Empathy Based Museum Immigrant Program

In today’s political climate, it is important that we build empathy towards other people who are unlike them. After taking a look at our programs, the Director of Education and I thought that the Immigrant program could use a face lift and that incorporating empathy into that would be a good starting point.

I started this project in the summer of 2019 and wrapped it up in October of that year. This program is the first museum program I created, so I have to say I was a bit lost when I started. It was quite a journey to the programs completion, which involved a lot of researching and meetings with a retired teacher who was also a education volunteer at the museum. I learned a lot from this programs creation both about museum education and immigration programs in museums.

The new Wisconsin Maritime Museum Immigrant Program has yet to be launched as it is still in the early piloting phase. The program starts off with a little background on immigration, immigration specifically during World War II and immigration in Wisconsin. From there the program turns into an immersive experience. Students get a a card which tells them about their immigrant and they become that immigrant for the rest of the program. Topics we talk about and experience during the program include: bartering, medical exams upon arrival and how these experiences make them feel. The program then concludes with a talk about today’s immigrants and refugees.

One thing I love about this program is that there are activities before and after their visit to the museum. Before the visit the teachers is supposed to introduce them to the topic, so that they have an idea of what to expect. For after the visit there are activities which allow the students to reflect on their experiences at the museum and there is also a short survey for the teacher to fill out.

With this program, we hope that the experiences and things learned at the museum stay with them longer than a normal visit and program would.

Manitowoc County A-Z

Assisting in the creation of the Manitowoc County A-Z exhibit is no doubt one of the highlights of my time at the Manitowoc County Historical Society (MCHS).  Manitowoc County A-Z is a traveling middle school exhibit. The exhibit was created in 2016.

My role in the exhibits creation was coming up for ideas for each letter which pertained to Manitowoc County. For example I chose circus for “C”.  Manitowoc County had a circus school during the early 1900’s which was world renowned. I then found photos to be used in the exhibit for each letter. My last task was creating a description for each of the words from A-Z.

I was notified by the historical society in 2017 that I was nominated and chosen to receive the Dillon Muller Youth Service Award for my work on this exhibit. I received the award at the Manitowoc County Historical Society’s annual banquet in March 2018.

A description of the exhibit can be found on the Manitowoc County Historical Society’s website or by clicking on this link: https://www.manitowoccountyhistory.org/travelingexhibits/

Awards banquet in March 2018. (Left to Right: MCHS Program Coordinator Alexandra Brendemuehl, Me & MCHS Executive Director Amy Meyer)

One of the panels from the Manitowoc County A-Z exhibit.

Digital Archive

In Fall 2018, I assisted the Manitowoc County Historical Society with its creation of their first digital archive. The archive contains over 3,000 photos taken by a local photographer, Dayrl Cornik. The photos are from the 1930’s-1980’s and include many buildings, events, and activities from Manitowoc County during that time.

My role in the creation of this archive was to go through the photos. I checked to make sure that they all had dates and locations along with the correct information for the photographer. I also uploaded the photos which went along with the information. All of this work on the archive was done in Past Perfect before it was uploaded to the website.

The digital archive is set to be revealed at the historical society’s annual member and awards banquet in 2019. Below is a link to the Manitowoc County Historical Society’s digital archive.

https://manitowoc.pastperfectonline.com/ 

Craft of History

The following document is from the Craft of History course I took at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The course focused on fake news and how historians interpret it. The course taught students the basic principles of historical research. This document is my final paper for the course. The paper had to investigate a topic that is viewed as fake news. For my paper I chose President Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis, since he has always been a favorite historical figure to me.

History 290 Final Paper

Viking House Omeka Site

During the Fall semester of 2017, my classmates and I got the chance to help with the move of an 11th century replica Viking house to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus. One of the parts that I assisted with was the data entry of pieces of the Viking house.  Another project that I assisted with was the promotion of the Viking house’s move to the campus, along with an open house and talks about the house by the donors, Owen & Elspeth Christianson. My promotion of the Viking house was primarily done on the Viking houses Facebook account. Below you will see a link to the website for the Viking house artifacts.

https://artifact.uwgb.org/site-roles