Week 11 of my internship with the Museum of Military History concentrated on three particular tasks. My primary objective was continuing work alongside Mr. Roger Ragland on the First World War trench system; we continued construction and worked on additional planning for the trench that will take place in the upcoming weeks. I had two secondary tasks that I focused on when Roger was not onsite for construction. The first was researching various artifacts found within the First World War exhibition area, and curating them in an effective way. (Mainly because much of the First World War exhibition area is scattered because of the construction currently taking place). The second was working with curator and operations manager Mathus Williams to create additional “CC” or “Cardboard Copy” mannequins that I elaborated on in my previous blog post.
Similarly to last week a majority of my time this week was spent with Mr. Roger Ragland. I’ve mentioned him briefly numerous times in my last two blog postings. Roger is a military history buff and a skilled craftsman who has worked on numerous history related media productions. His expertise in set design and building is what has allowed us to create the “structural skeleton” of the trench system. Roger, myself, and a handful of volunteers completed the skeleton of the trench system this week. Corrugated meal, lumber materials, and hardwear were used to construct an historically accurate trench system that immerses visitors and showcases what an Allied style trench would have looked like on the Western Front in 1917. Now that the skeleton has been built the upcoming weeks are going to focus on weathering, and adding immersive elements that place the visitor within the trenches of the First World War (mannequins in full Doughboy attire, an interactive periscope, a mounted machine gun, a trench ladder, hidden rats, etc). Roger and I have made great time building the system; Chris Robertson, the institution’s Executive Director, believed it would take a few weeks to a month’s time, however we are nearing completion. I will provide pictures to Dr. Gannon to showcase the progress.
My secondary tasks, mainly took place when Roger was not onsite. During this time I continued to catalog, research, and curate items found within the First World War exhibition. Due to construction in this section of the museum, the items on display have been shuffled around to allow for an active working area. I took this opportunity to catalog a majority of the items and shuffled them around within the exhibition hall that provides a more cohesive, chronological narrative for museum guests. I am still working on my “exhibition pamphlet” that Chris has given me permission to put out and test amongst museum guests, however I am not going to present the pamphlet until the trench system’s construction has been completed and the First World War exhibition hall and its items have a permanent home. My other objective was working with Mathus to create additional “CC mannequins” or “Cardboard Copy mannequins”. The museum has a vast and extensive collection of uniforms but not enough mannequins to properly display them. This has become problematic because important uniforms that symbolize, provide context, and showcase living history are stuck in the museum’s collection room instead of out on the exhibition floors. With the material available Mathuis and I constructed 8 more “CC mannequins” this week and are already being put to use. With these “CC mannequins” Mathus and I were able to display an American Army Uniform from the global war on terror era. We have plans to display another mannequin next week with a World War II 101st Airborne uniform. That sums up my work with the museum this week, I will provide pictures to Dr. Gannon and will post updates in next week’s blog post.