Protecting Family Heirlooms and How It Relates to Museums

The words Family Heirloom bring to mind many of our family treasures, which can be found in numerous museums all around the world or as close to home as in the closet or attic never on display. One of the most priceless family heirlooms are family photograph collections. Photographs are very important not only to museums, institutions, but also family researchers. A photograph opens up a new world to explore for a researcher or a writer. I have really enjoyed my course this semester Your Family in History at Pittsburg State University. Our instructor builds his curriculum for the course to get you out of normal habits of viewing family history and pushing you to think deeper and pursue more than just the bare minimum details of writing and organizing your family history.

Family Histories are an excellent additions to any museum. They open up so much possibilities for exhibitions and research. I have been working on my family history since 2007. It has been an excellent experience for me to step back and organize who I am and where I come from?

We have been learning how to compile stories this semester and collecting the information to build those stories into family treasures that future generations will treasure for years to come. I have had great inspiration and resources to build my stories. I was fortunate to know my great-great grandmother, Rosa Ann (HULL) Logue, five great-grandparents: Ezra Everett and Nella Lorean (Moppin) Boyd, Jay Edison and Loraine Lucille (NEAL) Logue, and Marjorie Ernestine (ENGLAND) Brock, and my grandparents: Howard Lee and Joyce Ann (LOGUE) Boyd and Arthur A. and M. Fayrene (BROCK) Morgan. I have had my parents: Stephen Howard and Susan Elaine (MORGAN) Boyd and sister and brother-in-law: Antonio and Holly L. (BOYD) Martinez My great-grandparents: Frank Edgar and Alma America (WRIGHT) Morgan and John Herman "Pete" Brock passed away before I was born, but have been a great inspiration for me in my writing and compiling of my family history.

I have a few of my family photographs included in this blog:

My great-grandparents: Ezra Everett and Nella Lorean (Moppin) Boyd at their home in Wesley, Ark. Taken around 2002. We were visiting them from Oklahoma. 

My great-grandparents: John Herman "Pete" and Marjorie E. (England) Brock at their home in Afton, OK. Taken around 1977. 

My grandparents: Arthur A. and M. Fayrene (Brock) Morgan on their wedding day at First Baptist Church in Afton, OK. on January 24, 1954. They just celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary in January 2014. 

My great-grandmother: Loraine Lucille (Neal) Logue. This was her Senior Portrait Picture. She graduated with the Huntsville (Ark.) High School Class of 1942. 

My great-great-great grandparents: David and Martha Susan (ELKINS) McCarver at their home in Wesley, Ark. Taken c. 1920s. 

Afton Poultry Swap at Afton, OK. My family has owned and operated the Poultry Swap with three generations of my family. We opened the swap on May 20, 1987 and has grown immensely since that day. Shoppers, Buyers, and Sellers from all around the OK-MO-KS-AR Four State Area enjoy traveling to the swap on Third Weekends and Holiday Weekends. 

Family Holiday picture taken last year with my parents Stephen and Susan (Morgan) Boyd and my sister and brother-in-law: Antonio and Holly (Boyd) Martinez and Jordan Boyd. From Left to Right: Stephen, Susan, Holly, Jordan, and Antonio. We were at the Phoenix Zoo for the Zoo Lights Display the night of Thanksgiving. 

My great-great grandparents Grover Cleveland and Bessie Ottie (Nash) England at a Gilpin Family Reunion that was Grandma Bessie's mother's family, Annie Elizabeth (Gilpin) Nash. The photo was taken at my great-grandparent's home at Afton ,Ok in 1980. 

Jordan Boyd, Betty (Claypool) Logue, Derrel Beard and Ruth (Logue) Beard. Taken at Derrel and Ruth's home at Springdale, Arkansas in May 2011. Betty was visiting from California. Betty was married to Dewey Logue who was  a brother to my great-grandpa Jay Logue and Ruth is Uncle Dewey and Papaw Jay's sister. They also had three other brothers: Nolan, Ray, and Kenneth. 

My great-grandparents: Frank Edgar and Alma America (Wright) Morgan at their home. 

My great-grandparents: Jay Edison and Loraine Lucille (Neal) Logue with their son Loy C. Logue. This picture was taken in 1973 for the 100th Anniversary of the Drakes Creek Baptist Church at Drakestown, Ark. 

