How I ended up showing the organization of the archives.

During my time in the May Weber Collection, I have tried my hand at cataloging, rehousing and archiving. But I most definitely have felt most at home in the archives. Most of my time has been devoted to organizing as much of the archives as I could. When I started out with the archives, everything had been put into folders but was not organized. I used the pre-existing finding aid which listed the titles of the folders in each box in order to assign categories. These categories included documents related to May Weber herself, financials and many others. In total I was able to file everything under 15 categories. After this whole semester, I was able to completely organize about half of the boxes in the archives.

Working in the archives was a wonderful experience. It was so interesting to look through and see all the artifacts that are in our collection but also the ones that have passed through at one point. In one box I even found photos of May Weber when she was acquiring some of the artifacts. I really felt connected to both her and the different pieces. I am a little disappointed that I didn’t get to finish the archives (I’ll admit I was a little ambitious) but I am very happy with the work that I did, especially since the half that I did complete was fully organized.

When your looking at an artifact in a museum, what is the first thing you think about? What is the first thing you look at? It was the intriguing dragon that hung above the Indian god, Vishnu. The wood carving seemed like a collection of random symbols brought into one statue. Looking further into the May Weber collection I found a similar statue that could not be more different. The only similarity was it looked like they had similar functions and they both had the dragon hung over them.

Before I could even try a determine what all these little pieces of the two statues could be and how the two were connected I had to find out what “it” was. After spending two hours reading through archives hoping for some sort of reference or receipt the search turned up nothing. My next plan was to check the never stacks of books that lined the walls of the room. It seemed hopeless, this was one of those artifacts that don’t turn anything up. My last hope was my good friend google. I was search every possible combinations of words possible in hopes of getting some sort of results. The catalogs called it an “altarpiece fragment”, that combined with the fact that I was ninety-five percent sure the carved figure was Vishnu, turned up a world of results. The object was called a temple chariot statue.

Once I had the name of the artifact, the function of it, I could decode all the other little parts of the carvings and help understand the story of artifact. In the twenty-first century the internet helped give life to an artifact that was at least a century old. Without this story these artifacts are simply objects, they have no meaning, they are simply wood carvings. With context this wood carvings turn into a beautiful story of how Indra saves his people from a dragon with the help of Vishnu.

By Jason Rhein

As a young adult striving to understand myself and the world around me, I have often had a tendancy to overlook several things I come across as I go through my daily routines. After all, I am only human with a brain capacity that limits all that I am able to think about at any given moment. Working with the objects of the May Weber Ethnographic Collection, I have come to learn that several of these details that we tend to overlook are often key to better understanding the cultural contexts that shape who we are.

When working with objects in the collection, it is important to pay close attention to detail while carrying out several tasks, such as the preservation and research of objects, in efforts to better understand where they came from and the contexts in which they were used. Understanding this allows us to get a glimpse of the meaning that people associated with these objects both in the past and in the present. Whether the objects were used as tools or for aesthetic purposes, their meanings can vary greatly depending on their respective creators, users and environments. For example, while a ceremonial pipe may have been used in the past in order to deepen a connection with nature, its presence in the collection coincides with different meanings, representing the traditions and values of a culture along with other objects used in a similar context. While the meanings remain contingent, analyzing objects can help us to better understand the customs of others and the diversity of culture amongst humans.

Analyzing the properties of objects can help us gin insight into the context in which the objects were once created. Knowing what materials were used to form an object can help us understand the environmental conditions that affected its production and the ideologies behind it. Knowing an object’s place of origin can help us determine who used it, when it left this place and how it came to be part of the collection. The objects in the May Weber Ethnographic Collection come from many different places and societies around the world, and paying close attention to their many details can further inform us of the values and meanings that tell us about the larger context of which they were and are currently a part of.

On my first day working on the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Dr. Nichols explained that the construction of the collection’s catalog requires building on and questioning previous knowledge. The artifacts that we are working with have previously been cataloged by students when the collection was first acquired in 2012. Unfortunately, due to time, location, and resource constraints, some of the information in the “Weber Catalog” is misleading. As I began to research potential uses and origins of artifacts, reliance on textual and additional material evidence proved helpful in clarifying any miss-identifications.

