Virtual Exhibitions

This week the Barnum Museum team welcomed two new faces for a few days. With open arms, the Museum welcomed Kasey Grier and Neil Harris; both are here to help with a special project.

Kasey Grier is the Director of Museum Studies at the University of Delaware and Neil Harris is Professor Emeritus of History and Art History at the University of Chicago. Neil is also the author of the definitive biography of P. T. Barnum, “Humbug: The Art of P. T. Barnum”.

Kasey and Neil are working with the Barnum Museum to help with the “NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) Grant” for the digitization of the core Barnum collection. They are here to help with the first phase of the process, which is to determine the most significant artifacts and archival items to digitize for the museum. With the help of myself, Adrienne Saint-Pierre (Collection’s Manager) and Melissa Houston (Registrar), Kasey and Neil dove into the collection.

It was an interesting experience to work with Kasey and Neil, two very knowledgeable people, and I learned a great deal by working with them. And of course, no week would be complete without a little work with the inventory…but I won’t get into that again. Until we meet again!