About Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites Internship/Project
Introduction
Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites (HBMS) gave me an opportunity to grow, learn, and attain new skill sets that will help me achieve my future endeavors. As the Collections and Exhibitions Management intern, I gained valuable experience as a student, public historian, communication specialist, and future professional. Throughout my three month long internship, I oversaw and executed a dynamic oral history, photography, and memorabilia exhibition called Mugshots: Oral Histories of Musikfest and Musikfest Memorabilia Exhibitions. In my journey to launch Mugshots, I had to think critically, analytically, creatively, and explore new innovative ways on how to unify a community through history. My internship at HBMS taught me that public history contains the power to bring together people, preserve the past, reinforce the importance of the past, and has the power to transform an entire community. The lessons that I learned about public history and its role in maintaining local history will help me with my career goals in communications and public history.About Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites
HBMS is a nonprofit organization and Smithsonian Affiliate that was formed in 1993. The organization serves the Bethlehem community by interpreting approximately three centuries of the town’s culture, heritage, and customs. In 1741, Moravians traveled from parts of England and Germany and settled near the banks of the Lehigh River in Pennsylvania, which later became Bethlehem. Bethlehem came from humbled beginnings as a Moravian settlement to now a bustling town and the heart of the Lehigh Valley area. The mission of HBMS is to revive local history through educational endeavors, preservation of historic sites, along with collecting, preserving and exhibiting historical artifacts that are used to tell the stories of Bethlehem’s people.HBMS relays the story of Bethlehem’s unique past through its 20 different historic sites and buildings, its 60,000 artifacts, 10,000 photographs, and thousands of documents, letters, or maps that are all connected to Bethlehem. In 2003, HBMS became a founding member of the International Moravian Heritage Network—one of six key 18th century historic Moravian communities in the world. The organization also provides a range of services, such as property management, financial management, fundraising, curatorial services, educational services, public relations and marketing, along with overseeing daily operations of their affiliated member institutions.
Bethlehem is not only known for its rich Moravian history, but it is also known to host Musikfest—the largest free, non-gated, music festival in the United States. Musikfest provides culture, diversity, art, and music to members of the Lehigh Valley community and beyond. It began in August of 1984 by Jeff Parks, former president of ArtsQuest, and is now a social enterprise and an event for many visitors to build cherished memories. For the past three decades, Musikfest redeveloped the town, and continues to bring revenue to Bethlehem and provide an escape for many people from different parts of the nation.
Project
As HBMS’s Collections and Exhibitions Management intern, I was assigned to work on an interactive and a community-driven project called Mugshots: Oral Histories of Musikfest and Musikfest Memorabilia Exhibitions. The project integrates oral history, photography, and Musikfest memorabilia—it is dedicated to preserve and maintain the cherished recollections of Musikfest visitors of all ages. The exhibit focused on capturing the portraits of Musikfest attendees and their oral histories in a span of two weeks. According to Faye Sayer in Public History: A Practical Guide, she states, “The authenticity in public history is associated with personal experience, emotions, and feelings.” Mugshots is about preserving personal experiences, emotions, and visitors’ feelings about Musikfest. It is aimed to recognize the impact that Musikfest has within the Bethlehem community, its impact in the lives of visitors, how it transformed the town since it first began in 1984, and to acknowledge Musikfest as a part of Bethlehem’s local history, as well as make attendees a part of the town’s evolving history.Mugshots gave people an opportunity to make their voice a part of the community, and to also bond with others through their memories of the festival via oral history. The main premise of oral history is to give recognition to diverse perspectives, to remember, and learn and grow from the past. Oral history is used to transfer knowledge from generation to generation and is used to bring history to life. This practice of bringing history to life is about exploring voices of the past and bringing it to the present. The exhibit was a great way in helping the people of Bethlehem and Musikfest goers recognize the value of their personal Musikfest history, story, and memory.
Throughout the space, Musikfest Memorabilia was exhibited to remind visitors of the days when the Chicken Lady danced down Main Street or of candle-lit walks through the festival grounds. It is to help honor old traditions and celebrate new ones. It displayed a variety of old souvenirs, such as posters, programs, pins, t-shirts, lanyards, and mugs from Musikfests’ past. It also gave visitors an opportunity to learn more about the history of Musikfest and to also be knowledgeable on the people involved in creating Musikfest merchandise.
StoryCorps
The oral history testimonies were recorded and uploaded to the StoryCorps website. StoryCorps is a nonprofit oral history organization with a mission to collect, share, and educate people worldwide through oral history. The goals of StoryCorps are to build connections, teach humanity in the value of listening, strengthen bonds in communities, and to remind society that everyone’s story is valuable. All the oral histories shared through StoryCorps are digitally archived in the Library of Congress and on the StoryCorps.me website. The oral testimonies archived through StoryCorps are a closed collection and are not accessible to the public in the Library of Congress. StoryCorps allows people to share and record interviews on its downloadable application and website.What I Learned and Attained...