These are just an assortment of some of the pictures that make up my collection. I have thousands of photographs. It is important to scan and protect all photographs in some type of archival sleeve or book, that does not omit gasses or acid residue. Polypropylene or Polyethylene are preferable products to use. A great measure is to always have different sets of back up for your collections. An important step to work towards scanning your collections and preserving the originals. 

My next blog will cover more on how to preserve and care for artifacts. 

This Blog Post is in Memory of My Great-Grandparents: 

Ezra Everett Boyd (1918-2011) 

Nella Lorean (MOPPIN) Boyd (1924-2007) 

Jay Edison Logue (1923-1994) 

Loraine Lucille (NEAL) Logue (1923-2009) 

Frank Edgar Morgan (1909-1983) 

Alma America (WRIGHT) Morgan (1912-1983) 

John Herman "Pete" Brock (1911-1979) 

Marjorie Ernestine (ENGLAND) Brock (1915-2003) 

My Great-Great Grandparents: 

Howard Douglas Boyd (1890-1960) 

Delphia Mae (WORLEY) Boyd (1892-1955) 

Charles Wilmoth Moppin (1885-1945) 

Bertha Maheley (WHITE) Moppin (1891-1975) 

Elliott Oliver Logue (1892-1977) 

Rosa Ann (HULL) Logue (1900-1994) 

Rosco Floyd Neal (1888-1971) 

Beulah Lee (McCarver) Neal (1892-1972) 

Arthur Edgar Morgan (1874-1938) 

Elsie Agnus (Wilcox) Morgan (1893-1971) 

Albert Sidney Wright (1870-1955) 

Laura Lee (POE) Wright (1879-1950) 

William Franklin "Bill" Brock (1873-1940) 

Cassie Ann (TANNER) Brock (1874-1950) 

Grover Cleveland England (1893-1981) 

Bessie Ottie (NASH) England (1894-1983) 

They have given me great inspiration to collect their stories and preserve our family history to share with future generations. 

Museum Contracts and Legal Transactions

Museums are established to tell the life, history, art, culture, stories of people, places, or events. The only way for museums to thrive successfully is to have a great support from donors and the surrounding communities. It is a mission of museums to entertain, educate, and inform their patrons of cultures, individuals, and many stories that have been untold for a long time. It opens up a world for those young and old to understand and appreciate the arts and humanities. There is no other field I could think of that is so rewarding to go to work everyday. The stories and lives displayed in museum exhibits around the world are remarkable, but it is hard to find ones like those in small town museums.

It is crucial part of museums to have donors when they are wanting to give their items to be thorough with museum paperwork. This is a beneficial step to all collections. A museum has a mission for a reason to serve a goal and purpose to its patrons to provide exhibits and activities that fall into a specific time period, region, or category. Many museums including the ones I work with have Collections Committee that evaluate all donations. These committees discuss what has been brought in over the past few months, because usually these committees will meet monthly or bi-monthly. It varies depending the institution and their policies.

No one museum is the same and not all donations are appropriate for every museum. For example, the two museums in the area I work with are the Dobson Museum at Miami, OK and Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, KS. The Dobson Museum was established in 1972 after the passing of Miss Nellie Dobson in 1968. She left funds in her will to construct and maintain the museum. The original Ottawa County Historical Museum was opened in 1963 on the 2nd floor of the Dobson Building/Old McWilliams Opera House in Downtown Miami.  After completion of the museum all collections were moved to the new museum, because many of the volunteers and patrons could not climb the stairs to get to the museum being on the 2nd floor. The mission of the museum to collect, preserve, and exhibit Ottawa County History. The museum only collects items that pertain to Ottawa County History, not other counties, states, or people who never lived in Ottawa County. The collections committee assesses the relevance of the artifacts and makes recommendations, which go before the board for final decisions. Some cases it may not be the only reason an item could not be accepted by a museum.  A museum may not have the funds, space, or time to care for a particular artifact. Many museums are limited with storage and exhibit capacities. The Miners Hall Museum collects, preserves, and exhibits the coal mining history of Cherokee and Crawford Counties in Kansas. Their mission is to preserve a certain type of mining for a certain region. This museum opened in 2012 after being a dream for many which turned into a reality in the Spring of 2012. The museum was host to a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit in the Summer of 2013. The museum has grown so rapidly, that it is working on a fundraising campaign to construct a new addition on the west side of the existing building, which is the Franklin Community Center.

