Curious? #AskACurator!

As you know from Friday's post by Sean Adkins, PHMC's information specialist, tomorrow (Sept. 16) is #AskACurator day. This is an international, social media initiative designed to connect museum curators and collections to the public. The event runs all day, but at many museums, curators are available at specific times to answer questions via Twitter. This year, curators from the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Ephrata Cloister, and Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum will join hundreds of museum professionals from more than 1,000 museums all over the world. Not too shabby.

Flyer for exhibit curated by Jennifer Royer, 2013-14

First up is Jennifer Royer, who has has been a curator at Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum in Lancaster since 2011 (she was coordinator of living history and director of exhibits and collections for the York County Heritage Trust, 2004-2011). At Landis Valley she works primarily with the Pennsylvania German decorative arts but has also dealt with farm equipment, tools, rifles, and a wide array of other artifacts. She is responsible for the research library at the Museum and is currently working on a weathervane exhibit to be installed in 2016. Jennifer and Landis Valley's media assistant, Shayla Carey, will field questions from 10 to 11 am EDT @LandisValley.

Kerry Mohn helps members of winter history class explore The Martyrs' Mirror

Next on the Trails of History is Kerry Mohn, a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and the former Kutztown State College with 30 years service at PHMC. Kerry has spent the past 15 years overseeing the collections at Ephrata Cloister. He has a special interest in Pennsylvania history and Pennsylvania German studies; other interests include immigration, labor, and baseball history. He lives in Berks County and served on the boards of the Historical Society of Berks County and the Governor Mifflin Area Historical Society. You can tweet questions to Kerry and volunteer coordinator Rebecca Lawrence from 11 am to noon @EphrataCloister.

John Fielding with a cache of bobbins at Eckley Miners' Village

Rounding out our day is John Fielding, curator for the Anthracite Museum Complex, which consists of the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Scranton Iron Furnaces, and Eckley Miners’ Village, since 2004. During his tenure, John has led numerous collections management and collections care projects and has assisted with projects at several other PHMC sites including the Museum of Anthracite Mining, Old Mill Village, PA Lumber Museum, and Washington Crossing Historic Park. He has been the lead worker for eight exhibits at the Anthracite Heritage Museum and Eckley Miners’ Village. His areas of interest are 19th- and 20th-century anthracite mining processes and the cultural significance of the many ethnic groups that came to the anthracite region of Pennsylvania. John will be available for questions from 2 to 3 pm @AnthraciteMuse (I will be attempting to assist with the tweeting, so please be patient).

If you're interested in participating but aren't sure what to ask, last Friday's post included some suggestions. So please join us for the conversation!