The past month has been busy in terms of my projects at Campbell House.
The facebook page and blog are doing well. The blog is up to 620 visits over 26 posts, all since May. We're also up to 53 fans and several people regularly "like" the links we post to the blog.
I have been working with the Urban Museum Collaborative this semester. The project, led by project director Barbara Decker, is working to create an overarching education curriculum for Campbell House Museum, the Eugene Field House, and the Griot Museum of Black History. I am working on the online portrait gallery, which introduces the cast of characters for each museum. There will be 15 portraits featured, I have currently finished about 7 of them, but am working on editing the original drafts of those. There is not much new to report for my part, but there is exciting news for the overall project. The collaborative is funded by a grant from the Missouri Humanities Council. This past Monday, it was announced that the Urban Museum Collaborative has been awarded a supplemental grant, which will help us as we continue to create opportunities for children to truly experience history at these 3 museums. Wonderful news! Futhermore, the project has been named "See beyond the gates", a reference to the fact that many times, people drive by the 3 museums and don't realize what it actually is. I'm excited to be a part of this innovative and creative project that will offer so many opportunities to St. Louis schools!
As for my exit project, I turned in the official proposal for the children's book and education program this week. I have created a draft of the story and begun to roughly lay out how I would like it to work. I was also told on Wednesday that the chair of my committee, Dr. Lankford, believes he has found me an illustrator. This is a big relief for me because I am not an artist. If the illustrator does not work out, I will likely use the 1885 and current photographs of Campbell House, animating them with Photoshop and Fotosketcher. However, I had really wanted to have these be done by an illustrator as great pictures truly bring life to a childen's book. This project has started to really gain steam, I can't wait to see the finished project in May!
That is the latest update in my professional life. Thank you.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Campbell House Museum Blog
I updated the Campbell House Museum blog today, as well as the facebook page. These are two projects I started before I left for Natchez, MS this summer.
The facebook page came as the result of a board member suggesting to me that the museum should get on facebook. Since creating the page, it has really started to take off. Facebook allows the museum to update the world on the latest news. We post pictures and link the blog to it each week. The page started in May and we currently have 46 fans, many in St. Louis but also across the country. Fans can post pictures, links, or comments about the museum. Some of the comments include -
"I have sent 8th graders to Campbell House for three years on the annual "St. Louis Adventure" field trip. The kids always come back so surprised by how much they liked it, and I think it perfectly encapsulates a key time in St. Louis history. Thanks for your generosity and everything you do."
"I am so impressed by the recent restorations made to the house. It is by far one of the finer house museums in the area, and I encourage everyone to see it for themselves."
Another comment about the facebook page itself was "I'm so glad to see that Campbell House is embracing this new technology - what a wonderful new way to get word out (far beyond St. Louis) about the museum and its collection........".
In fact, this is just one way that Campbell House has embraced new technology. In addition to the facebook page, I started a weekly blog for the museum in May. I came up with this idea from a "Foundations of Museology II" class about Web 2.0 programs. We had talked about creating a blog that is "written" by a character. I started to think about that with Campbell House and remembered how real the family became for me when I spent a summer reading 300 of their personal letters. I wanted others to have the experience to really get to know the Campbells, in their own words, and so proposed doing a "This week in history" blog, featuring family letters.
The blog has opened many doors for people to learn about the Campbell family. Each week, a Campbell family letter is posted - we try to make sure that the date corresponds with that week in history, but sometimes have to do a different letter. We try to include a little information on the letter and always link it to the facebook page. Our numbers have been steadily growing on the blog visits as well - since May, we have had over 400 visits in just 22 posts!
These are two projects that I am truly proud of. I hope that as the museum embraces social networking and Web 2.0 technology, many new people will fall in love with the Campbells as I have!
Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Louis-MO/Campbell-House-Museum/57253224411?ref=ts
Blog - http://campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.com/
The facebook page came as the result of a board member suggesting to me that the museum should get on facebook. Since creating the page, it has really started to take off. Facebook allows the museum to update the world on the latest news. We post pictures and link the blog to it each week. The page started in May and we currently have 46 fans, many in St. Louis but also across the country. Fans can post pictures, links, or comments about the museum. Some of the comments include -
"I have sent 8th graders to Campbell House for three years on the annual "St. Louis Adventure" field trip. The kids always come back so surprised by how much they liked it, and I think it perfectly encapsulates a key time in St. Louis history. Thanks for your generosity and everything you do."
"I am so impressed by the recent restorations made to the house. It is by far one of the finer house museums in the area, and I encourage everyone to see it for themselves."
Another comment about the facebook page itself was "I'm so glad to see that Campbell House is embracing this new technology - what a wonderful new way to get word out (far beyond St. Louis) about the museum and its collection........".
In fact, this is just one way that Campbell House has embraced new technology. In addition to the facebook page, I started a weekly blog for the museum in May. I came up with this idea from a "Foundations of Museology II" class about Web 2.0 programs. We had talked about creating a blog that is "written" by a character. I started to think about that with Campbell House and remembered how real the family became for me when I spent a summer reading 300 of their personal letters. I wanted others to have the experience to really get to know the Campbells, in their own words, and so proposed doing a "This week in history" blog, featuring family letters.
