Harrison Smith Museum of Military History Summer Internship Blog Post 3

Week 3 of my internship with the Museum of Military History was a bit different than my previous two weeks. I worked remotely this week because I unfortunately contracted Covid 19. Because of this I will not be returning to the museum and working onsite until Week 5 because of my institution's 2 week isolation policy. Once I test negative I will return to the museum and continue my work with Mathus, Chris, and the rest of the institution's staff.

As mentioned in my previous blog posts, Mathus and Chris have tasked me with helping reorganize the museum's collection currently on display, with an emphasis on the World War I exhibition. Since I have been unable to work onsite that project has been put on a standstill until I return to the museum. While working remotely I have researched items displayed within the First World War exhibition (gas mask, uniforms, military regiments and divisions, patches, doglegs, canteens, etc); many of them do not have labels giving proper historical context. I have also began creating mock labels for more "notable pieces"within the First World War collection. I am also working on a mock exhibition pamphlet for the World War I display area to account for the lack of space found within the display cabinets. The Museum of Military History has an amazing collection, however because of limited space and the various major conflicts the museum covers; there is little free space. My goal of the World War I exhibition pamphlet is to free the display cases of labels and instead have numbered tags attached to each artifact. The paper pamphlets will have labels and historical context for each item, instead of only certain items having labels. I plan to deliver mock versions of the labels for notable items and the exhibition pamphlet to Mathus and Chris when I return. If approved for the First World War exhibition, the institution will see how museum guests react to the pamphlets and if they give the visitors a positive or negative experience.

Mathus has informed me of another project I will be working on once I return onsite. Over memorial day weekend an individual donated a World War II era footlocker that was owned by one of their family members. It turns out the soldier who was the footlocker was a part of Patton's Third Army. The footlocker contains personal items, including authentic original photos of Patton in France between late 1944 and 1945. Once I return I will be sorting through the footlocker and cataloging the items in Past Perfect and aiding Mathus in putting the collection on display. Mathus and Chris also wanted to update a display on Silver Star Recipient Lt. Col. Elmer E. Ambrose who served during World War II. Because I will be working remotely again this upcoming week I am going to focus on continuing research on items found within the First World War's exhibition era, the creation of mock labels, and an exhibition pamphlet, and genealogical research on Lt. Col. Ambrose. Once I return to the museum I will continue work on the project that requires me to be onsite. Dr. Gannon and I will be meeting sometime next week to discuss the historiography paper. I believe it will be related to my thesis topic in some way.