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SOME NOTES ON THE COLLECTING AND EXHIBITING OF HISTORICAL MATERIAL IN NATIONAL PARK MUSEUMS. By C. A. Harwell The History room at the Yosemite Museum has certainly demonstrated the intensive interest of park visitors in the human history of the region. Mr. Hall and Mr. Russell are the ones responsible for the collection of the materials and the success of the exhibit. It is only seventy-eight years since the official discovery of the Yosemite Valley by the Mariposa Battalion yet there is a mass of interesting material available for worth while display. Here are some types:
Methods of collecting those data, relics, and materials, depends on interest and resourcefulness of park naturalist and his helpers. Surely every park should be making every effort to secure such materials before they are scattered and made unavailable. Personal contacts, letters, appeals in lectures, posters, circulars, etc., can be used. Private funds can be solicited to build up such work. Outside agencies can be appealed to. In every case the permanence of the materials asked for or collected must be assured. A fireproof building is the answer. It should be kept in mind that what is common today may be historically valuable fifty or a hundred years hence. Some current materials should therefore be filed with history collections for future use. Following Mr. Harwell's paper Mr. Hall again accentuated the desirability of the park naturalists immediately securing all available historical material as this is year by year being destroyed or becoming harder to find. The accumulation of historical exhibits will at best take considerable time and the work should be started in this field immediately, even though the materials collected will have to be stored until exhibit space is available. Continued >>> |
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