In the Beginning...at LCHS

I'm not going to tell you about the very beginning of the Lancaster County Historical Society (or LancasterHistory.org), but rather my beginning almost two months ago. Unfortunately I haven't written much about it yet, but now is as good a time as any to begin.

My very first day was just a few hours to get acquainted. My supervisor Barry, the curator, showed my around the library and then took me downstairs to witness the transfer of some deaccessioned clothing from LancasterHistory.org to the Millersville University Costume Shop. Interestingly enough, when showing me how to look for photos in the PastPerfect system, we stumbled upon a photo of my young grandmother and aunt that someone had donated.

I mentioned this in a previous post, but the next week or two I was assigned the task of locating information about a woman from 19th century Lancaster County (Hannah Slaymaker Evans). It was easy to find information about the many prominent and wealthy men to whom she was attached, but because she was a woman, there is little to find about her. I did stumble upon a very humorous letter from her second husband to her sister that helped explain a little bit about her character. Overall, it was a great scavenger hunt and I enjoyed the project very much. I'm excited to see where it will go.

This project was interrupted by the urgent need to pull together a portraiture exhibition in two and a half weeks. The new Lancaster County Historical Society and the Iris Club joined together in 1912 to exhibit a great many portrait paintings and busts of famous Lancastrians or works by Lancaster artists. Almost exactly 100 years later, LancasterHistory.org and the Demuth Museum have teamed up to create an echo of that exhibit, titled, "Take Another Look!" In just a few short weeks, it all had to come together, so it was my task to look up dimensions, donors, and various other information about potential paintings to be displayed. I also researched artist biographies to be used in a few of the labels. It was very exciting to see it all come together this past week and I learned so much!

Thus far, I have enjoyed my time interning immensely. I can already see that it will be hard to leave!

While renovations are being made, LCHS is temporarily on the square in Lancaster City