A great question to ask when being interested in donating to a museum is asking what the mission of the museum is and if they have a collections policy available. Some museums may not have a collections policy. Most collections policy are drafted by paid employees, but however some cases it occurs with volunteer collections committees. A greater understanding to know a scope of collections and the overall mission and vision allow you to find a suitable institution to place artifacts, documents, and images into a preserved collection.

Museum forms often used with processing of collections are: Deed of Gift, Loan Agreements, Background History, Inventory Form, or Condition Reports to name a few of the forms used within museums. A crucial part of operating a museum is to have appropriate paperwork for artifacts and collections within a museum. A Deed of Gift is used as it speaks for its self as a form filled by a donor to deed an artifact or group of artifacts to a museum, repository, or institution. The donor has responsibility when completing paperwork to be thorough by making sure all their contact information is correct and a detailed listing of what is being deeded or loaned, if they are completing a loan agreement. Background History form is used to gain as much information on the artifact, owner, and donor as possible. Did this item come from the donor's great-grandparents, an auction, garage sale, the attic, or did the donor actually build the artifact being contributed to the museum. The museum, repository, or institution is better able to care for and preserve the artifact if they know exactly what it is, where it came from, and any and all stories associated with the artifact. An inventory form or in some cases a catalog record form keeps a listing of where to locate an artifact when inside a museum, whether it be in exhibition or storage. A condition report is used in cases of traveling exhibits or damage to a collection based upon fire, natural disaster, etc. The condition report is filled out to give the status an artifact based on being destroyed or broken within a collection. There are certain cases where museums will loan exhibits to other museums if they are assembling a special exhibit. A condition report is to be completed upon, loading, unloading, exhibiting of the artifact from its home museum and the host museums.

There are rare cases where a museum will loan a collection to another for an extended period of time in most cases it would be between six to nine months. A museum does not exist without donors, but a museum would not be able to function if it did not provide accurate and efficient measures to preserve and collect with proper paperwork for the museum collections.

If you are interested in donating or have any questions about the Dobson Museum in Miami, OK or Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, KS, please contact me I would be glad to visit with you about these fine museum establishments in the Four States. Please visit their websites and keep updated on events by liking them on Facebook to follow the latest news.

Dobson Museum
110 A SW
Miami, OK 74354
(918)-542-5388
ochs@dobsonmuseum.com
www.dobsonmuseum.com
Hours: Wednesday-Friday-Sunday - 1-4 pm

Miners Hall Museum
701 S Broadway
Franklin, KS 66735
(620)-347-4220
minershallmuseum@gmail.com
www.minershallmuseum.com
Hours: Monday-Saturday - 10am-4pm
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Any questions about museums or anything about my blog feel free to contact me at jordan_boyd@live.com.

Special Exhibits

Special Exhibits are another way museums can connect to their patrons. One example is recently a collection was put up at the Miners Hall Museum at Franklin, Kansas by a local JFK collector. Mr. Louis Nicoletti had been a collector of JFK memorabilia for many decades and was very excited to have his collection on display at Franklin right down the road from where he grew up in Arma, Kansas. Special Exhibits do not have to meet the mission always for a museum. The reason being they are usually loaned to a museum on a temporary basis. The Miners Hall Museum is a museum which works to preserve the rich mining history of Southeast Kansas. Mr. Nicoletti's family was involved in mining and he had a some items to donate to the mining section of the museum. It was a wonderful collection for the museum to display with the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy approaching on November 22, 2013. Mr. Louis Nicoletti was tragically taken from us on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 as the result of a traffic accident, but his legend will live on in Southeast Kansas. We are so very fortunate to have known Louie while he was here. Anyone wishing to see the collection of President John F. Kennedy will still be able to view it through the end of the year.   

 Items of Louis Nicoletti's on display at Miners Hall Museum. 

A hat on display at Miners Hall Museum. It belonged to Louie's Father-in-law, Ted Skahan, who meet Kennedy at the Joplin Airport and handed him this hat in 1962. 

 Area residents have also contributed other items on display at the museum for the week of JFK celebration in late November to compliment Mr. Nicoletti's collection. 

I know all of the board members and staff at the Miners Hall Museum are very blessed to have known Mr. Louis Nicoletti. He was truly an asset to our museum and leaves behind numerous family members and friends who loved him dearly. All thoughts and prayers go out to the Nicoletti family. 

This blog post is in Memory of Louis Nicoletti (1923-2013). 

