Update on History Museum’s Archival Project 

Diana Mancel (left) and volunteers poring over scores of museum items – Contributed photo

Celebrating its 50th year as a museum in 2016, the San Juan Historical Society and Museum is concentrating on 2017 as the year to prepare the archives, buildings and grounds for the next 50 years.  In January, twenty volunteers began working on the real foundation of the museum:  the archival collection. 

Every day, even when it was snowing, volunteers trooped into the Etta Egeland Resource Center to spend two hour shifts sorting through a variety of documents, artifacts and historic treasures to place the objects into a category to be addressed later in the project timeline.  Long-time volunteers and island residents joined with new volunteers and newcomers to the island as we pondered over some of the objects, shared island stories, and participated in this very necessary endeavor.  

After 232 volunteer hours, three weeks and 150+ boxes of materials, it was time to move on to the next phase:  the 3,000+ photos in the collection.  Volunteers returned to the workspace, sifting through stacks of vintage and modern photos, sorting and recording.  This phase will carry the project to March 12th.  Concurrently with the photo project will be specific research on artifacts, document file organization, and inventorying the vintage books in the collection. 

Volunteers for this project do not need any archival or historic training.  We are grateful for the tremendous response of volunteers, but there is always room for more!

As the Archival Project continues, the process of preparing for the spring and summer season also begins.  Additional volunteers are needed in these areas:

• Museum docents for welcoming visitors. The welcome area will be moved from the James King Farmhouse to the new Museum of History and Industry on the Museum grounds.  Docents will receive training and have a modern area in which to meet museum visitors.
• Landscaping – creating a water catchment program, planting and researching native plants, maintenance of the grounds and flower beds.
• Exhibit renovation and creation – work with a team to integrate the museum’s collection into updated displays.   

Contact project coordinator Diana Mancel at [email protected] or Museum Director Kevin Loftus at [email protected] for details and work times. 

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