programming may or may not be a good gauge of whether or not to inventory. Certainly things with a low dollar value, as set by the person managing these objects, or items that will be used up or worn out during

programming may be exempt from having a number placed on them. All of this is done to have what is known as “intellectual control,” a physical inventory of objects. This is different from physical control which involves on site

(Continued on page 2)

Curators of Old Things

By Mick Woodcock Writing a session proposal for the 2013 conference in Akron has caused me to think seriously about the security and safety of objects on exhibit in historic buildings and those used by living history interpreters. This might seem at first glance to be a broad subject, but consider that much living history is done either in historic structures or reconstruction/reproductions of historic structures and then the two spaces overlap. Keeping track of things is the number one priority for anyone who has responsibility for collections material whether it is the main collection and theoretically just „on exhibit,‟ or the reproduction and prop collection which is being used, or at least is available for use by interpreters. Inventory with marking is the best

way to do this. For artifacts that are in the main collection, marking in a manner that is reversible is the museum standard. With objects that are in constant use where numbers can be worn off

or washed off, using a more permanent method may be acceptable. Certainly, anything that has a dollar value that you deem worth protecting needs to be marked, photographed and cataloged into a data base. The value placed on items used in interpretive

Spring - Focus on Curation

ALHFAM WESTERN REGION S P R I N G 2 0 1 3

S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F

I N T E R E S T :

Curators of

Old Things

Objects at

Historic Sites

Curation for

Anyone

Annual

Meeting and

Conference

Don’t Let Your

Pipes Freeze

Use furniture to create a visual and physical barrier.

Western Regional

Representative:

Mick Woodcock

Newsletter Design:

Zaira Valdovinos

Newsletter Editor:

Eileen Hook

P A G E 2

Use cabinets to allow

visitors to view items

without subjecting the

objects to risk.

security measures. An inventory is essential in that it tells you what you have and theoretically where it is located. It facilitates a physical inventory of objects which should be done periodically to make sure that objects are not being lost, and if they are to document that fact. Although we would like to think that we are all so security conscious that nothing would ever escape from our care, experience proves otherwise. Between people thinking objects would look better in their collection than ours and interpreters inadvertently losing or breaking items there is occasion for inventory shrinkage. Physical control then becomes an ongoing issue to see that the artifacts entrusted to our care remain in our care. This translates into levels of security based on what value we place on things. Alarms and locks are at the top of the list for general security of collections and exhibits although I had a man who worked for a security company tell me that if someone wants something badly enough they will figure a

A L H F A M W E S T E R N R E G I O N

way to get it. This is not to say we should throw up our hands and forget security all together, rather we need to be mindful that we must be cautious at all times regarding the items of which we are made stewards.

Training for building docents and historic structure interpreters regarding care of objects is of paramount importance. Those that have everyday contact with collections need to be trained in basic collections care and security. The fact that someone is in a building does not automatically keep the items on exhibit safe. It is very easy for two people to remove objects from behind a barricade with

one person drawing the docent into another room while the second vaults the divider and picks up the prize. Security should be a state of mind for persons dealing with artifacts whether they be main collection or reproductions and props

for interpretive purposes. Even something as simple as checking a container for stray objects before emptying its contents in the refuse may yield an errant fork now and then. One of the things we strive for in our historic buildings is accuracy of furnishing. We want the objects to be correct and their placement to be correct. We yearn for the look that the visitor

A conventional stanchion and chain arrangement to limit visitor access.

Safety wire is used

to link a pair of

vases and to keep

them from being

stolen.