As an intern and historian, I had to evaluate and analyze the symbolism behind the exhibits location, the 1810 Goundie House. Located in the heart of Bethlehem, the Goundie House was built in 1810 by former brewer, mayor and business mogul, John Goundie. The lot that the house resides on was previously utilized by the Moravian Church Elders to “consult” everyday matters that ranged from financial transactions to marriage arrangements. The land also played a role in uniting the Bethlehem community when it was a small Moravian town, and still plays an important role in bringing people together during Musikfest. The historic site also contributes to the Bethlehem culture—it helps give people a sense of identity and promotes the importance of local history. Today, the 1810 Goundie House signifies Moravian culture in modern day Bethlehem, and is a historic site that continues to preserve the rich history of Bethlehem’s past.Readings
As the Collections and Exhibition Management intern, I was assigned to read “The New Arts Industry: Non-Profits in an Age of Competition” by Catherine M. Cameron, which discusses how the arts have become a part of cultural and community organizations. According to Cameron, businesses are utilizing local or regional art associations to draw in revenue. The art industry is being seen as an “efficient and effective” source of investment because, in some ways, they help produce economic redevelopment, tourism, and economic exchange. I was also assigned to read another article about Bethlehem’s local history my Isidore Mineo called “Rebuilding Bethlehem with Bethlehem Steel”, in which focuses on the community efforts for the production of Bethlehem Works. Bethlehem Works is an institution that preserves the history of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. In the article, the Mineo talks about the resiliency and undying effort of community groups, local citizens, developers, some politicians, and company representatives, to preserve a major part of Bethlehem’s past. The plant is considered to be the last integrated steel mill in the United States, therefore, making it more than necessary for the corporation and building to be preserved. The readings allowed me to help me have a thorough understanding in the value of reinforcing the arts and history in society in order to preserve a community’s culture.Researching, Brainstorming, and Learning
I had to explore, research, and brainstorm innovative ideas and different approaches on how to execute Mugshots. This allowed me to exercise imperative skills that are an everyday use in the field of public history. Research and being knowledgeable about your town’s history is always important, because it will contribute to your success as both a historian and exhibitionist. Learning about Bethlehem’s storied past, Moravian history, and the history of Musikfest has helped me appreciate the value in my project and taught me the importance of preserving Musikfest memories because the festival has become a part and integral part of the town’s history. I also have been taught the value in collaborating with people and listening to other perspectives in order to generate inventive ideas. This is a skill that is important for any public history job because listening, brainstorming and collaborating with other people can contribute greatly in devising a memorable exhibition, such as the Musikfest Memorabilia and Mugshots project.Communications: Advertising and Public Relations
Throughout my internship, I had to practice and perfect my analytical, writing, and verbal skills for Mugshots. In order to bring public awareness, I was assigned to devise a press release to showcase the exhibit through words and information to the public and press. Furthermore, I was also able to collaborate with a local furniture store, social media creators, ArtsQuest, and Moravian College’s Public Relations department about publicizing Mugshots through sponsorship agreements and in-kind donations. I wrote content for an Eblast, an HBMS blog post, the Mugshots pamphlet, and panel information. Through these tasks and achievements, I learned the importance of reaching out to the community through information because it helps ignite curiosity amongst visitors, as well as raise public awareness about the exhibit. Below is a summarization of the marketing and public relations experiences that I gained from my internship:- Wrote and edited various external communication materials: press releases, proposals, Eblasts, collaboration letters, scripts, content material for pamphlets, sponsorship opportunities, memos.
- Supported the development and integration of communication strategies to promote HBMS and Mugshots.
- Coordinated and managed strategic content on social media platforms and postings
- Assist with branding efforts of Mugshots.
What I Learned
My achievements at HBMS will help with my career goals. Although I aspire to be a public historian or curator, my internship also inspired me to want to pursue a career in communications. The experiences that I gained in marketing and advertising Mugshots made me realize the importance of written and verbal communication, and its job growth. Also, working alongside with my internship supervisor, Lindsey Jancay, gave me a chance to know the daily functions of working as a public historian, thus contributing to my professional development. Lindsey gave me full control over the project and allowed me to get creative. I had the opportunity to take charge of my project and be a leader. My experiences allowed me to realize that history plays a critical role in understanding society and ourselves. History is not only about exploring the past, it also explores human dimensions of life by transforming words and information into personal narratives—this is knowledge that I gained from being an intern at HBMS.
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