Maintaining Museum Galleries and Artifacts

There are numerous tasks, that go into maintaining a museum and the collections within it. The work is continuing with acquiring new collections, exhibiting collections, storing collections, and preserving collections. There are many questions to be asked when a museum acquires a new collection. Does this collection represent our mission? Do we have space and resources to properly care for this collection? Is it damaged? Is there more items to be collected, which could compliment or enhance this collection?

Most museums do have Collections Committee to oversee the incoming of artifacts and collections, which is where most of the initial questions are asked to see if this fits the museums mission and ability to care for the collection. It goes through a final process before it officially becomes property of the museum, which is being approved by the Board of Directors. Once a museum or institution owns a collection there are some areas of preservation that need to dealt with by the Preservation or Collections Care Committee.

These are some steps and processes that are dealt with by the Preservation/Collections Care Committee:
1) Condition of Collection Overall and piece by piece
2) Environmental Controls (Temperature/Lighting)
3) Proper Documentation and Paperwork of the Collection.
4) Storage Capacity

Porcelain Decanter donated to Miners Hall Museum at Franklin, Kansas. 

Books donated to Miners Hall Museum at Franklin, Kansas. 

Diploma donated to Miners Hall Museum at Franklin, Kansas. 

The items above just show a variety of items that have been donated in the past few months to the Miners Hall Museum in Franklin, Kansas.

The first step to take into account is the overall time spent if something needs restored or conditioned for a collection. I am not talking about physically changing the artifact, but making sure it is able to withstand and hold up for future exhibition/storage. Museums should not always have items on display either. It does more damage than good to the artifacts within a collection. There are also needs to be a rotation within a museum of how collections and exhibits move from storage to display. The patrons visiting the museums want to see new displays and most recent collections. Some artifacts deteriorate with constant exposure to light and air. It is preferable to keep temperature within a museum between 68 and 72 degrees. There needs to as minimal fluctuation in temperature as possible to reduce in damage to an artifact. It is just like the human body adjusts to temperatures, so do artifacts. Anything like fabric, books, tools, furniture, etc. it compress in cold weather/air and expand in hot weather/air. It is extremely important to monitor controls in galleries or storage spaces. If you have a priceless, old family bible,  family photo albums, Grandpa's fiddle, or any other family heirloom; you may want to think about where you store it. It will eventually deteriorate over time if it is left in an attic, storage shed (with temperature/humidity controls), or basements all year round. Another important condition is to keep artifacts away from any contact with direct sunlight as it will harm and fade artifacts over time if not with a matter of hours depending on the artifact.

A museum cannot always accommodate all donors collections into their facilities collections. All museums run into the continuing issue of collections storage. This is why it crucial for the Collections Committee to ask do we have enough space to appropriately care for this collection? This is why so many museums truly benefit from the generosity of donors. Museums always have to be focused on the future and scoping how much they accession (items acquired to their permanent collection) in a given year or time period. It is crucial for them to assess the storage facilities they could possibly need to care properly for all collections. No one item is the same and ever category of item differs on how to care for the items properly. A book needs total different care than a quilt. There are also tools and containers used by museums to properly store artifacts in the best manner possible for future generations to enjoy. Many museums budgets do not allow them to properly buy all they need to operate their museums, which is why donor fund are always greatly appreciated, so museums may be enjoyed for future generations.

There is also special considerations for museums which accept items for outdoor displays. Museums have to take many conditions into consideration when trying to accept items for outdoor display. There needs be a level place outside for the artifact(s) or item(s) to be permanently placed, how will be protected from weather, and what maintenance costs will there be overtime.

A Miner's House was donated to Miners Hall Museum at Franklin, Kansas in November 2012. 

Developing a Museum Exhibit

Many long hours go into developing a museum exhibit. A museum exhibit can be thought of just like any research paper or project. You have to complete a lot of background research depending on how familiar you are with your topic or theme of your exhibit. There will be numerous steps needed to make it to your finished product, which is your opening day of the exhibit. The first job would be to create a small group or committee to work on the museum exhibit and deciding upon what you are doing for an exhibit. There are endless possibilities of what can be done for a museum exhibit. Once, you have your idea of what your exhibit will be the exhibit chair needs to assign the duties of how the committee will work together to create the finished project. Many decisions have to be made within the initials meetings of setting up the committee. A deadline needs to be decided on when the exhibit will open and how long that will take to prepare. Many exhibits take close to eight months to a year to get everything organized and ready to start putting together. It honestly depends on the size of the exhibit as well. Some exhibits could be endless of the amount of information and artifacts to provide the audience, while some exhibits may have less material to present based on your overall focus. An outline and work schedule needs to be constructed to see how the members will contribute and when sections need to be completed to move forward to the next phase of the project.

