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| Pennsylvania State Archives Tower, Harrisburg |
On July 28, the interns at the
Pennsylvania State Archives took a field trip to Carlisle to
visit three other document and artifact repositories. While the State Archives contains artifacts
ranging from railroad engineering drawings to a few locks of Thomas Jefferson’s
hair, the visit to Carlisle proved to be an eye-opening experience.
The
first stop on the Carlisle trip was to the Army Heritage and Education Center. This massive federal complex
boasts a museum of American military history, a series of outdoor interactive
exhibits and reconstructions, an impressive archive and artifact repository and
two state-of-the-art conservation labs.
Needless to say, it was a very impressive experience! Interns were treated to a private tour of the
museum that pointed out not only the major artifacts on display and interactive
experience, but also drew attention to the planning and construction of
exhibits. After a walk through the
conservation labs and artifact repository, the head of the archives gave the
interns a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see (and touch!) some priceless
documents, including a letter written by Robert E. Lee during his retreat from
Gettysburg and the transcript from the telephone room at Pearl Harbor on the
day of the Japanese bombardment.
Across
town, the Dickinson College archives and special collection opened its doors
for the Keystone Interns to explore its collection of rare books, school
records, historical documents of local importance and some private papers of
some of the college’s most notable alumni, including President James
Buchanan. In addition, the interns enjoyed
several special exhibits assembled by Dickinson College interns. These exhibits used items from the special
collection, notably a selection of artifacts and oddities collected from around
the world by Dickinson alumni, and an impressive collection of tools used by
Joseph Priestley, the 18th-century scientist responsible for the
discovery of oxygen. [Editor's note: Dr. Priestley's American home and laboratory in Northumberland is part of the Pennsylvania Trails of History.]
The last stop was the Cumberland County Historical Society, a privately
owned and operated museum, library and archive.
During a private tour around the museum and collections, the interns
discussed the challenges and rewards of maintaining a private archive and
museum as well as some of the technological and outreach-based programs used by
the society to preserve its records and to reach a wider audience.
While
it may seem like one museum or one archive may have it all when it comes to a
certain topic or field of interest, the State Archives intern field trip to
Carlisle demonstrates that this is simply not true. Each repository and museum offers its own
unique and exciting collections that are arranged and cared for in a variety of
ways. Whether holding soldiers’
journals, a collection of 16th-century books, or a variety of maps
and charts of a particular region, the three archives visited by the interns
presented a different set of records that, when looked at as a whole,
complemented each other to form a much fuller picture than any single
institution could do on its own.
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