Historical Museum Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2024 05 15

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city° f 6 Louisville Historical Museum Memorandum To: Historical Museum Advisory Board From: Gigi Yang, Museum Services Supervisor Date: May 15, 2024 Re: Museum Services Supervisor's Report The newest issue of the Louisville Historian was mailed out recently and focused on Celebrating 100 Years of Library Service. Museum staff have also been collecting oral histories and stories from community members who remember the library from the 1950s to today. It has been gratifying to research the importance of education and life-long learning throughout Louisville's history and the parallel history of Women's Clubs in Louisville. This spring, we are preparing for a busy summer, expanding our interpretation of Louisville history to the outdoor campus spaces. Museum staff will be working with the Parks Department to refresh garden beds with native plants that will illustrate indigenous history, fire-resistant plants, and herbs and vegetables used by Italian immigrants. Staff members Sophia Imperioli and Summer King have been boosting the volunteer program with regular meetings of the Oral History team and held a volunteer orientation training in April for volunteers interested in helping out with tours and events. We had a very successful First Friday in March covering "Recycled History" where we explored making rag rugs and got a good head start on a community -made rag rug for the Tomeo House, led by Kristen Poppe, a new volunteer. Museum staff have also been active in the Museum profession. Sophia Imperioli recently judged student projects at the National History Day state competition and awarded the Louisville Historical Museum Award to two student projects that focused on mining and labor rights. The LHM award is funded by the Louisville History Foundation. Hadley Kluber Seifert presented a poster on collections re -organization at the Colorado -Wyoming Association of Museums annual meeting in early May. In preparation for re -organizing the Jacoe Store exhibits, Gigi Yang and Hadley Kluber Seifert visited the Westminster Grange to learn more about the care and display of their historic "Grand Drapery" that is similar to the Museum's Rex Curtain. Staff have also continued our progress through the STEPS program evaluating our museum practices and professional standards. We have completed initial review of Mission,Vision, and Governance; Stewardship of Collections; Audience and Community Engagement; and Interpretation. Lastly, we are looking forward to hiring two new interns for the summer to assist with a collections inventory project that is part of the on -going re -organization, and with education and outreach projects that will help make historical content more accessible at the Museum and on the website.