the typed letters I came across pertained to business, property, and so on.

I hope by next week, I will be able to do another task related to interactions with the public, if I complete the task of cataloging the Welles Collection, that is. I find doing tasks, such as researching for the public, particularly interesting because you get to learn more about a topic that you may not have studied in the past. Additionally, doing that specific task excites me because I would get to work in the archives, rather than only cataloging. I do enjoy cataloging artifacts, but I prefer to have a variety of tasks rather than only one. In all, fingers crossed that I will do a small task next week before I end my internship at the Luzerne County Historical Society.

Week 11 LCHS

Interns' Corner

This week at the Luzerne County Historical Society, I continued cataloging the Welles collection and came across two interesting books. One small book I came across was titled “Twenty-Two Years of Protection” by Henry V. Poor, written in September 1888. In his book, Poor discusses the transitions of America’s financial history from the colonial period to the late 1800s, dividing the transitions into three distinct phases:  ‘The Period of Construction’ (1789-1829), ‘The Period of Attempted Destruction’ (1829-1865), and lastly, ‘The Period of Restoration’ (1865-1887). Throughout the book, Poor discusses each phases of America’s financial history, but focuses on the last phase extensively. I thought the book was appealing because of the title, even though I don’t have much interest in its topic. On the other hand, if any readers are interested in America’s financial history, they should not hesitate to take a look at it.

The other interesting book I came across was titled “The Right and Left Hand Blessings of God: Designed as a Cure for Covetousness” by Rev. Nathaniel West. The book got my attention as I was reading the title and its claim that it can cure one’s greed. Inside the book, there are excerpts of scripture, right hand blessings, and so on. These components highlighted by West were, and possibly are presently, believed to be a way to heal a greedy individual’s spirit. Due to time restrictions, I unfortunately could not look further into the book. However, when I do have the time I would like to read it, because the “right hand blessings” highlighted in the book, such as the ‘Length of Days’ and ‘Riches and House’,  seem interesting to me. Anyhow, as the semester is coming to an end, I am going to continue cataloging the Welles collection until mid-December. Thus, I wonder what I will find next week in the collection!

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