Remnantology

Cheryl Burstein is pursing a Masters degree in history at the University of South Florida.

Covid-19 Closes the USS Constitution.

With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic, a great many of us have been asked to hibernate for at least for the next month, and public spaces throughout the country have been forced to close, including entertainment and educational venues. As such the museums around the country have been shuttered. Through my perusal of the internet, I found many of the larger museums and museums in larger cities are offering wonderful activities for families and students ranging from downloadable histories of the time period, to craft booklets, and videos. I would like to share with you one museum has done an excellent job creating their site for viewer engagement,The USS Constitution Museum in Boston, MA.

They announce their closure on their website’s front page and in the same announcement proclaim they can bring their museum to you. On this page is a list of areas on their site that “serve students and the public who are working remotely, we will provide complimentary access to additional content on our digital platforms for adults, children, educators, and students”. [1] There are resources for pre-k to adult visitors, from knot tying, sailor games, or being on a voyage. Photos of artifacts are easily accessible as are histories and stories shared by the current museum historian, Carl Herzog. The museum has included numerous videos not only to invite you into their museum but also aboard the Constitution, herself.  Their commitment to the museum’s mission of engaging all ages in the story of “Old Ironsides” to spark excitement about maritime heritage, naval service, and the American experience is well articulated in the on-line offerings.[2] There is so much to do and see on this site, it will surely help pass the time at home as we wait for the virus to depart.

[1] ussconstitution.org  page 1 “read more” prompt in top box

[2] Ibid.

Alexander Obermueller currently works on his Master’s thesis on the Raiford prison uprising of 1971. Before coming to USF he graduated from the University of Vienna and worked on a project on the Austrian Civil War.

@nhmwien Natural History Museum Vienna

A picture showing the closed but well lit facade of the natural history museum Vienna informs the public that the museum remains closed due to Covid 19. Like the Jewish Museum of Vienna the NHM staff invites visitors to visit the Google Arts&Culture page to investigate some objects of their collection like the famous figurine Venus of Willendorf, in closer detail. Hash tags like #cultureagainstcorona and #cultureintimesofcorona accompany the post from March 17th.

NHM staff posts regularly in English and German and uses already existing digital material like a video on the current exhibition concerned with the moon. Astronomer and astrophysicist Gabor Herbst-Kiss stresses that even astronauts have to go into quarantine in preparation for their venture into space. Highlights of the NHM’s collection like dinosaur skeletons and the mineral collection make a featured appearance on the institutions Instagram channel. Staff first references the new reality, namely social distancing, directly in a post on Bronze Age jewelry. Its spikes supposedly assist in the quest to keep a distance from potentially contagious peers.

With schools closed, NHM staff devised a format to entertain and inform kids about the museum’s collection. In the first colorful episode of a segment dubbed #NHMWienFromHome facilitator and educator Elli Jegel talks about unicorns. Donning a unicorn onesie, Jegel takes kids into the mythology of unicorns and ties the popular creature to the museum’s collection. Another educator with the NHM, Jasmin Hangartner, talks about ancient salt mines in the region of Upper Austria. After introducing the life of salt miners, Hangartner provides a recipe that archeologist came up with, after closely examining preserved left overs and human feces. Hangartner takes the audience through

the preparation of the dish called “Ritschert.” In doing so, Hangartner skillfully combines the necessity of cooking at home due to the Corona shelter in place regulations and historical knowledge usually presented at the NHM.

Irene Gianordoli addresses the viewer directly and starts her video off with a reference to protective facemasks she encountered on one of her rare trips outside. To engage children, who form a large part of NHM’s audience, Irene combines footage from the museum’s dinosaur hall with a how-to guide to create dinosaur sculptures out of toilet paper roles and fun dinosaur facemasks for kids to wear. Crafting miniature dinosaurs out of the left overs of the rare commodity toilet paper or facemasks provides children with an opportunity to make sense of the current situation while tying them to the museum. NHM staff usually uses these techniques during on site visits to engage their young audience. By moving them online in a worthwhile manner, they achieve the goal of engaging an absent audience and aid parents in their struggle to keep children occupied.