P A G E 3

feels as if the room‟s occupant has just stepped out for a moment, but might return before they are finished viewing. This is a noble aspiration, but may unwittingly make theft a real possibility. Unless we are willing to create barriers that cannot be climbed over by would-be thieves, we must secure objects of value in rooms that can be accessed. This may be done by placing them in a Plexiglas or glass case or by securing with safety wire. These wires range from monofilament fishing line to plastic covered steel cable used by deep sea fishing aficionados. Other more rigid options may be necessary depending on the artifact in question. The probability of loss is magnified in a living history setting. Much of the furnishing is accessible to the visitor and great care must be exercised by interpreters to make sure that eye

contact is the only kind of contact made by them. This is often for the guest‟s safety as well as inventory control. Things that pinch, poke, burn and cut are synonymous with interesting interpretation and need to be monitored with as great a care as for things that could be unlawfully removed. Using furniture to define the interpretive space is a good way to keep visitors in a safe area, but may also have to be reinforced with a word of caution to certain individuals. Not all visitors are created equal. While this does not exhaust the subject of taking care of collections materials in historic structures it should stimulate thought for all of us who have responsibility for the cultural material at our institutions.

A

furniture

barrier can

keep guests

from

entering unsafe

areas.

A L H F A M W E S T E R N R E G I O N

UPCOMING ISSUES

Summer 2013

Topic—Foodways

Article Deadline May 1st

Publication in June

Fall 2013

Topic—Special Events

Article Deadline August 1st

Publication in September

Winter 2013

Topic—Achieving a Period Look

Article Deadline November 1st

Publication in December

Submission Guidelines:

Size of article does not matter

If you are including pictures please

explain the picture/context

Newsletters are content driven:

Mark your calendars for the

deadlines and send your content in to

Zaira:

Zaira.Valdovinos@gmail.com

A L H F A M W E S T E R N R E G I O N

By: Steve Iverson Historical Curator (retired) Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site Long Beach, CA December 23, 2012. Five more days before I retire, only two of which are working days. That means that, among other things, I can be a Living History volunteer – I couldn‟t as staff

member, though I trained LH docents for years. I have, therefore, worked two sides of living history and would like to share some comments on the curation of historical collections. Objects play a very significant role at Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site. The most important artifact is the adobe house, a large ranch headquarters dating to 1844, when California was Mexican territory. So preservation of the house is a primary goal. Within the house, however, our exhibit rooms are furnished with original period pieces, few of which are designated for hands-on use. Still, in each room we have a few objects that can be handled and passed around. Some of these objects are unlikely to be damaged by handling or dropping. Others

Objects at Historic Sites are either reproductions or duplicate items that were acquired specifically for active use. Docents, both third person and first person, are aware of which items fall into which categories. Preservation During Storage: Most objects in Rancho collections must also be stored in the adobe building, where storage space is severely limited but here are a few tricks that can assist in preservation.

Paper-based collections should be stored in acid-free containers and placed in locations where temperature and relative humidity are as constant as possible. Though it is impossible for us to maintain a constant 68-70 degree temperature, our adobe walls mediate the changes pretty effectively. We keep archival collections in a central room with a high ceiling, where heat stays near the ceiling and changes are more gradual.

Ceramic and glass items can withstand extremes of temperature and humidity, so I try to store them on higher shelves, leaving lower shelves to more fragile items.

Objects made of organic materials – paper, bone, leather, wood, plants, some fabrics – can be stored in the lower shelves, as long as the floor is not susceptible to moisture.

Fabrics should be kept in

Even a 5-pound iron feels heavy

after a day of pressing clothes.

acid-free containers but allowed to breathe. Delicate items should be stored where they are not subject to the stresses of hanging. Sturdier items, including items of clothing, can be kept on padded hangers covered by washed, unbleached muslin and encased in garment bags made of similar materials.

Keep all historic objects clean and free of dust and pollutants

Acquiring objects: Rancho Los Cerritos has established priorities for its collection. Of highest priority are objects that were in the house at some time during its history. Next are items that belonged to members of the families that lived at the Rancho. Then we seek items that duplicate things we know were found in the house, preferably from the same time period as the original was present. The site is very

The feel of lanolin on the

wool, its texture and scent,

lend credibility to the tour.

For safety reasons, however,

the shears are not handled

by visitors.