After weeks of focusing on African ceramics and bronze figurines, I decided to venture into the Asian cabinets. Spotting a curious looking object constructed from wood, I began to run through a few ideas in my mind. Is it a musical instrument? I feel something rattling around inside – does it open? This second question led me to investigate the woven fibers along the neck of the object. The discovery that the woven band slid up and down revealed that the artifact swings open and contains within it: a weighing scale.

Intrigued, I was eager to see what the Weber Catalog had to say about this object. I was dismayed and confused, however, when I found that the artifact was listed as African without more specific information regarding a cultural group. Asking Dr. Nichols what she thought and considering her reassurance that the piece was Asian, I finished cataloging the artifact and replaced it in its spot in the cabinet. A week or so afterwards, I was surveying the very same drawer of artifacts and noticed a second object that greatly resembled the first. Trying to calm my excitement, I was overjoyed to see that this artifact also was a case for a weighing scale. In contrast to its predecessor, however, this scale was marked by Chinese characters. A clear indicator that this scale was Asian suggests that the first scale, in its similarities, shares this cultural origin to an extent.

Through this process, I realized the significance of skepticism and curiosity. Had I not acknowledged the striking resemblance between the two objects, one may have continued to be mislabeled as African while the other, clearly as Chinese. In museum studies, we rely upon the records and context of artifacts. We must also understand that these objects do not exist alone, but rather come together to produce a holistic representation of a cultural context. I have found two values to be vital while working in the collection: humility and passion. I have learned that my part in this internship may only produce a fraction of the information and potential that is possible for each artifact that I work with. I am driven, however, to grasp at as much knowledge and appreciation for cultural material as I can.

Cataloging and rehousing have been the two main tasks I have worked on in the collection throughout the semester. However, as frustrating as it might be at times, I always find myself return to cataloging artifacts. There are multiple artifacts in the collection which have limited information and the only piece we do have in order to start conducting research is its origin.

There was one such piece that I worked on during the beginning of the semester and all knew about it was that it came from Indonesia. Personally, I feel that an artifact isn’t fully catalogued until there is some historical information explaining what it is. I did as much research as I could on the Indonesian piece however after almost over an hour of web searching I had very little information on it. So I decided to ask Dr. Nichols if she had any information on the piece. Unfortunately she didn’t, but she did have a book on Indonesian art and helped me look through it. We found some pieces that looked very similar to the piece and determined it came from the Batak tribe in Indonesia and was most likely used to store medicine or powders used for rituals.

After searching for information for so long it was very pleasing to finally find out what the piece was and the coolest part was what happened next. As Dr. Nichols was looking through the book of Indonesian art she began pulling out pieces from the collection and setting them on the table. At first I was confused as to what she was doing but then it finally clicked. The pieces she was setting out were very similar to the images in the Indonesian art book. Some of them hadn’t been catalogued yet and those who were didn’t have enough information on them. I worked on cataloging those pieces and was able to add information to ones that were already catalogued.

After that I realized that as frustrating as cataloging can be as long as I’m patient its actually very interesting. Not only because of the piece with the Indonesian artifact but there have also been instances in which I have begun working on new pieces and while I’m looking up the new piece I find information on artifacts I have already cataloged.

Lastly, I think it is very interesting to have to the opportunity to research artifacts that originated from Mexico because I learn things about my own history and culture. One of the recent pieces I have worked on is an Alebrije. Alebrijes are paper mache figures of a combination of different animal pieces. When I was a little girl I remember hearing about them on TV but I didn’t really pay much attention to them. When I catalogued the Alebrije and found out about its origin I found it extremely interesting to know more about something I overlooked when I was younger. Currently, I am working on cataloging Mexican masks and I’m pretty excited to learn more about them.

Working in the collection has been a fun, learning experience for me and I now have a better understanding of not only one of the many things I can do but also enjoy with anthropology. Its also cool seeing how everyone brings in their own ideas especially when it comes to rehousing artifacts and helping out one another.