In the latest post, biologist Andreas Hantschk takes his audience to a pond, where he focuses on the mating season frogs and toads. After catching a toad and explaining its physique, Hantschk emphasizes the importance of protecting native species. NHM holds large collection of amphibian specimen that visitors are usually allowed to explore. Tying both the biologist’s fieldwork and the museum experience together, Hantschk stresses that visitors would soon be welcomed back to the NHM.

NHM chooses yet another approach to engage its audience during the Covid 19 shut down. By creating a series of videos aiming at children, an important segment of the museum’s audience, under the title NHMWienFromHome, museum staff certainly addresses Covid 19 but also tries to provide a framework suitable for children to make sense of the new reality. Unsurprisingly, different institutions respond to Covid 19 with their respective audiences in mind. Whereas the Jewish Museum sticks to its current exhibition and caters to an adult audience, the NHM clearly created its video series with its younger audience and their parents in mind.

Among the three museums under consideration only the Wien Museum varies its content depending on the respective platforms. Whereas the Jewish Museum and the NHM roll out every post in the same manner on Instagram and Facebook, the Wien Museum creates different posts for Facebook. Attuned to the possibility of longer reads, Wien Museum staff links to their blog where curators provide in depth analysis of historical parallels to the current situation.

Josh Sanders is a M.A. student at the University of South Florida. He majors in 20th Century American history with a minor in 19th Century American history.

Covid-19 and Presidential Libraries

As the United States reacts to the coronavirus, I have taken it upon myself to see how presidential museums and libraries have responded. I have been following their Twitter accounts to see how they have interacted with the public. Generally, there have been two standard responses. A few of these institutions have continued in their normal interactions with the public, tweeting out their usual “this day in history.” The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Libraryand Museum has not even acknowledged the pandemic on Twitter, instead maintaining its routine. The more common and expected response is the attempt to tie the current crisis to some crisis during their presidency. For example, the Fred W. Smith National Library has tied the coronavirus to various eighteenth century diseases George Washington would have dealt with. Even if there is not a direct correlation with disease, these institutions have taken this as an opportunity to tweet out inspirational quotes of national unity and perseverance during adversity. The most active of these accounts are Lincoln, Kennedy, and Reagan, with their institutions tweeting inspirational quotes daily.

The most unique response has been that of the George W. Bush Center. Along with the typical inspirational quote, the Bush Center’s Twitter account is actively responding to the coronavirus outbreak. Rather than making a historical parallel to the uncertainty of the 9/11 aftermath, this institution has taken it upon itself to respond to the current crisis. In fact, they have made no correlation to 9/11 thus far. Instead, members of the Bush Center are writing about how to respond to the coronavirus. According to an article posted on March 19^th: “Whether it’s reading lists to help with educating children from home, or teleworking tips to make your life easier, or insight from the unique perspective of Bush Institute experts on leadership during trying times, we’re working to provide a helpful, optimistic response to the unique times we’re experiencing together.” For the past several days, multiple times per day, their Twitter account has posted articles promoting social distancing, giving tips for online schooling, and suggesting activities to keep one busy at home.

This coronavirus activism seems out of place, especially in comparison to other presidential museums and libraries. However, I decided to take a look at how Dallas (where the Bush Center is located) was reacting to the pandemic. The local governments within the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been struggling to respond. A few days ago, a county judge threatened to overturn a stay-at-home order, believing it to be too strict. The McKinney mayor, George Fuller, said that he would ignore the judge’s rule and enforce it anyways. Another example is the mayor claiming on March 31 that citizens were ignoring social distancing measures by going to parks in large groups. As of April 3, Dallas county has extended its stay-at-home order until May 20. However, it seems that the struggle with the local government and actions of citizens was a cause of concern for those at the Bush Center. Since the local government was not responding efficiently enough, the Bush Center took it upon itself to actively respond to the pandemic. The Bush Center perhaps sees its role to engage with the community and provide materials to respond to the coronavirus that was lacking from the local government. It will interesting to see if the Bush Center continues tweeting coronavirus articles, or will it lessen now that the government has stepped in.

