What does it take to become an engaging museum? This isn’t an easy nut to crack for most museums, but staff must learn how to tackle this problem. We spend a lot of time thinking about, researching, and gathering data to understand who is part of our audience and why—or why not. This work includes creating and conducting surveys, talking to visitors, and developing relationships. We also must try to identify people in our community who don’t already attend our programs and events, and work on ways to become relevant to them also. Just like any community, our audiences shrink, grow, and change over time too. We have to be willing to experiment with new techniques, ideas, and technologies to identify, develop, and engage our visitors and the communities we serve.

After we understand more about who our audience really is, the next step is to build a relationship with them. We want to keep them excited and coming back to see what we have in store for them next. Social media certainly plays a part in this work, but ultimately it takes vibrant programs and events to keep people excited. A great model of a site trying out new programs is the Former Governors’ Mansion State Historic Site, managed by Johnathan Campbell. The FGM is a house museum located in Bismarck that has been experimenting with new programs to see what might interest long-standing patrons, but also tap into the growing number of new residents in the area.

Former Governors' Mansion State Historic Site

The FGM has done a lot to leverage social media in order to build relationships with people and has a very active Facebook page. In the past year they have held a variety of events that are old favorites like the annual ice cream social. They have also experimented with programming designed to reach new audiences. An example of this is work done with the North Dakota Women’s Network to promote education about women’s rights, equality, and voter education. They’ve also held a film series, had art and craft events, and hosted knitters.

Knitting Brigade - photo by Johnathan Campbell

Becoming an engaging museum starts with developing a deeper understanding of your audience, but it doesn’t stop there. Museums have come a long way in building their capacity to engage communities. We work to develop relationships with visitors and the larger community that, if done right, can effect transformative change on a community in a way that really matters. This is not always easy work and can be painful at times; however, the rewards are immeasurable and the time and effort are worth it. So if you ever have an opportunity to take a visitor survey or provide feedback, know that your comments can help develop richer museum programming and a more transformative experience for everyone.

As the assistant curator of collections, I care for our state’s amazing history and natural history collections. I work with artifacts such as quilts, (thankfully disarmed) bombs, taxidermy, moon rocks, and any number of items in a given week. With a collection of nearly 70,000 artifacts, I see something that surprises me at least once a week.

Since October, one of my primary jobs has been to prepare collection artifacts before they go into the new galleries. But what goes into preparing the artifacts for those exhibits? I’d like to take you behind the scenes and show you just how much care went into one artifact you will see in the Inspiration Gallery this fall.

This 1929 Erskine Cabriolet, originally owned by a North Dakota woman, was bought for the Historical Society’s collection in 1955 with 30,000 miles on the odometer. It is currently installed in the museum’s Inspiration Gallery, which is opening to the public on November 2, 2014.

This 1929 Erskine Cabriolet requires a bit more care than most artifacts due its size. First, the staff assessed its condition and wrote a formal condition report to record the condition it was in before we put it on display. The report provides a baseline to identify any damage that occurs while the artifact is in the gallery. At that time it was decided the car needed to be cleaned, both so it looked nice for the exhibit and to identify any preservation issues that needed to be addressed. Our goal is to ensure that the artifacts in our care are around for as long as possible, and it’s a duty we take very seriously. Being a collection item, we couldn’t just run the Erskine through a touch-free car wash, so we had to use a gentler technique to get it ready for exhibit.

To remove dust from the exterior, we dipped rags in water, rang them out until they were slightly damp, and then gently patted the vehicle. While it is time consuming, patting (rather than scrubbing) prevents scratches to the finish and minimizes the risk of removing paint.

Before it could go on display, the Erskine needed a thorough cleaning. In this image, Curator of Collections Management Jenny Yearous and Intern Stephanie Templin dab the exterior with damp rags to remove dust. On the passenger side of the windshield, you can see a sticker with the letter “A”. It is a World War II gas ration sticker, which permitted the owner to buy up to four gallons of gas per week.

The interior of the vehicle is leatherette, cloth, wood, and unfinished metal, materials that don’t always react well to water. Instead of using damp rags, we vacuumed the interior to remove dust and debris while checking for signs of pests. That was repeated for the engine compartment and the rumble seat in the back.