P A G E 5

fortunate to have excellent documentation for these: the family left diaries, letters, memoirs and oral histories to guide us. In addition, important archaeological investigations turned up evidence of objects used by the house‟s residents. Finally, we have tried to find objects that specific interpreters can use to tell of their lives at the rancho. Here are a few examples:

A 1930 radio like one on which the owner listened to baseball games. Sadirons, wringer and bluing balls in the laundry room where a

Chinese worker was employed. Stereoscope and period stereographs in the parlor. Pitchers and wash basins, towels and natural sponge in bedrooms. Butchering tools, including hog scraper, meat grinder, sausage stuffer

and meat saw. Sheep shears, tally sticks, stencil and burlap wool bags to show the

sheep ranching period. Curation deals with the material culture of a historic site, and a balance should be struck between preservation and education. Duplicates and reproductions answer many of the needs. The selection of objects should depend on both documentation of the site‟s original functions and what was typical of similar sites during the historic eras they represent.

Visitors feel the weight of the black-

smith's hammer and hear the sound of

its ring on the anvil.

Not that we are suggesting corrupt politics for the region, but I needed a catchy title for this article and what better than a phrase that started in the mid nineteenth century and was made popular in politics in the 1920s and „30s. Historical references are always a good thing when you are a history organization.

We therefore announce that Barry Herlihy, an ALHFAM member for better than twenty years, will appear on the ballot for the Board of Directors this spring. Barry is currently is a crew member of the USS Iowa Museum/Pacific Battleship Center in San Pedro, California. He chaired an ALHFAM PIG; is active in the Western Region, helping to organize regional meetings, chairing one such meeting, and chairing the Regional Scholarship program. He is also helping organize the first tri-regional meeting in the West (with Mountain Plains and Western Canada). Barry worked closely with both regional and national managements developing and funding conference fellowships. Drawing on his “day job” skills as an attorney, he was legal advisor to the ALHFAM Board during bylaw and charter revision work. Barry is a past director and Vice President of the California Association of Museums; served on several museum boards and for 20-plus years was chief executive officer of Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles. He serves on the Board of Overseers at the Huntington Library, and has been a crew member on the battleship USS Iowa since it opened as a museum ship last July, currently directing establishment of the Iowa‟s Training Division and helping develop training programs for the ship‟s crew. When you receive your ballot, vote to give the Western Region a greater voice on the ALHFAM Board. You may not be able to vote often, but you can vote early which will make sure that your ballot is received in a timely manner to be counted.

Deadline: March 15th

Vote Early, Vote Often

P A G E 6

Curation for ‘Anyone’ – Encourage Staff, Volunteers or Friends to Virtually ‘Curate’ for Your Museum By Zaira Valdovinos We all know that one important assertion of our ALHFAMly is a firm belief in the supreme importance of place and experience with regards to teaching history and engaging an audience. The idea of curation moving into the virtual realm may seem like an oxymoron. But for our younger audiences the word curation may finally be coming into style. In a recent article titled “Why content curation is here to stay” Clay Shirky a professor at NYU claims that every person is a media outlet. He explains that everyone is able to curate content because most people are collectors of media on the world wide web. In a recent book called „Curation Nation‟

Steve Rosenbaum explains that any business, small, large, non-profit or for profit needs to have human aggregators that not only generate content and socially share but who also curate content. Curation in this sense of the world means organizing information in meaningful ways. A museum that sets a trend, for example, of curating a meaningful Pinterest board on 1910‟s men‟s hats, can generate a great deal of traffic back to their website. What is Pinterest? Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. With an free account a person can create a series of „boards‟ based on categories and then virtually share with others any online images that are „pinned‟ to the board. Pinterest currently drives more web traffic to other sites than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined! Here are examples of historically based „pinning‟ on „Pinterest Boards‟

Example of a Historical Clothing Pinterest Board

A L H F A M W E S T E R N R E G I O N

Coca Cola Bride – curating old

images

http://pinterest.com/

pin/140526450844392902/

Historical Clothing - curating

pictures of historic clothes

http://pinterest.com/masckerade/

historical-costuming/

If your museum has a teen

volunteer program or a website/

social media director consider

starting a Pinterest board and

„curating‟ a niche board that

attracts people back to your

website. A museum that begins

to aggregate content in a

meaningful way for potential

visitors can set themselves apart

and drive interest.