Working with the May Weber collection has allowed me to put in practice basic skills that are necessary for the management and care of cultural materials. It is this experience that has had the most profound effect on my appreciation and understanding of museum studies. Contrary to my initial assumptions, maintaining a collection is no simple task. There is a great deal of effort that goes into every aspect of a project. Let’s take cataloging—one of the many tasks necessary for maintaining a collection—as an example. One might be tempted to think that cataloging only involves describing and tagging (as some of my friends seemed to believe). However, this is not entirely the case. The easy part is describing what you see but the difficult part of the process is actually researching the object. I know, I know. Research is ‘easy’. As college students, we like to think we have mastered the art of research. Being one of those students, I thought “well, this is going to be fairly easy”. As I soon discovered, where the difficulty lies is when there is little to no information to go off. To make matters worse, the information that might be available in the archives might be inaccurate (e.g. what it is; which culture/region it is associated with). In other words, sometimes (or in my case most of the time) one might have to research somewhat ‘blindly’. Depending on the object, at times it can be overwhelming. Where does one start? You can Google the description of the object or some defining characteristic(s) to narrow down the geographic/cultural possibilities, flip through random books like a madman, and/or search museums databases. Although at times this task can be difficult, it is nevertheless a worthwhile experience.

One other task that is involved in maintaining a collection is rehousing. Personally, I prefer this task over all the others. When rehousing an object there are several things that need to be taken into consideration: the frailty of the object, toxicity of the object, the dimensions of the object, the materials needed, and the design of the “house”. The purpose of rehousing is to ensure that the object is properly secured and protected. In general, rehousing is not all that difficult but at times it can be frustrating. For example, some of the causes of my frustrations were mismeasurements and shaky hands when cutting Tyvek. I am not known for being good with my hands but if I can do this I think anyone can. In my opinion, the best part of rehousing is the freedom to be creative just as long as the design is practical.

Overall, working with this collection has allowed me to gain a unique perspective and valuable insight into how ethnographic collections are maintained. But wait…there is more! It has also contributed to gaining and refining new skills—skills that are applicable in virtually all professions. What is worth noting about my time in this collection is that regardless of how many times I performed the same task it was always different—and I always walked away learning something new.

The first time I walked into the collection room I was overwhelmed by the amount of objects I would soon be able to work with and research. I became extremely interested in the Asia cabinets and began rehousing and cataloguing jewelry, masks, and figures from countries I have always dreamed of visiting. The Weber Collection, for me, is a way to see the world from the 4^th floor of Mundelein.

While I prefer to spend my time rehousing objects, (making boxes, bags, and mounts to secure them), one object in particular caught my attention in a personal way. Deep in the back of a cabinet for African objects, I saw a colorful, aluminum bus that said “Dakar, Senegal” on the front. When I was 16, I spent two weeks in Dakar, Senegal working with members of the Peace Corps and riding these very buses, or ‘car rapides’, throughout the city. Cataloguing an object that held meaning to me was very rewarding because I was able to use my experiences outside of the classroom to benefit the collection and relate to May Weber. Photos (left: collection object, right: photo I took in Senegal)

My connection to this object gave the collection a tangible context that these objects belonged to a culture and a group of people before they belonged to May or the collection. I think that concept is the most important lesson I have taken from this internship so far and I will keep in mind in my future travels while buying material culture and visiting museums.

In addition to the African bus, we visited the Art Institute of Chicago as a class and focused on the African exhibit. I recognized objects in the AIC that we have in our collection on campus. I was able to bring back knowledge from the museum to catalogue and rehouse the object appropriately and correctly.

Overall, working with this collection has helped me to acquire better research skills while cataloguing, logical thinking while rehousing, and an appreciation for museum studies.

By Madeline Rahme

These photographs document the work Loyola students are undertaking with the May Weber collection, beginning Fall 2014 to the present.

Fall 2014: Students cataloging in our temporary space.

Fall 2014: Student rehousing objects.

Spring 2015: Maggie Miller does an object presentation. Dr. Nichols discusses Mexican artifacts from the collection in Dr. Gomberg-Munoz’s class.

Spring 2015: Our new storage space is ready, and we are ready to move the collections!

Spring 2015: Lots of work by Loyola students getting objects into their new home.

Spring 2015: New shelves for the books and more space to catalog.

Fall 2015: A lot of effort this semester went into rehousing puppets.

Fall 2015: We’re making progress on rehousing and getting our rolled textile shelving set up.

Fall 2015: We mounted bark paper to display in BVM, and brought out a few objects to show with an ethnographic film.

Fall 2015: Dr. Thomas Hudak and Grace Iverson look through object documentation, and our class visits the Women and Leadership Archives on campus.

Fall 2015: Class trip to the Field Museum

Fall 2015: Objects on display for our pop exhibit as part of the May Weber Masquerade.

