In my first post, I talked about contributing to an upcoming exhibit space inside the First Bank:
Despite setbacks, the staff are hoping to open the first floor of the bank building to the public as the new site of the archaeology lab. If their plan pans out, the second and third floors would remain split between storage and office space and the basement would remain somewhat creepy and totally awesome.
It turns out the Bank is open to the public much earlier than expected. I haven’t gotten all of the details straightened out yet, but I figure that’s what the ‘edit’ button is for. There hasn’t been time to ask too many questions with the urgency of First Bank’s debut. Though not all of the grand plans for the Living History Center have worked out yet because of time constraints, much of what was planned (my panels included) will be added at the pace originally intended.
The park’s Living History Center used to be in an annex of the old Visitor’s Center. It stands on Third Street, directly across the street from First Bank. The Visitor’s Center was purchased by an outside group, as detailed in this article. They hope to raze the building and construct their own museum, focusing on the US War for Independence (1775-1783). In anticipation of the move, the Living History Center (seemingly) packed up and moved to a small, but functional temporary location for the winter.
In a surprise twist of incredible timing, which set the events in my post in motion, I am happy to inform you that October is Pennsylvania Archaeology Month! It being such a month, the Living History Center is open to the public. Without lights, air conditioning, or much free floor-space to work with, the Bank building needed lots of work done to prepare the small exhibit on the park’s archaeological digs. Watching everyone present pull an exhibit together so efficiently was, for lack of better word, inspiring. I was lucky to be there during the install.
Despite the unexpected rush, the staff weren’t careless or bitter. The install illustrates two things I have noticed favorably among the staff during my placement. They are incredibly focused on getting a job done and keeping everyone safe during work. Both traits are a joy to watch.
Hey, Anne! That sounds like a really stressful situation and I'm impressed with how your staff is handling it. Then again, they sound like the same caliber of people that I have discovered at the APS Museum--everyone in this square radius is motivated and determined. Good luck with your panels!!
ReplyDeleteAlso, what's up with this?
"They hope to raze the building and construct their own museum, focusing on the US War for Independence (1775-1783). In anticipation of the move, the Living History Center (seemingly) packed up and moved to a small, but functional temporary location for the winter."
Does this mean that your area has to evacuate, or am I misunderstanding??
The reason why I bring this up is because I've noticed that the APS museum and library's collections, understandably, emphasis Americana and Franklin and Co. materials. While these men are great national figures, I'm curious if there can be a more obvious focus/stress on other people/events/materials that were floating around at the same time? The APS Museum put on an amazing exhibition called the Princess and the Patriot that spotlights the contributions of APS female members. I wonder if future Treasure exhibitions (a popular theme for our gallery) can spotlight similar figures? We have cool artifacts in our collections that would enjoy more air time...
Good luck with Archeology Month.
Thanks Natasha! I'm pretty close to being done with my background reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm not in the old visitor's center, so I won't have to move. They plan to build the new museum in the next five years and we haven't arranged to move the bicentennial bell (in the tower) yet, so demolition is still a ways off. We moved because they now own the building.
I have a deep hatred for 'great men' retellings of history. Any museum that doesn't fall into the trap of only talking about the same rich white guys is close to my heart. One of the reasons I appreciate archaeology is that it by nature focuses on more than just the same fifty men. Also, a lot of what survives gives light to how people lived on a day-to-day basis. That said, the linked article mentions some of the new museum's prized pieces. It's still way too early to judge, but they seem to equate ownership by Washington with supreme historical significance. Sounds more like they want to focus on the legend than the context from here...
If you find a group of artifacts without a whole lot of documentation, there's a great exhibit that hasn't yet been explored! Ask around. At school, the archivists are so used to what they have in storage that it becomes commonplace. It sometimes takes a person going into cold storage and asking why a piece isn't being displayed to realize it should be.
Hope things are resettling at APS! You sounded a bit windswept on Thursday.