Curatorial Services intern Elizabeth Conn.

Intern Elizabeth Conn

My internship experience at Harpers Ferry has been a great one. I’ve had the chance to work with park and museum professionals in a beautiful, historic setting. In particular, I enjoyed having the chance to tour the various facilities, both in the park and at Harpers Ferry Center, such as the Conservation Center and the Interpretive Design Center. This internship has exposed me to a significant museum collection that I have had the chance to work with and care for.

Furthermore, I hope that my internship has provided me with great practical experience that I hope to call on later in my museum career. By working in a collections management position, I have been able to work and improve collections storage, including placing archival, polyethylene foam in storage cabinets and housing items in acid-free boxes and trays. I have also learned a great deal about using environmental controls to preserve museum collections (particularly in historic buildings).

For example, the normal level of relative humidity in Harpers Ferry is much higher than that prescribed by experts, Conserve-O-Grams, and the Museum Handbook, therefore, we must use dehumidifiers in some areas to maintain a suitable RH level for organic and inorganic materials. These dehumidifiers must be maintained and emptied. Beyond the housekeeping duties I’ve performed on collection objects, I have also worked with documentary controls (the park database: ANCS+, Accession Files, etc.) to provide intellectual “care” of the collection. This is done by keeping detailed records of the object and its history and assigning it a number. The process is similar to the practice of other museums, but by working in Harpers Ferry National Historic Park, I have been given the chance to see how cataloging is performed in all the parks in the nation.

Overall, my internship has been a learning, growing experience. I hope that other museum professionals will participate in an internship at Harpers Ferry.

Curatorial Services intern Karen Anderson.

Intern Karen Anderson

Interning at Harpers Ferry was quite a different experience for me. Where I had been studying and working with art collections previously, I was suddenly faced with history and a historical collection. It has been refreshing to witness and participate with people who are so passionate about the past and concerned about preservation of the park and its objects.

The significance of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is hard to grasp until you visit, but once you’re here it’s easy to see all the factors that were involved in its creation.