Once it was clean, we needed to figure out how we were going to get it from our off-site storage facility back to the Heritage Center. We would never drive the Erskine, and even if we wanted to, none of the tires hold air anymore due to their age. We decided to contract with a moving company and use a tilt bed trailer to transport the car.; It was rolled onto the truck, then driven to the Heritage Center.

Moving day. A cable was attached to the car and a winch was used to pull the Erskine up onto the tilt bed. It was then secured to the trailer bed and driven to the museum.

Chief Preparator Bryan Turnbow thinks about the best way to get the car inside. If you look closely you can see how it was secured to the trailer, by tying it down at strong points of the frame and body. We didn’t want it rolling off the back or tipping during transport.

Once here, a wheeled jack was placed under each tire. Using a strap, the Erskine was pulled into the gallery by a forklift.

To get the car inside, wheeled jacks were placed under each tire and a strap was attached to a point on the rear end. On the right side of the image, you can see the forklift that was then used to pull the Erskine inside. Another staff member and I were at the front, pushing on the fenders and hood to help steer the vehicle. It was a relief when it was finally in place with no damage.

Here, you can see the Erskine in its final location in the partially completed Inspiration Gallery. Come see it at the grand opening on November 2nd!

The Erskine is one of 956 artifacts that are going into the Inspiration Gallery. It required a bit more care than most, but I hope it gives you an idea of just how much went into everything you see in our exhibits. Join us at our grand opening on November 2 to see the Erskine and much more!

Every day I work with records a hundred years old and older, and I don’t think much of it. But once in a while, the vast changes that transformed daily life since those days amaze me.

The Archives maintains the early SHSND Curator’s correspondence – he was the lone staff person in the old Capitol building collecting historical artifacts and documents and responding to requests for information. The letters in this collection tell the story of a very small organization, eager to document the history of North Dakota while the history makers were still alive.  Among those letters are some from ethnologist Frances Densmore, who collected wax cylinder recordings of various American Indian songs that have been at the State Historical Society since they were made around 1912-1915. They have been widely used by anthropologists, linguists, and by the Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras to study the languages, music, and social organizations of the times.

0270-128 Charles Hall helps put up tent

In the summer of 1911, Orin G. Libby, secretary of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, met Frances Densmore in Fort Yates, where she had been employed by the US Bureau of Ethnology to record songs of the Lakota on the Standing Rock Reservation. Libby proposed that she come to the Fort Berthold Reservation the following summer and take down the songs of the Mandans. Letters between Densmore, Libby and Curator H. C. Fish detailed the arrangements for this project. Densmore agreed to work for $150 per month plus living expenses, but she asked for a female companion to share her tent and cook her meals, for, as she said, “I fear that I cannot do my best work and still feel that I must get dinner afterward.”

0270-129 Tent set up with cooking equipment

Densmore also took photographs throughout this process. She mentions bringing materials for developing photographic plates, and asked for ten dozen Columbia blanks for the phonograph - the ordinary twenty cent size.  She also mentions getting a gentle horse from Standing Rock.

0270-0125 Beginning to unload phonograph box seen in wagon

Densmore wrote, “The translations inserted in the text have been a matter of careful work by Rev. C. L. Hall (Gros Ventre), James Holding Eagle (Mandan), and Alfred Bear followed by Rev. C. L. Hall (Ree).”

At Fort Berthold in 1912, Densmore produced 48 pages of manuscript, 41 transcriptions of songs, 15 photographs, 141 phonographic records of songs, 28 recordings in Mandan and six recordings in English.

Densmore Wax Cylinders in State Archives

In the summer of 1913, Densmore continued work at Standing Rock and came back to Fort Berthold in 1915 to record songs of the Hidatsas and Arikaras.

I don’t know that many of us would have the physical and mental stamina to live and work in a tent for eight weeks in a sometimes very hot North Dakota summer, but I am very grateful that Frances Densmore and others affiliated with the State Historical Society did.