Another reason why it may take a long time to put an exhibit together is artifacts or information needs to be sent or loaned to the museum from other institutions or private lenders on a temporary contract for the length of the exhibit. The committee also needs to maintain a focus of how they will tell the story and who the main audience will be for the exhibit.  Many exhibits can be displayed for wide audiences, but do many people know of the story you are telling with your display. Sometimes you may have to provide more background to let the audience have a greater appreciation and understanding to what is the significance and message of the exhibit. The next phase of the exhibit is to conduct the research of what information is known and possibly ask some questions that need to be answered for the committee to have a better understanding themselves of why the exhibit is important and to clarify how the story is being told to the audience. Once all research has been collected it is time to start building blueprints or sketched drawings of what the exhibit might look in the space provided to house the exhibit based on what artifacts the museum may already own or have been loaned for the exhibit. Many exhibits have items which fit in glass cases or to be hung up on walls. There may be some items which are much larger and need to assess the area to make sure all artifacts may be accommodated to truly make the story come to life for the audience. The next phase to move into is the writing, editing, and revisions phase. Many of the artifacts may be unrecognizable to patrons, so it is always good to have excellent signage in and around display cases or artifacts in the gallery. You will also need an introduction panel to introduce the title and story for the audience. It also great to include a timeline or exhibit map to layout the flow of the exhibit. There may be tour pamphlets or other signage to be written and produced for the exhibit. All of this information needs to be written up and sent off to printers well in advance to provide plenty of time for the overall construction of the exhibit.

The committee will begin to construct the exhibit if panels need to be built or cases moved into the gallery. It is always a good idea to continue to consult the outline and work schedule for the exhibit to make a simplified checklist just to create some organization to what has been done and what needs to be done to make this exhibit a success. The final step is making sure everything is has been put into place and ready to present to the audience. I suggest finishing an exhibit at least two weeks before an exhibit is set to open to make any necessary changes or adjustments to allow time to correct or reprint materials. It also good to have a final meeting, which is an overall evaluation of the work the group has put into the exhibit. You want to make sure your group feels the story is being told they way they originally felt and to make sure their are no errors in the flow or signage within the exhibit. It never hurts to double or triple check signage, because it is so easy to make the simplest mistakes in a large project.

This is the tire brought in by an Ottawa County Historical Society member who loaned the tire to display a sign for the B.F. Goodrich display, which opened in February 2012. 

A final thought about developing an exhibit, which may need to be covered sooner rather than later is how will you publicize the exhibit and will you have an open house and invite certain guests to a reception in honor of the exhibit. It may be appropriate to invitations to printed a list collected of potential guests. The Dobson Museum had an open house reception for all the B.F. Goodrich employees and their families, when the opened the exhibit back in 2012. It was an opportunity for some of the employees to catch up and revisit old friends. Many of the employees had not seen each other since the plant had shut down over 25 years ago. The tire plant was in operation in Miami, OK from 1945-1986. 

 Ottawa County Historical Society Board and Volunteers on opening day of B.F. Goodrich Exhibit at Dobson Museum on February 26, 2012.  

 B.F. Goodrich guests viewing the display in the main gallery. 

 More guests enjoying visiting while at the B.F. Goodrich Open House. 

 This picture shows the west side of the gallery where scrapbooks were placed on tables for guests to view. There was old newsletters, pictures, etc. throughout the books. 

Another view from the west side of the gallery showing the crowd enjoying the exhibit with the B.F. Goodrich Miami Plant sign in the background. 

*All pictures displayed in this blog were taken by OCHS Board Member and photographer Gary Crow. 

Applying Skills in Museum Exhibits

Have you ever thought about what goes into an exhibit in a museum? The skills needed working in museums varies between the exhibits you implement in your museum. Your resources play a big factor as well just as any other project. Some people have a fairly large budget while others operate strictly off of donations to their museum projects. You need to evaluate the time, manpower, and artifacts available to your group to assemble the exhibit. Some groups are blessed to have individuals or their families who have the knowledge and ability to assist with a project, they are currently working on for their exhibit. It is truly beneficial to the overall exhibit to have a resource like a first hand account person to assist with research, collecting, and organization of the overall product. In same cases there may be no one left who has affiliation, knowledge, or resources left of a particular business, organization, or family. Exhibits can be made up of numerous pieces of a community, county, or company depending on the mission of the museum. There are many steps that go in to an exhibit including the research, organization, design, collecting of artifacts and reproductions, assembling/constructing, and promoting the exhibit. It is always good to have a strong committee developed who will bring numerous ideas to the table about working on the exhibit.