Fall 2015: Marisa Orlow reports on Chinese children’s shoes and Erin Steiner on a betel nut container from Southeast Asia.

Fall 2015: A successful semester!

Throughout my semester of working with the May Weber collection I have been able to broaden my understanding of museum studies and engage in particular tasks that are not only incredibly time consuming and difficult, but in general just really fun. Most of my efforts were spent archiving what seemed to be an interminable array of papers and photographs. My first thought when beginning to archive was, “What is the point of keeping all these papers?”. But eventually it dawned on me that I was able to take a glimpse into the amazing life that May Weber had. From looking at the beautiful photographs of places she had visited all around the world, to extravagant restaurant receipts, you can see that her life was the antithesis of ordinary. It was really exciting to be able to sort through her past and learn from her in a way that I didn’t know was possible.

Aside from archiving, I also briefly dabbled in the art of cataloguing and rehousing a few pieces within the collection. One was a West African wooden mask. It was designed with simple carvings and was completely painted in black pigment. The other, more elaborate artifact that I catalogued was a storyboard from Papua New Guinea. This piece was also made out of wood but it depicted these intricate engravings that are meant to tell a particular story, unique to the tribe in which it was made. I attempted to rehouse three shadow puppets, but after about two hours of constant cutting and measuring I called it quits. I soon realized that archiving was my much preferred task when working with the collection.

Although I specialized in a particular study, working with the May Weber collection offers a wide variety of tasks that each have their own unique appeal. I have now opened my mind  to the possibility of pursuing museum studies in the future because this experience has been so enriching over this past semester.

My semester in the May Weber Ethnographic Collection has not only given me a platform to cultivate my own curiosities concerning museum studies, but also to contribute to research, education, and the legacy of others. Although I came with little knowledge, I can decidedly say that my experiences have allowed me to acquire knowledge of professional customs and procedures towards collection care. Through the intersection of theoretical concepts, observation, and participation the semester has only fueled my assorted inquiries in the subject of anthropology.

The semester began with a broad overview of responsibilities, and eventually culminated in allowing each individual to explore his or her own interests within the collection. While cataloging objects was a great introduction into the familiarization of the collection, I found many of my hours were spent rehousing, cataloging May’s library, and even installing some heavy metal shelving!

I love the internship because the tasks were so incredibly variable. Even if performing the same task of rehousing, each object was different, and presented its own array of problems and solutions. I particularly enjoyed working with the jewelry of Southeast Asia. 

Here is a pair of earrings that I was able to rehouse using blue-board, ethafoam, archival polyfill.

And here is yet another pair of earrings (there are a lot!) where I used tie downs and blue-board. After that I used plastic and a bag maker to secure the item and protect it from being damaged.

I will miss my Tuesdays and Thursdays spend in the collection, because it is truly such an enriching environment. While I entered my junior year mainly focused in the biological aspect of anthropology I feel that engaging in the museum collection opened a window of new scholastic endeavors.

My time working with the May Weber Collection has shown me how much work it actually takes to manage a museum collection ( I mean, not to say that I didn’t think it was hard work before). I knew that cataloging items was a big part of the job, but I didn’t realize how hard it could be to get accurate information on an object. Especially when documentation is scattered and previous references can be completely inaccurate. Not only that, but when the item is so common that you can’t seem to find much valuable information. For example, one of the first objects that I cataloged was a Southeast Asian necklace with coral beads and a pendant that doubled as a chamber. But the old catalog did not help (that thing can’t be trusted), nor did I find anything similar to it from books or from the internet. So I accepted defeat moved on and tried to fill in the information as best as I could. But even if it was often tedious. It was always exciting when you could find information on an object. Sometimes I would even stumble upon something in the book that we did have in the collection and it was very satisfying.

My favorite part of working in the collection would be rehousing the objects. What started off as making bags for jewelry, which was way too entertaining, evolved into making trays and boxes for larger objects. One particular project we did was rehousing around 10 puppets by making boxes and compartments for them to lie in. It was long and involved much measuring and remeasuring, but the boxes turned out well and all the puppets were properly rehoused. It is very easy to think of the work as arts and crafts but it is also important to remember that the safety of the object comes first. Making sure the box/tray is the correct size on all sides and making sure that it has enough cushioning so it would not bang around so easily inside is very important to consider when making the box. You have no idea how many times I have remeasured blueboard, ethafoam, and tyvek because I forgot to add additional length for the sides of a box or because I simply did not measure correctly. Always write down the math!

