Today, all of the interns arrived at the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center (HRC) at 8:00 AM for orientation. This was supposed to be our first day of work, but only one of the interns’ security background check had passed, so we were given our intern handbooks, a tour of the facility, and brought to get decals for our vehicles so we can enter the park after work every day.
I was really impressed with the HRC facility. The museum storage space is amazing and the collection is really wonderful. I am really excited to work with it and I know I am going to learn a lot. I am most excited about the variety of objects in the museum collection. They have a lot of artwork, including over 20 original Thomas Moran watercolors of the park, early photographs and posters of the park, and a large postcard collection. There is also a sizeable collection of natural history specimens, including taxidermied animals, animal skeletons, and wet specimens. They have a fantastic collection of furniture from the park’s historic hotels, many of which no longer exist. I am especially excited to work with their collection of Native American objects.
The interns will be working collaboratively to create a new exhibit for the lobby of the HRC, a project I am really excited about. There is a large backlog of objects that need to be accessioned, and a postcard collection that needs to be digitized. I know I am going to have a great experience here this summer, and can’t wait to begin!
I learned a new word today - accessioned: to record in order of acquisition.
ReplyDeleteYour descriptions of the HRC collection and your collaborative project are very exciting. Can't wait to learn more as the summer unfolds.