Alexander Obermueller currently works on his Master’s thesis on the Raiford prison uprising of 1971. Before coming to USF he graduated from the University of Vienna and worked on a project on the Austrian Civil War.

Three Viennese Museum’s Responses to the Current Crisis.

@wienmuseum Museum of Vienna

The city’s “general-purpose metropolitan museum” announced its closing with a generic text-based shareable on March 11th.1 Almost a week later the social media staff shared a poster of the 1937 hygiene fair in Vienna, bridging the present crisis with past events related to hygiene. Vienna witnessed these exhibits in 1906, 1925, and 1937. The post states that hygiene encompassed a wide variety of measures not just simply protection from infections. By using this poster, the social media staff shows flexibility and creativity connecting past and current events to call on the public to “stay save and at home.” The hash tags #museumfromhome and #closedbutactive are also frequently used. Hygiene makes another appearance in a post about the renowned Viennese architect Otto Wagner. By stressing Wagner’s focus on comfort and hygiene as pillars of truly modern architecture, the long history of concern for hygiene is once more displayed.

In their next post, museum staff again refers to the current crisis and advertises its reading material at the same time. By depicting a backpack used by food delivery personnel, a booming job not only because restaurants closures, museum staff simultaneously refer to a new reality and reminds its audience of previous exhibitions on service sector jobs at the same time. Attuned to the more casual tone on Instagram, staff posted a picture that lauds well-practiced social distancing: Only one person sits on each bench in the park outside of the Wien Museum. Again, the connection between the crisis and new social practices, namely social distancing, is tied to the museum by using a picture of the near vicinity.

The new reality forces many of us to be confined to our homes by shelter in place ordinances all across the world. For those lucky enough to continue their jobs at home and not being fired, this change often results in a more relaxed working experience. Fitness and recipe challenges pop up all over the Internet to make the prolonged indoor stay bearable. Especially those employed in secure jobs and equipped with financial savings embrace the new homemaking or Biedermeier movement and embark on proper baking sprees. Being on lock down also confronts people with their living space and the Wien Museum jumps that train by referencing museums’ focus on and exhibitions about the home under the hash tag #atmuseumsanywhere. By sharing a picture of author Franz Grillparzer’s home, the social media team acknowledges the current, (en)forced fixation on the home.

In the last post, museum staff references lock down as a well rehearsed strategy against infectious diseases throughout history. Picturing the Viennese plague column erected in 1693 between deserted outdoors cafés evokes a deserted image of a City on lock down. A user even notices the black color umbrellas, which resemble black ribbons. A link leading to an article on hygiene in Vienna and the construction of the sewerage system accompanies the picture. In an effort to include the public the Wien Museum initiated Corona in Vienna: A Historical Collection Project. To catalogue the impact of the crisis on daily lives, the museum called on the public to send “photos of things that exemplify your new private or professional life in the times of Corona.” Museum officials promise to include these objects into the museums collection. Among the pictures already submitted are Corona themed graffiti, documentation of fever curve and an emergency phone call, empty shelves without toilet papers, a homemade face mask, a stuffed toy virus, a shopping list of an elderly neighbor who was not able to go outside, and depictions of home schooling experiences.

Wien Museum, in contrast to the Jewish Museum of Vienna, refrains from any references to their current exhibition, but instead chooses to embed the current state of emergency into the history of infectious diseases, hygiene, and changes in daily life. The museum’s blog even features long-reads about the history of greeting rituals. While the JMV aims at attracting visitors to its existing exhibition, the Wien Museum called on the public to contribute their experiences and objects that exemplify this unprecedented crisis.

My graduate Public History seminar this semester has been driven online thanks to CV19. This of course has barred the possibility of people coming up with new interesting projects. A few students already have something clever going on, so they are taken care of and are burrowing away. But the rest of us decided that the best thing to do was focus on the web and explore how public historical sites, museums, and other related entities are coping with this pandemic. The plan is to share their findings here. So, over the next few weeks I will be posting students’ work as we take a look at how public history reacts and responds.