Two of many puppets that were rehoused.

One of the finished boxes! Complete with a cwindow to see inside.

Throughout this semester working in the collection has become an eye opening experiences showing just how much team work, patience, and critical thinking can go into managing a collection. While much of the work is tedious (*cough*archiving*cough) I definitely have a greater appreciation for it and I would still consider it to be a potential career path for me.

Through the semester I have been involved in all of the projects put forth by the syllabus ranging from archiving to vacuuming. I have spent time rearranging the cabinets to better house the items in the Africa cabinets specifically, and have worked along side my peers to create assorted sized boxes and trays to house the puppets we have from Indonesia and South East Asia. In doing so, I have learned the value of arranging things to fit precisely; now when I open a cabinet and  don’t see perfection I absolutely lose it (Even my pantry is now perfect!)

I have been studying two-three objects primarily in my time with the collection, one is a New Guinea Ancestor statue from the Speik Valley region, and I believe from the Mindimbit village specifically…(or Pacifically, if you find it punny.) The second set of objects are a pair of Hawaiian Kapa/Tapa beaters, which are unusual in shape and size, but interesting none the less.

Aside from the main portion of the coursework and introduction into cataloging I used my connections to right some wrongs that wouldn’t have been noticed without the help of a few hours, some elbow grease and a band saw. On the south wall of the collections room stands the textile storage which needed to have the flanges installed and the poles put up. Unfortunately the poles were ordered to perfectly fit their future homes, not accounting for the 1/4″ reduction from the flange mounts. I luckily have had the experience and ability to take the chrome plated steel poles home and chop off the appropriate amount. (It helps that I recently bought a pickup, too!) The lesson I’ve learned here is that is important to be an “I’ve got it” kind of person when it comes to a task in the work place, and well, for life really. A problem solver is always a good person to have on hand (but a problem solver with power tools is even better!)

Beautiful Indonesian beaded necklace.

My horrible representation.

My semester working with May Weber’s collection has been extremely insightful both culturally and personally. I walked into this internship with little knowledge about museum work, artifacts, and how tedious this work really is and this was my chance to explore this new world of Anthropology. Thank God Catherine eased us into the collection with cataloging objects for the first few weeks. As you can see to the right, this meant my nonexistent drawing skills were going to be tested, and I failed. After about 3-4 objects, cataloging fell lower on my list of favorite tasks in the collection along with unpopular task of archiving documents. I soon realized that I did enjoy organizing and displaying objects. This included tasks such as: building boxes and bags, organizing textiles, and displaying masks. These tasks challenged my creative side to organize our objects in the safest, cheapest and most visually appealing way. An example being mounting about a dozen masks to display for an Anthropology event. This memory stands out when I think back on my days in the collection because I thoroughly enjoyed finding the perfect mound to entrust with holding each mask. I successfully assigned mounds to masks with the addition of finding the object I would investigate for my presentation. This Mexican mask had, see through your soul, doll eyes and movable eye lids, which gave me proof that this object must have been cursed. It was a truly terrifying object that I had to know more about. It’s doll-like features intrigued me and I learned about a tradition I would never have heard of if I never stepped into collection. The semester is winding down now with all-nighters, caffeine overdoses, and the end of a truly great experience. A large part of me will miss coming into Mundy 419 and experiencing other cultures through their artifacts but I have also learned this career path isn’t for me. Although there were parts that I did enjoy, I could not see myself pursuing this for the rest of my life. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have an appreciation for those who have or will choose this path, because I do. Everyone I met through this experience has a passion for this field, and all I can do is step back and wish them well on their journey. As I begin to mentally and physically prepare myself to leave 419, I realize this part of my journey has helped guide me towards what I have been searching for.

Most of my time in the May Weber Collection has been spent cataloging or rehousing objects. My first object ended up being one the most frustrating. After a few hours of fruitless searching, Dr. Nichols informed me that my mystery object was, indeed, a personal toiletry kit. I was surprised that something so pretty had aided in someone’s bathroom habits. These unexpected little twists became common, but always exciting, when researching a new object.