Albert Bartholomé’s Dans la

serre (1881) and the dress that

Madame Bartholomé wore for

the sitting.

‘Curation for Anyone’

A L H F A M W E S T E R N R E G I O N

conversation. And what better place to gather than the time-honored table that is familiar to everyone and is oftentimes described as a positive and productive setting for stimulating discourse, high spirits, instruction, respite and shared aims. Appropriately the table serves as a special place that is witness to life's most important

things.

The 2013 conference will address issues and concerns currently facing living history and agricultural museums. Presentations, sessions, papers and workshops will focus on individual, institutional and communal achievements that serve up innovative programming initiatives or organizational efforts that are creative, essential and relevant in today‟s marketplace. How do museums cultivate and nurture civic engagement for

From June 14-18, 2013, Hale Farm & Village, an outdoor living history site and a premier collection and museum of the Western Reserve Historical Society, will host the 2013 ALHFAM Annual Meeting and Conference. Nestled in the picturesque Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Hale Farm & Village depicts mid-19th century rural life in Northeastern Ohio through dozens of historic structures, farm animals, heritage gardens and artisan demonstrations. The University of Akron will provide meeting, dinning and lodging facilities for the conference and is located within 50 minutes of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and 20 minutes of the

Akron-Canton Regional Airport.

Guided by the theme; Bringing It All to the Table: Feed Your Body, Feed Your Mind, museum professionals everywhere are encouraged to gather with colleagues around a common table. Here conference attendees will acquaint themselves with old friends and new associates, while enjoying good company, good food, and rousing

greater involvement and investment in their organizations? What can we glean from new demographic shifts, technological applications and curriculum schemes? What are the current and best practices of living history interpretation and museum methodology that effect organizational richness? What are the processes for dishing-up success? How do we deliver the goods to our audiences and reap the rewards of a good yield in the face of new challenges and opportunities?

Annual Meeting & Conference

Hale Farm and Village

P A G E 7

JUNE 2013 - BRINGING IT ALL TO THE TABLE

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A L H F A M W E S T E R N R E G I O N P A G E 8

By Mick Woodcock As I write we are enduring our fourth morning of single digit temperatures. Now I realize that some of you are laughing as that is routine for you, but most of us here in the West find that a bit much. I mean it has been so cold that people in temperate San Diego have been scratching around; trying to find gloves and hats. It‟s that bad. Here at my site it has been unusually cold for long enough to have a pipe freeze yesterday in one of the historic buildings. It

wasn‟t bad, but brings up the reminder that when things get outside of the normal parameters, extra care needs to be taken.

Don’t Let Your Pipes Freeze That applies to the upcoming year which may well be as challenging as have the past five. As museums and sites deal with declining revenues, lower visitor counts and increasing costs, it is easy to have the mind set that the current state of affairs has gone on long enough and that things will get better soon. You might be setting yourself up to have your pipes freeze in a financial way. Now is the time when we need to reach out to our communities and constituents, legislators and elected officials to seek help to get us over this “cold spell”. While it might seem that financial hard times are not the best times to fund raise, the opposite may well be true. Take for example the High Desert Museum, site of the 2012 regional meeting. They just received a $15,000 donation from Mid Oregon Credit Union for a Free Family Saturday, January 26th. My site has, over the past five years, raised the necessary funds to construct a new facilities support building with full basement for artifact storage. This will open in March. There are other success stories out there from our region which I am not

aware of as administrators and board members roll up their sleeves to see that state representatives, county boards of supervisors, city councils and municipal administrators remain aware that museums and historic sites boost tourism and provide a quality of life for local and regional folks that would be sorely lacking should our institutions have to reduce services or close entirely. If we will make the extra effort to work with granting agencies and major donors, we will see that they are aware of our importance in the cultural mix. Perhaps they cannot fund us to the extent we would like, but any grant or gift means that we can do something that might have fallen by the wayside without their help. All of us working together within our communities, as we are able, can make the difference between coming through these difficult times with financial streams still flowing or having the monetary pipes frozen. Hopefully we can all benefit from this lesson of a hard winter to get us through what could potentially become hard times.