The blog has opened many doors for people to learn about the Campbell family. Each week, a Campbell family letter is posted - we try to make sure that the date corresponds with that week in history, but sometimes have to do a different letter. We try to include a little information on the letter and always link it to the facebook page. Our numbers have been steadily growing on the blog visits as well - since May, we have had over 400 visits in just 22 posts!
These are two projects that I am truly proud of. I hope that as the museum embraces social networking and Web 2.0 technology, many new people will fall in love with the Campbells as I have!
Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saint-Louis-MO/Campbell-House-Museum/57253224411?ref=ts
Blog - http://campbellhousemuseum.wordpress.com/
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Hello again!
My name is Katherine and I'm a 23 year old emerging museum professional. This is my professional blog. I'll be talking about my exit project, my project for the Urban Museum Collaborative, other projects I do for the museum, and any interesting things I learn about museums that I feel worthy of posting.
Here is the explanation:
Exit project -
I am creating a children's book for Campbell House Museum. Campbell House is a historic house museum in downtown St. Louis, where I have interned for 5 years (3 summers and a 2 year long internship). The house was built in 1851 on Lucas Place, then the nicest neighborhood in St. Louis. In 1854, Robert Campbell and his wife Virginia moved in. The house would stay their family home for the next 84 years, until their last son died in 1938. Robert was an Irish immigrant who became one of the wealthiest men in Missouri if not America. He got his start in the fur trade, then was involved with steamboats (he gave Mark Twain a job on a steamboat), railroads, gold mines, cattle ranches, hotels, banks, etc. No he did not invent Campbells soup, but he did just about everything else. Robert and his wife Virginia had 13 children. Only 3 lived past the age of 8, and of those 3, none ever married or had kids. We became a historic house museum in 1943. The house has been completely restored back to it's 1880's appearance, according to photographs from about 1885. Come see the museum - 1508 Locust St., St. Louis, MO 63103, (314) 421-0325!
I hope that the book will be the first in a series, so I am currently calling it "Welcome to My House! The Campbell House". The book will be a tour of the house led by Gus Meyer, who was a servant here from 1901-1938, and actually stayed after 1938 to ensure the house would remain in tact. He was probably here about 40 years. I am writing the story, and it looks like I will also be illustrating the book, as my call for an artist has not come back. If I illustrate the book, it will be done in photoshop or fotosketcher. In addition to the book, I will be designing a storytime education program for K-2nd grade.
Urban Museum Collaborative:
This spring Campbell House was awarded a grant to have a consultant create a shared curriculum for CampbelL House Museum, the Eugene Field House and St. Louis TOy Museum, and the Griot Museum of Black History and Culture. I am creating the portrait gallery for the collaborative website. It will introduce the cast of characters for the 3 sites using pictures or portraits. Each portrait will have descriptive detail, biographical information and the person's connections to St. Louis, and their story's implications for national events at the time.
I hope you enjoy reading about these exciting projects as I work on them!
Here is the explanation:
Exit project -
I am creating a children's book for Campbell House Museum. Campbell House is a historic house museum in downtown St. Louis, where I have interned for 5 years (3 summers and a 2 year long internship). The house was built in 1851 on Lucas Place, then the nicest neighborhood in St. Louis. In 1854, Robert Campbell and his wife Virginia moved in. The house would stay their family home for the next 84 years, until their last son died in 1938. Robert was an Irish immigrant who became one of the wealthiest men in Missouri if not America. He got his start in the fur trade, then was involved with steamboats (he gave Mark Twain a job on a steamboat), railroads, gold mines, cattle ranches, hotels, banks, etc. No he did not invent Campbells soup, but he did just about everything else. Robert and his wife Virginia had 13 children. Only 3 lived past the age of 8, and of those 3, none ever married or had kids. We became a historic house museum in 1943. The house has been completely restored back to it's 1880's appearance, according to photographs from about 1885. Come see the museum - 1508 Locust St., St. Louis, MO 63103, (314) 421-0325!
I hope that the book will be the first in a series, so I am currently calling it "Welcome to My House! The Campbell House". The book will be a tour of the house led by Gus Meyer, who was a servant here from 1901-1938, and actually stayed after 1938 to ensure the house would remain in tact. He was probably here about 40 years. I am writing the story, and it looks like I will also be illustrating the book, as my call for an artist has not come back. If I illustrate the book, it will be done in photoshop or fotosketcher. In addition to the book, I will be designing a storytime education program for K-2nd grade.
Urban Museum Collaborative:
This spring Campbell House was awarded a grant to have a consultant create a shared curriculum for CampbelL House Museum, the Eugene Field House and St. Louis TOy Museum, and the Griot Museum of Black History and Culture. I am creating the portrait gallery for the collaborative website. It will introduce the cast of characters for the 3 sites using pictures or portraits. Each portrait will have descriptive detail, biographical information and the person's connections to St. Louis, and their story's implications for national events at the time.
I hope you enjoy reading about these exciting projects as I work on them!
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