Learning to make boxes was tedious at best. It took more than a few hot glue gun burns and my fair share of wasted, poorly-measured pieces of blue board, but I found it extremely satisfying when the finished product came out (close to) perfect. In my most recent masterpiece, I gave the swinging goddess below a new home furnished with custom pillows.

About three weeks ago I began looking for an object to research for my final project. What caught my eye was a small, round bottle that, to me, resembled a flask with a tiny metal skull on the front. The ever-trustworthy catalogue pinned it as an ivory medicine container from China. After digging through the archives, I was lucky enough to find the object’s documentation and it was not ivory at all. The little bottle was used to hold tobacco snuff in Tibet and Nepal and is actually made of human skull! Researching this will be my project for the rest of the semester.

This semester in the collection has been such a wonderful experience! The first few weeks were spent cataloguing objects. This, however, was challenging at times because it was difficult to figure out where exactly an object came from. A few weeks into working in the collection, I catalogued an object from the Batak people of Sumatra, Indonesia. We then found other objects that looked like they were made by the Batak people, as well. This was the first time in the collection where I had to research an object thoroughly to try to figure out what it was. I looked at the University of Michigan’s Batak text online catalogue, found a book on Batak texts, and Professor Nichols contacted Dr. Uli Kozok, an expert in Batak texts. Through this process, we were finally able to determine what one object could possibly be (the other two were made for tourists!).

After cataloguing the Batak object, I moved on to making bags and boxes for objects. The bag making was pretty fun, but making the boxes was my favorite. A few other interns and I first made a box for four puppets in order to protect them from damage. Making a box is somewhat tedious and time consuming because everything has to be measured carefully, so the puppets can fit. Overall, the box turned out pretty great and the puppets look great in it!

More recently, I moved on to making labels. These labels were for a pop-up exhibit for the Loyola Anthropology Club’s May Weber Collection Masquerade, where masks from the collection were displayed. I made interpretive labels for different masks, meaning that the labels tell a story about the object, while still providing facts. I was really nervous because it was a lot of creative writing in order to catch people’s attention. I did try to be punny (make puns), but that didn’t work out too well, so I just decided to scrap the pun idea. I never thought that making labels would be too difficult, but it was important to think about the audience and what I wanted them to know about these masks. I think the labels turned out well, though (some were pretty funny, too!).

For the first few weeks of the semester my focus in the May Weber Collection had been documenting objects and researching their importance and origin. While this was interesting, it also proved to be stressful and soon I turned to archiving. Sorting through all of May’s business transactions and personal files fulfilled my weeks curiosity cravings. The archives proved just how globally extensive the collection was. I feel once all of the archives are sorted it will be much easier to document the objects. A few weeks later though, once again my focus in the collection was changed.

There was a problem in the storage of the puppets. The MW Collection has around a dozen or so wooden puppets from Asia, all complete with tangled strings and bunched up clothes, that had to be re-housed. Previous to our re-housing efforts, they were simply resting on the shelves like all of the other objects. This method was not horrible as the shelves and foam were all archival, but it was not ideal. Myself and several other students shouldered the challenge of creating boxes for all of the puppets.

From massive pieces of blue board we measured, cut and glued together the bottoms from measurements we had taken of puppet configurations. It was basically adult arts and crafts time. After making sure those three to four puppets had their space, we cut dividers and glued them in place. Each puppet bed was complete with a cushy body pillow to lay on and in some cases a head rest. From there we measured and cut more blue board to form a lid. These lids proved to be the defining feature of the boxes, as all of them have plastic windows to view the contents. Who ever thought of that, genius idea. Truly well done.

Throughout the whole process, although I knew our efforts were with the best intentions, part of me could not help but question our methods. Everything just seemed too, as I mentioned before, arts and crafts. It was not until our class trip to the Field Museum and down into the belly of the Anthropology Collections, where I saw how they rehoused artifacts, that my faith was restored. For me, and I’m sure others who worked on the Great Puppet Project of 2015, walking through those aisles of shelves and seeing blue board boxes, twill tape, windows (!) plus other methods we used in the MW collection was somewhat emotional. While the artifacts themselves were amazing, I could not help but look at how they were housed and by what means. I was now confident that our work was professional and entirely legitimate.

Needless to say, I believe I have found my calling within the MW Collection. Rehousing artifacts ensures their safety and longevity. It is an integral part of the accession process and one that I hope to continue.

{ I will post pictures soon, as I am sure you are dying to see those boxes 😉 }