Genealogical research. Family History research. The first term conjures up names, dates, and places. The study of a direct line of descent. The other makes us think of information that fills in the blanks in our ancestral timeline. Whether you agree or not with these loose definitions isn't the point of this post. What is, is that museums can provide both. They can provide a place to learn about an ancestor's name, date, and place but they also provide the social history between a birth and death date.
What are we looking for when we consider researching our female ancestors at a museum?
Social History: Images, exhibits, and material culture (stuff) that educates us about the history and the everyday lives of our ancestors.
Names: Names of a community's residents, donors to the museum, "famous" people, staff and volunteers, authors, and researchers.
Local History: The history of a time and place. What was going on that impacted our ancestor's life or was happening while they were alive in that time and place.
Time and Place: What about that time and place? What can we learn about it that impacts our understanding and research into an ancestor's life?
So we need to approach our research at a museum with two goals:
1. Do they have anything that includes names and dates that might place my ancestor in this location, at this time, and even include relationships? and
2. What can this museum provide me that will help me better understand my ancestor's life (time and place)?
Let me provide an example from a county museum. The San Bernardino County Museum located in Redlands, California is like many local museums. They house a combination of natural history and local history exhibits. According to their website, their mission is:
Through the lens of the region’s dynamic cultural and natural history, the San Bernardino County Museum develops visitors’ appreciation of our diverse regional identity to spark their curiosity, to stimulate inquiry, to challenge their assumptions, and to invite them to contribute to our common future. (http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/about/overview.htm)
Nothing about that screams "research your genealogy here!" But if I explore their exhibits, they do have a covered wagon. That exhibit helps me to better understand my pioneer ancestor's mode of transportation as they traveled west. I can get a sense of the space available, the size, the type of ride it would be, privacy (or lack of), etc.
Now, that would be great information if I wanted to add an image or more detail to a story about my ancestor's travels. That's not genealogically relevant names and dates, it's social history. But it's still relevant to telling my ancestor's story.
So there's no doubt they have social history that can help me tell my ancestor's story but is that all? Now in this case, if I click on Collections at the top toolbar of the website I have the opportunity to further explore the collections, including their History collection. When I click on History I see that not only can I search their overall collection but they have a burial list for a local pioneer cemetery in Colton, California (Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery).
Name, date, place. This index provides that and in some cases, when you click on Details, it provides even more.
The museum's Collections web page includes information about research and I can start a conversation or ask a question through their Contact Us page.
This is one short example of what a local museum can provide. Information that is not always apparent from a simple quick visit or looking at the website homepage.
What about the local museum where your ancestor lived?
Katherine Scott Sturdevant writes in her book, Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History that "Social history is the best tool for reconstructing your ancestor's entire world." There are many sources that help us with social history but the museum is best known for reconstructing a "world" {pg 8}whether that is a community, an occupation, or a historical event. Sturdevant goes on to write "your ancestors were not unique" {pg 10} which is a reason why the museum is a great place to learn more about their lives. The museum recreates that community's common experience.
Now that you know some of the why of researching museums for female ancestors, let's spend some time going over the types of museums. See you tomorrow!
Resources
Sturdevant, Katherine Scott. Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History (Betterway Books, 2000).
No comments:
Post a Comment