National Public Housing Museum - Cataloging Kickoff

The second project I worked on last month was a cataloging kickoff at the National Public Housing Museum. The institution has new staff onboard, and there has been forward momentum building up in the collections program. PastPerfect was selected as the museum’s collections management system, so we started this project by getting to know the software.

I used PastPerfect while I was a photography intern at the Jewish Museum of Maryland back in college. Needless to say, the years that have passed have made me a bit rusty, so it was good to spend some time reacquainting myself with the program. We reviewed the company’s comprehensive documentation and walked through cataloging some of the 3D materials from the collection. This helped us to determine what fields would be most useful, and how  we could narrow the parameters of data entry to assure consistency.

Next steps include writing up guidelines and how-to guides, and onboarding interns. Much more work is yet to be done, including developing finding aid procedures as much of their collections are archival. It is satisfying to move forward and make progress, and I’m looking forward to being a part of this ongoing work.

Rehousing some 3D materials in acid-free tissue: an upgrade from zippered plastic bags. 

National Public Housing Museum - Spring Cleaning

The National Public Housing Museum organized a spring cleaning session in their offices earlier this season. A researcher using the collections and I teamed up to create an up-to-date inventory of the materials stored on-site. She has been combing through visual materials to write a dissertation on how the CHA sites were portrayed, and has been a huge help in identifying people and places depicted in photographs.

From the filing cabinets and piles of materials, we attempted to break everything down into potential categories: library and reference material, archival material, collections material, and research material. We then evaluated potential collections to determine priority for conservation and/or digitization. I bundled the physical materials together by category, and photographed objects for the spreadsheet for reference.

While there are still some objects stored off-site, this was a good opportunity to take stock of what will become the foundation of the museum’s collections and archives. It is helping to shape our discussions on creating a collections management policy. And it was also a wonderful opportunity for me to take a peek at some of the treasures NPHM has already accumulated and been gifted.

National Public Housing Museum - Telling Stories Telling Belongings

The National Public Housing Museum recently organized Telling Stories Telling Belongings, an event that has successfully brought the community together for several years. This time around, they partnered with the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, and it took place in the newly refurbished Jane Addams Resource Center in ABLA. The focus was on the near west side of the city. In spite of the dreary spring weather, more than 70 people were in attendance, and many came with objects and stories to share.

The event was split between individual presentations by volunteers wanting to tell their stories and group story-telling sessions. It was a great way to bring people together, and I was heartened to see several people exchanging contact information at the end of the event.

One of my favorite objects and accompanying stories was one that Tammy brought to share. She was excited when she approached the table where representatives from the Hull-House Museum were having volunteers sign paperwork, and where I was photographing objects. From a ziploc bag, she pulled out her original birth certificate and a few black and white family photos. It turns out she was born in the Jane Addams Homes, formerly on Cabrini Street, as part of a midwife program being tried out in the 1950s. She explained how her mother much preferred this option to making regular treks to the hospital to see her doctor. She was able to stay home and rest, and received excellent care from a visiting professional. We were all equally excited about her story, and she was incredibly engaging when talking about this connection to public housing and her experience there to the audience.

Another wonderful story came from Ms. Ida. She brought in a painting her son Jeffries created when he was 7 years-old, she entitled “1383: a Front Yard.” The painting depicted a large tree surrounded by beautiful flowers, bees, and butterflies, and a smiling sun watching over the scene. She explained that her son injured himself, and they sought housing in one of the low-rise CHA buildings since the elevator in their high-rise was frequently broken. Once they settled into their new home, her son was adamant that they plant a huge garden in their collective front yard. His injuries prevented this from happening, so instead he created his wonderful painting.

I am so happy I was able to attend this event, and better yet, was afforded the opportunity to help document it. Seeing such a diverse crowd representing so many decades of history in the area coming together was really amazing.

Please head on over to the National Public Housing Museum’s blog to read more about the event.

National Public Housing Museum & the Chicago Architecture Biennial

I’ve been volunteering at the National Public Housing Museum, helping the team to assess what information management systems might work for their collections. While researching the options, I’ve also been working on a plan to help them to develop a collections management policy and some basic first steps before cataloging begins.

I’m also assisting the curator on a temporary basis, helping to select images and objects for an upcoming exhibit at the future museum site. As a part of this process, I had my first tour of the building, the former Jane Addams Homes. I’d walked past the abandoned housing many times, always wondering who had lived there, what it had been like, and what would happen to the last remaining structure. Some of those questions will be answered, in part, in the exhibit, and will be answered more fully once the museum opens. I’m thrilled to be working on this project, both because of the access it will give me to the museum’s collections and this historic site, and because of the potential for this exhibit to raise awareness about the museum. It will open as part of the Chicago Architecture Biennial in October 2015.

Interior of one of the Jane Addams Homes units. 

Exterior of the site. 

Volunteering at the Museum of Holography

A few months after I moved to Chicago, I attempted to visit the Museum of Holography with a friend who was in town. Unfortunately, we discovered that the museum was closed indefinitely. The collections have been locked away for years at this point, but that’s beginning to change. An anonymous benefactor has assured that the collection will remain intact, and volunteer efforts are underway to sort, clean, accession, and catalogue the materials in the former museum. I attended a object handling and cleaning training session in the old space this weekend and spent some time after helping to clean holograms for the upcoming temporary display at SoHo House. It was so heartening to see people coming together to lend their time and expertise to benefit this amazing collection, and it was fantastic being able to view and handle some truly unique objects. There’s so much to the story of this museum and its holdings, and I hope that it can develop into a permanent museum again someday soon.

The exhibition featuring highlights from the Museum of Holography is on display July 28th from 7pm - 10pm at SoHo House. 

There are so many treasures in this collection! 

Reviewing some preservation issues: glass plates that are fused together.  

Collections awaiting processing.