1952-1610-1 Indians singing for Miss Densmore at the site of the last Sun Dance south of Fort Yates

You can find a lot more information on Frances Densmore (like here, or by searching Chronicling America on the Library of Congress website), but here is a personal note through the eyes of one of her contemporaries:

Frank Fiske Diary July-August 1912 - August 21^st—Monday

“Saturday was a busy day. Put in 3 or 4 hours reading Frances Densmore’s book on Chippeway Music. It was very instructive. She is a very capable woman, for she has done this: Secured a phonographic record of about 500 songs, and after verifying these records by repeated recording she has transcribed them, setting them down in readable music notation with the words in Indian. Accompanying each song is an analysis, describing the key or keys and the idiosyncrasies of the peculiar time and its relation to the drums, which is played with nearly all Indian songs.”

Not long ago, I listened to a woman describe how she ended up with a school bell in her yard from Sanish, a town that vanished beneath the waters of the Garrison Dam in the 1950s. I listened as a woman described how she and her twin, born prematurely in the 1920s, flourished because of a doctor who put them in a cigar box in the stove to incubate. One man described what it was like to see Earth from space. Another man, in the National Guard, described the feeling of dead weight he would always remember from carrying a fallen comrade in Afghanistan, while yet another man told me about flying helicopters in Vietnam.

Although we do not have one position here designated for doing so, as time allows, I conduct and collect oral histories to be stored in the archives. It’s truly a privilege. These stories, all from people connected to North Dakota in one way or another, are often very personal histories. They are sharing these stories—some good, some bad—with a stranger, and with future generations. At first when I meet with them, they are hesitant, often nervous, and often unsure of what to expect. By the end, we are friends, even family.

This photo, of the Nitschke family in front of a sod house in the Jud area, was donated as part of one of our major oral history collections from the 1970s. This image accompanied the oral interview from Mrs. Sibyl Hall, of Edgeley. (SHSND 0032-LM-15-63)

Everybody’s history, whether they played a big or a small role, has somehow affected someone, some place, some thing around them. We do have interviews with politicians, singers, actors, and writers, among others. However, the bulk of our oral history collections consist of the voices of settlers who built up this state, and the veterans who fought for it. This covers a great expanse o f time and very many formats. We have wax cylinders and records alongside cassettes, videos, reel-to-reels, CDs and DVDs. Some of these interviews were conducted by people like me, who worked for or through the State Historical Society, and some were by people who thought it would be interesting, were doing research for a project or paper, or who were relatives. Basically, anyone can conduct an interview…so here are a few things to keep in mind, if you decide to do one of your own!

Focus
It’s not about you. Your interviewee is the focus of your recording, and should be the primary speaker. Give them time to collect their thoughts and encourage them to speak freely and openly. Help them to orient themselves in their memories, but do your best not to color their memories with your own experiences.

Atmosphere
While you can’t control all elements of an interview, you can take precautions. You want to find a quiet place so you don’t pick up the background noises. On the flip side, make sure you’re both still comfortable.

Time
Interviews take some time. You may need to come back, or try again. It’s okay. You don’t want to exhaust yourself or your interviewee, or you won’t be able to collect the data you are hoping for. Plan on some visiting before and after (to set the interviewee at ease, and perhaps explain things).

Equipment
You will want to consider the type of equipment you will use. Remember that two microphones are better than one. If you only have one, place that one nearer to the interviewee. You want to actually be able to hear them.

Another major collection we maintain consists of a variety of formats for different veterans: audio, video, photos, scrapbooks, manuscripts, and biographies. This image is of LeRoy “Nick” Nichols (far left), out of Dickinson; we have 8 mm film and multiple images from his time in the Air Force during WWII. (SHSND 10873-0176-12)

Preparation
You can’t prepare for everything, but you want to try. What do you want to know? You can prep as many questions as you’d like, and may still go off track, but will have a base to return to. How will the interview be used? After it’s complete, where will it go? Do you want to donate it to a historical society? You may need to have the interviewee sign permission or release forms.

Have fun!
Overall, have fun! Interviews are a great way to connect to people, and you are saving their memory for the future. Don’t stress the little stuff; do your best, and the rest will fall into place.

I conducted a quick, unplanned interview with one of our longtime volunteers, Lillian Wilson, who is a war bride from England. She allowed me to tape and post part of our brief conversation. Since it was specifically for this, it is edited slightly for this format and posting, although that is not something I do with my interviews. You can see the equipment I like to use—a standalone mic (which is multidirectional, by the way), and a digital audio recorder. Note that I still place the mic in front of her! Listen to the interview!

