This week, I continued tackling the disorganization of the Stephenson Room, using my same organization method. In addition to this, I also a few more sections to my organization: things that are too modern to be in the collections ( per Jonathan's suggestion) and things that are broken or duplicates that need to be deaccessioned. There were not many objects that fell into these categories, but it felt right to give them a category, rather than tossing them aside into a pile.
By the end of my first day this week, I got through a lot of stuff. There was a box full of varying military and Red Cross stuff, many old hats, and most interestingly, some 19th century women's boots, full of cement. We are not really sure why the donor filled the shoes with cement, as they were in really good condition.
By the middle of the week, I was so close to finishing the organization of the Stephenson Room! I had only a few boxes left -- and was really hoping to finish the organizing process by the end of this week. By the end of the day, I had finished organizing items (in the immediate vicinity that I was working on) -- and will proceed to go through things in the system, suggest homes/places for them (pending Jonathan's approval). I will start with items that have their deed of gifts with the objects or that have numbered tags already, suggesting they might already be in the Past Perfect system.
Finally, by the end of this week, I finally got to dive into the organized objects, beginning to find them places to be put away. I currently am making a box of items that will have to be put away in the Clark House, so we do not have to make as many trips back and forth with all the items. (Especially with the large quantity of hats that need to be moved to the Clark House)
While I have not gotten a chance to delve into these objects, especially ones that are not easily identifiable, I look forward to using research skills that I have developed in previous history courses. In addition to this, I am also looking forward to drawing skills from my Museum Methods anthropology class this semester when I work on my exhibit at the end of the semester.
Intermittently, I have also been spending time here and there working on organizing the surname files. They are slowly but surely coming along! I also go back through and give the drawers I have already tackled a quick look over to make sure they are staying organized.
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