Many museums rely on a strong network of volunteers to keep the doors open and to also to maintain the exhibits within their museums. It is always very beneficial to have as much insight on a project as you can from a variety of sources. I have a few pictures to share this week below of ideas of different artifacts that where collected to assemble an exhibit at the Dobson Museum in Miami, Oklahoma this past summer, when the Route 66 International Festival was held in Joplin, Missouri. The Ottawa County Historical Society displayed a Route 66 Exhibit entitled "The Mother Road of Ottawa County". An exhibit does not always have to be represented with original artifacts to be effective for the audience. Many of the photographs within this exhibit were scanned from the original negatives from the Orrick Sparlin Collection that is housed within the museum, but also many souvenirs or memorabilia was also collected to display. The Orrick Sparlin Collection is such a valuable collection and a true asset to the museum and Ottawa County. Mr. Sparlin photographed Ottawa County life from the late 1930s to the mid 1960s. Many of these negatives have not been scanned until the past couple of years. It is a project I took on as an intern for the Dobson Museum and still work on today. It will be a long process, because there are thousands of negatives yet to be scanned from this collection. Many projects assist with eachother, because of their common goals and interests. For example, the Route 66 Exhibit worked really well with the Orrick Sparlin Collection, because we were able to locate pictures from every town within the county along the route by utilizing this collection in our research and production of the exhibit.

Here is a t-shirt on display at the Route 66 Exhibit at Dobson Museum in Miami, OK.

This case is one section of the Route 66 Exhibit at the Dobson Museum in  Miami, OK.

 



 

Texaco Truck on display in Route 66 Exhibit at Dobson Museum in Miami, OK.

 

Route 66 Flag at Dobson Museum in Miami, OK.

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Training in Museums: How do Museums work?

The ability to work in a museum is just like any other field or profession. It varies on the museum you work with to see what areas you need to focus on and what background you have going into the position. I just attended the Oklahoma Museum Association (OMA) Conference last week. They had a great turnout and excellent presenters for the sessions, workshops, and programs for the three day conference. Berkeley Young was the guest speaker and he definitely informed and entertained the conference delegates about how to focus and connect with museum visitors throughout the year.

I definitely learned a lot from attending the conference and this was my first conference to attend with OMA. I have been to some district meetings prior to this conference. The sessions covered a wide variety of materials and tasks throughout working in museums. One of the sessions I enjoyed the most was a peer to peer breakout session for emerging professionals in the museum field. The speakers shared experiences from working in museums and interviews they have completed to get to where they are now working in the Oklahoma History Center. I was also able to visit with some of them afterwards to get more information about one of the museums I work in and how better to handle preserving research materials for the future. It is always a crucial part of any field to continue to learn and grow in being offered training opportunities like these to network with individuals who have been in the field for many years and those who are emerging into the field with less than 3-5 years experience. I always think you gain a better understanding when you step back and look at both sides of the situation at how someone with thirty plus years says about a situation and someone with less than five years.

The methods are always constantly changing and new techniques and technologies are being presented all the time for more efficient ways to perform tasks. I also had the opportunity to listen to some graduate students from the University of Central Oklahoma Museum Studies Program present about their research and what internships, they had participated in this past summer. The theme for this year's conference was "Connecting to Museums". I have a few pictures below taken from this summer when we hosted the traveling exhibit "The Way We Worked" at the Miners Hall Museum at Franklin, Kansas. There are many ways to connect your museums and reach out to you communities by hosting different events and reaching multiple groups at the same time. It was a worth while conference and I am looking forward to next year's conference in Idabel, Oklahoma.

 Antonio and Holly Martinez at unveiling of artwork at Smithsonian Preview Evening on May 10, 2013. 

 Crowd beginning to gather for Smithsonian Exhibit Grand Opening at Miners Hall Museum on May 11, 2013. 

Visitors inside the museum during the opening day of "The Way We Worked" at Miners Hall Museum.