When people find out archaeology is my profession, they invariably ask where I have been digging lately. Answer: Nowhere. I have been working in the office. Response: Oh. What do you do?

Today, archaeologists may undertake all sorts of tasks—fieldwork (survey, site recording, and excavation), lab work (sorting and analysis), researching archives, report writing, and curation are some. One of my primary duties is processing, mapping, and maintaining files for sites recorded in North Dakota by other professional archaeologists. In so doing I work daily with contract archaeologists and federal, state, and tribal government employees. Other activities pair me with researchers, students, and the general public.

The Cultural Resource Room is the repository for site records. Part of my job is to review and map the information in each record.

In recent years, I have had the privilege of creating maps for colleagues which were used in presentations, journal articles, and a book. Other maps I produced appear on archaeology-themed posters. For example, a large poster of regional lithic sources hangs in the Archaeology Lab. Located above the lithic comparative collection, it is referenced by staff, researchers, and lab volunteers.

Map of lithic sources in the north-central United States.

In addition to making maps, I enjoy assisting with design and production of posters. Fortunately, the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Division has a room devoted to production of multi-media projects—posters, signs, brochures, photos, videos, audio recordings, etc. Furnished with a MAC, PC, scanners, and a plotter, this room allows staff to use necessary equipment without purchasing software for multiple computers.

The front and back sides of the Paleoindian Period poster.

The posters we produce are one way in which we share our knowledge. Posters produced to date include: Double Ditch Indian Village; Huff Indian Village; Menoken Village; Fort Clark Trading Post; Knife River Flint Quarries; and Paleoindian Period. One for the Plains Archaic Period is in the works now. These are free and available upon request.

Archaeology is the study of the material culture of past peoples. I believe strongly that archaeologists (working outdoors or indoors) need to share what we learn so everyone may appreciate history. Working in the Archaeology and Historic Preservation Division at the State Historical Society of North Dakota allows me to do just that.

I love historic sites. These are the places where important things happened, where important things were done, where the world changed. It’s how I time travel. Science fiction has its allure, but it has nothing on historic sites. Each site has a power of place unique to it. I can visit any of the 56 historic sites that the State Historical Society manages and go back in time. A visit can give me a better perspective on what is happening in my own time.

A visit to one of our sites is very fun. We have programs such as History Alive, where you can meet a real person from the past (for 20 minutes or so). We also have film series, tours, guest speakers, demonstrations, concerts, and hands-on activities for kids. At many of our sites we have programs through the fall and winter, too. Wondering what to do on the weekend? Check out the events at our sites, http://www.history.nd.gov/events/index.html.

You may not notice all that goes into preparing for your visit. We mow and trim the site, which can be quite a challenge during a rainy year or just a rainy month. We have the buildings repaired as best we can with time and budget constraints. We provide entertaining and educational programs for various audiences. All of these things take planning, time, and people to make sure your visit is enjoyable. When we are successful, all you notice is that your visit is great!

Most of the planning is done during the winter months when visitation to the sites is lower. We plan for new programs such as concerts and speakers, we update our operating plans, and do some long range planning. If needed, we plan for and do some maintenance and repair work. In the fall of 2012 and early spring 2013 we did a bank stabilization project on the Red River of the North at Fort Abercrombie.

We have a lot of sites that have only a marker and no staff. These sites are more difficult for the average visitor to understand. We have sites related to General Sibley’s and General Sully’s expeditions into Dakota Territory between 1863 and 1865.We have sites that recognize prehistoric villages and Native American culture, historic townsites, and the role of North Dakota in the early explorations and mapping of the American West, among others.

At sites such as these, you have to bring knowledge with you. We have looked at trying to do something with technology at some of these marker sites, like QR codes. Unfortunately, some of them are remote enough that technology can’t help us. We keep looking for new ways to share the stories of these sites, too. Soon, the 3^rd edition of the Traveler’s Companion to North Dakota’s Historic Sites will be published. This book will give brief histories of all of our historic sites and their significance in the greater story of North Dakota.