Posts

Showing posts from May, 2025

Week 3: My First Day and the Rooster Mission

Image
Hello Reader, Today was my first official day in person at the Bonnet House Museum and Gardens. After preparing for several weeks, it felt good to finally be on-site and begin working in the space I’ve spent time researching. When I arrived, I was greeted by my supervisor, Katie, who gave me a tour of the property via golf cart. She shared a brief overview of the house’s history and pointed out key features around the grounds. Afterward, she introduced me to members of the curatorial staff and brought me to her office, where we went over my schedule and upcoming responsibilities. Later in the morning, I went on a more detailed tour with Sid, one of the museum’s guides. He gives about ten tours each week and has a strong understanding of the house’s history and interpretation. It was helpful to see how the museum presents its narrative to the public, and it gave me useful context for the work I’ll be doing behind the scenes. The Rooster My first assignment as an intern involves inve...

Week 2: House Museums and Historical Context

Image
Hello Reader! This week’s blog post is a little different than what I originally planned. Since my internship at the Bonnet House Museum and Gardens doesn’t officially begin until next week, I decided to take this opportunity to explore the broader context of house museums in the United States. I had initially considered writing about plantation houses, but ultimately felt that the topic wasn’t relevant to the work I’ll be doing at Bonnet House. That said, Emma J. Walcott-Wilson’s article, "Cultivating Memoryscapes: The Politics of Language at Plantation House Museums in the American South," is a compelling read that highlights the complexities of interpretation and memory at those sites. Instead, I’m focusing on the history and role of house museums more generally, using Bonnet House as a case study and drawing from Patrick Butler’s Interpreting Historic House Museums . According to Butler, a house museum is defined as a museum that centers on the preservation and interp...

Week 1: Introduction, Background, and Focus

Image