This week was the time to wrap up the website, grammatical changes, and adjustments. We had multiple staff members go over the website and fact check the information to the official records to make sure the correct information was being publicized. I also went through and adjusted various settings on the 360 degree images to make sure they were all running smoothly since that was the most important part of the internship. I also got in contact with the PR director for the Masonic Temple who operates in Elizabethtown about writing another article about me that they publish in other magazines. The article will discuss by background in Freemasonry, work I had previously done, my future goals and other subjects of interest.
Over the last 5 weeks I had gotten full access to the museum, the archives, the vault, and any other room in the entirety of the museum. I was taught how to open and close the museum and would be tasked with doing both of those jobs when there was a scheduling conflict. I was taught how to find objects using their catalog system and was shown other projects involving digitization. I met with their one employee who was writing down the contents of minute books from the early 1800s and the importance of putting them online which I had never thought about. I attended a lunch and learn about how the digitization of books at the museum will accelerate and met with individuals who may help me get future jobs in this field. Most importantly I worked with over 50 objects that were imaged and added to the website that will be viewed by people all over the world. This was truly an amazing experience and I am grateful for everyone at the museum who assisted me and those who assisted me in getting the internship in the first place. Link to virtual museum: https://masonictemplevirtualmuseum.weebly.com/
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This week at the masonic temple I photographed more of the items that were down in the archives. The majority of the items were Masonic aprons from the 1800s and even a few rare ones from the 1700s. These items I was unable to do in 360 because the focus of the piece is on the front side with all of the designs and symbols. I also discussed how the website was going to be publicized with the curator and other staff members and they suggested that we write an article about the project and publish it in The Freemason and on their various social media platforms. This week I also attended another Masonic meeting and was able to discuss my project with the Lodge and other people who attended the event. There are a few more details that need wrapped up with the website such as item descriptions, adjusting item speeds, along with a few other logistical factors. The most unique item that I photographed was a Masonic apron from the Tun Tavern which was the original location of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and was one of the earliest meeting place for Freemasons in Pennsylvania. The apron is made of lambskin and is hand painted with the square and compass, the sun, and two men meeting on a bridge shaking hands. This is one of the oldest Masonic aprons in the museum's collection.
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This week at the Masonic Museum we photographed all of the items that were in the display cases that we felt would make great additions to the website. This included a Chinese dragon incense burner used to keep track of masonic meetings in China, a number of rare Masonic pocket watches, ancient Egyptian artifacts and many more. This was exciting for me because the display cases house the larger items and the ones that have more interesting stories associated with them. We also photographed a number of Masonic jewels and medals from the vault and some of those were in absolutely amazing condition. One jewel that was of particular interest was a Seneca Indian Tribe Masonic jewel. Jewels from Indian tribes are very rare and almost non existent because the materials they used did not last for incredibly long periods of time. The backstory of this jewel is also very interesting because it belonged to Arthur C Parker who was a prominent archaeologist and museologist from the 1900s. He is known for his work with native american since he himself was born on a reservation. He was also a 32nd degree Mason. This story I think is what brings these objects to life and makes history one of the most fascinating subjects to learn.
Two other events that I went to involving the Masonic Temple was a lunch and learn event that involved digitization of documents, another process that is occurring at the museum, and also I was invited to a masonic dinner and meeting where I was given a special tour of the Temple. This second your showed me so many of the hidden gems that are within the temple such as fossils in the marble on the floor, secret doors in lodge rooms, and secret underground tunnels that connect various buildings in Philadelphia.
This week was more focused on photography and imaging more than last week now that I have been accustomed to the routines of the museum. I am now in charge of opening the museum and turning on all of the lights. In addition to that I make sure that all of the lights in the display cases are on and inform maintenance if any of the bulbs need changing or if a light is out. One exciting thing that happened was that I got to show the Right Worshipful Grand Master all of the work I had done and he seemed to be very impressed. He was the one who got me the internship and it was exciting for me that I was able to meet with him and show him the work I had done. I was also put into the position of photographer for an Annual Masonic event that was held at the Temple this week in one of their ballrooms. That was enjoyable because I got to talk with some of the new staff members who were running the event. I also was invited to attend a Lunch and Learn this upcoming Tuesday about a different digitization project that the museum is involved with. This week in addition to photographing a number of medals from the vault, I took images of the items that were in the display cases on the lower level of the building. This upcoming week I will be photographing the items that are in the main display cases and also continuing the research on items that I already have photographed.
This first week at the museum was incredibly fast paced and moved much more quickly that I could ever expect. I did not think that I would be working with artifacts straight out of the vault for my first week on the job but that is exactly what I did. I was brought in to the museum's vault and was told I could work with any item they had. At this stage alone I got incredibly excited because this vault had silver and gold medals, 300 year old masonic awards, among some of the other most impressive pieces of masonic memorabilia I had ever seen. I worked with these objects for two days and will be working in there further this coming week. I also was given permission to explore the archives and select items to scan from there. While down there I was shown how to find items based on accession number which is crucial for any future museum work I do. I was also showed how to search their library catalog for books that may be useful for the project. I was introduced to another employee who is cataloging old minute books from masonic lodges throughout PA and he was showing me various aspects of the manuscript section of the museum which was very interesting as well. I am having an amazing experience and will have learned so much by the end of the 5 weeks.
My first day at the museum began at 8 o'clock where I met up with the curator, Dennis Buttleman, who is my teacher and supervisor for the duration of the internship. We discussed plans about what objects we want to work with and what items will be unique to catalog. He also came up with the idea to write an article that can be published in The Freemason to show the work that we are going to do. After we discussed that for an hour he gave me a tour of the building and introduced me to all of the other employees and individuals who worked at the Masonic Temple. As the tour progressed one of his superiors approached him and told us that a Freemason had died and that he needed a eulogy written right away. Working on that was what consumed the remaining part of our day. He had me look through all books and magazines to find details about this gentleman's life which was very interesting and quite unexpected. It did help expose me to the research side of a museum and how the information that museums store is relevant even today. At the end of the day he showed me The Vault and the archive room and I was in awe at the truly amazing items that the museum had. I cannot wait to work more at this museum!
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